The pepper industry will, for the first time, make a full-year recordgross of 1 billion USD from selling the spice this year, buoyed by abumper harvest and high prices, according to the Vietnam PepperAssociation (VPA).

Pepper exports are hoped to reach around 150,000 tonnes in 2014.

In the first five months of this year, the sector shipped 92,000tonnes worth 645 million USD, posting the highest ever increases of 33.6percent and 42.3 percent, respectively, year-on-year.

The US,Singapore and India topped the list of buyers, making up 40 percent ofcountry’s pepper exports, according to the Ministry of Agriculture andRural Development.

In May, the spice set its highest pricerecord so far, with black pepper worth 6,600 USD per tonne and whitepepper 9,600 USD per tonne. The average price in January-May reached6,879 USD per tonne, up 4.2 percent year-on-year, due to a considerablefall in global supply.

The world pepper harvest this year isestimated at 320,000 tonnes, down a remarkable 45,000 tonnes over theprevious year. Meanwhile, consumption demand increased 4-5 percent peryear, according to the International Pepper Committee (IPC).

There has been stable and increasing demand for pepper in Europe, the USand Middle East since the beginning of this year, creating advantagesfor Vietnamese pepper exporters to occupy the global market, the VPAsaid.

In 2013, Vietnam exported 134,000 tonnes of pepper for899 million USD, up 15 percent and 13 percent in volume and valuerespectively against the previous year.

As the world’s largest pepper producer, Vietnamese spice is shipped to more than 90 countries and territories.

Vietnam has more than 50,000 ha of pepper plantations, mainly in theprovinces of Binh Phuoc, Gia Lai, Dak Lak, Dak Nong, Dong Nai and BaRia-Vung Tau.-VNA