Mixed price trend in Indonesian pepper market

The domestic pepper market in Indonesia continued to give mixed responses in the week to July 8, the International Pepper Community (IPC) said in its latest market report for the period.

Black pepper prices were virtually stagnant in India, while in Sri Lanka they decreased marginally.

In Vietnam, black and white pepper prices were both seen increasing by 4.7% and a marginal increase was also observed in the local market in Malaysia.

Fob prices were also seen as stable except in Vietnam, where black pepper prices advanced marginally.

“This week pepper markets in Indonesia were quiet because of the celebration of the Ramadan festival. New material from upcoming harvest in Lampung is expected to be available by late July and some price movements are expected to be seen thereafter. In Bangka, initial harvest has started and normal harvest will be starting by this week. This is the month of pepper harvest in China, Malaysia and Sri Lanka also,” the IPC added.

Brazil is expected to start its harvest from August onwards.

In Brazil, the dollar seems likely to be depreciating against the Brazilian real, the IPC observed. “This year by supply and demand forces one can believe that most likely this trend may continue until the next Para crop which would start in August, September and October 2016 or perhaps far later ahead also,” it added.

Supply of pepper from Espírito Santo, in the south east part of Brazil, will be far lower because of the El Niño effect and fusarium wilt damage, the IPC warned.