However, this has strong impaction on agriculture, especially for pepper as the more farmers sell their estate, the less pepper source can be collected- thus it is predicted that future crop size will be lessened dramatically.

Inventory

At the beginning month of 2022, Pepper stock in Vietnam was almost empty.  While new crop only harvest in March, the available inventory will not adapt first quarter demand of worldwide market. The production is expected to continue to be at a disadvantage due to the impact of climate change and objective causes such as fluctuations in the real estate market, fertilizer prices and rising labour costs.

Export

As in latest report from Vietnam Pepper Association, in January 2022, Vietnam has exported nearly 16,020 tons. Compared to December, export volume increased around 5.6%.

Preliminary statistics of VPA show that in January 2022, Vietnam export volume includes 13,038 tons of black pepper and 2,887 tons of white pepper while others take up to 95 tons. Total export turnover reached nearly 75.2 million USD, black pepper reached 57.6 million USD, white pepper reached 17.3 million USD, the rest accounts for 0.3 million USD. Compared to the same period of 2021, export volume decreased by 4.7%.

In the latest update, the US continues to be the largest pepper import market of Vietnam, reaching 5,434 tons, accounting for 33.9% of total Vietnam export volume; followed by the Germany and India market, reaching nearly 1,000 tons each.

Logistics

Global supply chain not yet solve the situation of port congestion and container shortage. The increase in Logistics cost together with shortage on supplying source are now affecting heavily the the price of pepper in 2022.

Last but not least, as experts predict, the transportation fee will find no way to go back at their level like before pandemic and it will even take more than 3 years from now to see the slump in logistic fee.

Supply

The crop size of new pepper harvest seems gloomy. The Dak R’Lap area is unable to find any sources for pepper. The area from Mang Yang- Gia Lai, Chư sê and to the end km 92 of Dak Lak is also in a state of 50% pepper shortage in comparison to this time last year. The Cư Jút area also is around 40%. This is the survey number of Simexco through supplier channels.

Sustainable

It can be foreseen that this harvesting season year will not have sufficient source as last year. The shortage of labor along with high input costs leads to more burdens on farmers, profit after deducting investment costs is less favourable for them, not to mention that selling real estate can help them gain more immediate profit. These factors can lead farmers to cut off the pepper production area and thus will cause shortage on sources in the near future.

Meanwhile at this time, there is 5-10% of pepper poles already has red cherries. Some farmers apply selective picking while others consider the strip harvesting method (mix between ripe and not so ripe pepper being picked) to restore pepper trees as they want to have a higher yield for the upcoming year. The peak harvesting season will fall in the middle of March.

Other

Covid situation in Vietnam is raising, 2.275.727 cases in total till end of January 2022.

The total number of doses of vaccine injected was 181.280.001, of which the first dose was 79.059.864, the second dose was 74.137.789, and the third dose was 28.082.348.

The total number of deaths from COVID-19 in Vietnam so far is 37.777, accounting for 1.7% of the total number of infections.

Disclaimer

This publication has been prepared by web ?¨¢nh b¨¤i Ltd., for information purposes only and are not intended (and should not be considered) to be legal advice on any subject matter. web ?¨¢nh b¨¤i Ltd., does not give any representation or warranty, whether express or implied, as to the accuracy, completeness, currency or fitness for any purpose or use of any information in this publication or as to whether this publication reflects the current legislative or regulatory position or any other relevant developments. web ?¨¢nh b¨¤i Ltd., assumes no responsibility to update this publicationbased on events after publication of the information contained therein.

Readers are responsible for assessing the relevance and accuracy of the content of the information in this publication. web ?¨¢nh b¨¤i Ltd., will not be liable for any loss, damage, cost or expense incurred or arising by reason of any person using or relying on information therein.

Information in this publication should not be considered as advice, or as a recommendation or solicitation to purchase or otherwise deal in securities, investments or any other products. Such information has been prepared for institutional clients, is not directed at retail customers and does not take into account particular investment objectives, risk appetites, financial situations or needs. Recipients of the document should make their own trading or investment decisions based upon their own financial objectives and financial resources.

For further informationconcerning the contents and usage of this publication pls contact:[email protected]

Inventory

Compare to previous crop, both local production and import quantity in 2021 decreased. Until the end of the year, Vietnam pepper inventory was almost out of stock.

