The department said that in June alone, Vietnam exported over 15,000 tonnes of pepper, fetching US$35.5 million, down 4.4 percent in turnover and up 44.1 percent in volume against the same month last year. It added that Vietnam expects to export more than 100, 000-110,000 tonnes of pepper this year.

The slight increase in the volume of pepper exported this year was attributed to the falling price of pepper in the world market. As the price of Vietnam’s pepper stood at a low level, around US$200-500 per tonne cheaper than other countries, the total volume of pepper to foreign markets in the first half of this year was still higher than in 2007 and 2008.