Vietnam has very little pepper left having sold most of it in the first 11 months of the year, traders said. According to figures made available to FE by a leading international trader, Vietnam has exported 76,878 tonne during January-December of 2007. In November alone, the nation exported 7,307 tonne. According to International Pepper Community (IPC) estimates, Vietnam produced 90,000 tonne in 2006-07 while traders put it at 80,000 tonne. It is also assumed that the nation had very little carry over stock having exported record quantities in the previous year.
Based on this figure, Vietnam is left with very little of the commodity and is unlikely to export in the coming months. Traders also report of cross-border smuggling into China and Cambodia, which is not reflected in the trade statistics. The new crop in Vietnam is expected to arrive by February. IPC estimates the crop (2007-08) to be lower at 80,000 tonne.