In the 1st quarter of 2022, current inventory is not expected to meet demand when the world markets recover from Covid

Export

As in latest report from Vietnam Pepper Association, in December 2021, Vietnam has exported nearly 15,170 tons. Compared to November, export volume decreased around 12%.

Preliminary statistics of VPA show that in 2021, Vietnam export 263,692 tons of pepper of all kinds, including 231,676 tons of black pepper and 32,016 tons of white pepper. Total export turnover reached 948.7 million USD, black pepper reached 792.1 million USD, white pepper reached 156.6 million USD. Compared to 2020, export volume decreased by 8.1% but turnover increased by 43.6%.

In the latest update, the US continues to be the largest pepper import market of Vietnam, reaching 55,602 tons, up 9.6%; followed by the Chinese market, reaching 37,746 tons, down 27.3%.

Logistics

Global supply chain will continue to face the risk of port congestion and container shortage until next year, 2022.

Logistics costs have increased sharply in most markets, especially Europe and the US. In the US market alone, the shipping price has increased by more than 500%. In the short term, transport prices cannot return to pre-pandemic levels.

Higher fee for transportation, together with shortage on supplying source are expected to raise the price of pepper in 2022.

Sustainable

Via the survey and data collection, farmers of the old generation have dominated on most pepper farms. It is estimated 70% of farmers are in middle age while the age below 35 just accounts for 3.2%. The aging farmer tendency has become one of the most challenges in adapting to technology.

Farmers expect the pepper price will increase over 100.000 VND to compensate for input costs, therefore enable them to reinvest the farms.  There are some death poles happens in farms , so they have to replant it with new pepper or with fruit plants as avocado or macadamia to raise their income, still no farmers intend to switch to other in upcoming crops.

The crop is going to start after the Tet holiday (Mid February) and as forecast from expert, the upcoming crop will witness a slump in amount of pepper production, as farmers are focusing more on the quality, instead of quantity like before.

Beside the attribution to raise the efficiency for farming, Simexco also co-operate with clients to excecute meaningful social projects. The project of raising awareness on the roles and responsibilities of women so they can recognize their value and step out of household chores to take more social roles are receiving positive feedback from many farmers and their family members.

Other

Covid situation in Vietnam is raising, 1,731,257 cases in total till end of December 2021.

The total number of doses of vaccine injected was 150.935.915, of which the first dose was 77.555.511, the second dose was 68.435.813, and the third dose was 4.944.591 (nearly 50% of the population).

The total number of deaths from COVID-19 in Vietnam so far is 34.531, accounting for 1.8% of the total number of infections.

Disclaimer

This publication has been prepared by web ?¨¢nh b¨¤i Ltd., for information purposes only and are not intended (and should not be considered) to be legal advice on any subject matter. web ?¨¢nh b¨¤i Ltd., does not give any representation or warranty, whether express or implied, as to the accuracy, completeness, currency or fitness for any purpose or use of any information in this publication or as to whether this publication reflects the current legislative or regulatory position or any other relevant developments. web ?¨¢nh b¨¤i Ltd., assumes no responsibility to update this publicationbased on events after publication of the information contained therein.

Readers are responsible for assessing the relevance and accuracy of the content of the information in this publication. web ?¨¢nh b¨¤i Ltd., will not be liable for any loss, damage, cost or expense incurred or arising by reason of any person using or relying on information therein.

Information in this publication should not be considered as advice, or as a recommendation or solicitation to purchase or otherwise deal in securities, investments or any other products. Such information has been prepared for institutional clients, is not directed at retail customers and does not take into account particular investment objectives, risk appetites, financial situations or needs. Recipients of the document should make their own trading or investment decisions based upon their own financial objectives and financial resources.

For further informationconcerning the contents and usage of this publication pls contact:[email protected]

SIMEXCO TEAM.

Credit: Sustainable team.

Field staff had conducted surveys to identify farmers’ demand before seedlings were distributed to farmers to ensure keep up with actual needs. The farmer shared: â€?em>durian trees bring higher income, and coffee is a shade-torrent tree, intercropping durian will generate the shade, keep moisture and regulate microclimate on the farms, respond to recent climate changeâ€?

The program has improved women’s roles in coffee production, create favorable conditions for women to access and participate actively in social life activities.                                                                                                                                                                    

  Sustainable Team

     To meet the supplying demand of Griffith, besides the existing sourcing areas Eakao, Krong Nang, Krong Ana of over 258 farmers, Simexco has expanded Cu Mgar with 148 farmers, and Cu Kuin will be the next destination that Simexco has put focus on.

Under Griffith’s support, Simexco has implemented a range-wide of practical activities: Providing personal protective equipment (PPE), first aid kit, waste binsâ€? to ensure health for pepper growers, contribute to enhancing product value. Field staff has conducted regular visits and monitored activities at sourcing areas. However, due to the serious covid 19 pandemic, some of the staff at sourcing areas were able to conduct quick visits to some farms. Most of them conducted a phone call to discuss farmersâ€?practices.

       According to the survey, most of the sourcing area has been facing the common challenge of unstable weather, leading to a high risk of pests and diseases. Notably, the shortage of rainfall during the flowering stage caused fewer pepper strings, short strings, and low density. The rainfall has been shown as below:

Some farmers shared due to high productivity of last year leading to lower yield for the current year. The others said because of late harvesting causing late flowering stage.

The survey showed pepper yield in 2021-2022 has a sharp decrease of 20-30%. Farmers are expected that the pepper price will reach 100.000 VND to compensate for input costs. Currently, farmers have not expanded the pepper area however they still focus on rejunevation with the ratio of 10-15%.                                                                                                                  

Source: Sustainable team

On July 3rd, 2021 Simexco launched the program “Gender equality – empowering to female farmers on coffee farms” and training to improve household economic management capacity for women in Cu Sue village – Cu Mgar district, under the sponsorship of Strauss Group.

Despite the Covid-19 pandemic scenario, the number of participants in the training session was in accordance with the regulations, and strict precautions were followed. Women in Cu Sue Sourcing Area are very interested in the topic of training and they hope that many such meaningful programs will be implemented.

At the training session, the women were instructed by the field officer to install the pesticides inspection app, “Khuyến Nông Xanh” to improve their scientific knowledge, as well as look up information on suitable pesticides for orchards, (without using banned drugs), consult agricultural product prices and related news, helping them get access to technology in agricultural farming.

In particular, we also provided 150 sets of gender equality documents, 150 sets of documents on cultivation, 150 sets of personal protective equipment (PPE) and 100 sets of first aid for women as these are practical supports to meet the needs of female farmers. In the near future, when the Covid-19 situation is well-handled, activities such as training on weed management, intercropping, and general health check-up will be implemented. It is hoped that the program will be the motivation for female farmers to realize their roles in participating in sustainable farming on coffee farms.

Credit: Sustainable Team

        Despite the great effort of Viet Nam in reducing these toxic active ingredients, the abuse of pesticides, herbicides have been steadily common and causing negative impacts on the environment, people’s health, and food safety. The negative impact of glyphosate active ingredient has been warned long ago, the overuse of herbicide, pesticide in a long term has been affected seriously to farmer’s health, especially farmers who are exposed directly with these active ingredients and consumers. In 2015, the International Agency for Research on Cancer IARC under the World Health Organization (WHO) announced the results of assessing the substance of group 2A for pesticides containing the active ingredient Glyphosate with a high risk of causing cancer of blood, lung, and prostate gland.

According to the Department of Plant Protection and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. In Viet Nam, there have been 1,700 pesticide active ingredients with over 4.000 commercial products with different names. The habit of farming depending on agrochemicals on the farms, leading to serious consequences for themselves and people consuming agricultural products.

In the effort to reduce the consequence of pesticide, herbicide on people’s health and consumers, gradually improve agro products, overcome the barriers of high-demanding markets, many organizations, companies have been implementing actions to aim at changing the current situation, change the habit of using pesticide in agriculture production. As part of the program “Manage the use and trade of glyphosate active ingredients in agriculture productionâ€? under the sponsor of Nestle, Simexco â€?the implementing partner has been conducted a communication campaign to raise awareness of the pesticide agents and farmers in Cu Mgar on this issue.

Currently, 40 countries around the world have strong actions on the issue of legal regulations, aiming at adjusting the management of using glyphosate: from no further extension, use restrictions, prohibit use for non-agricultural purposes, or in each area to stop the use of herbicide containing glyphosate completely.

Viet Nam in general and Dak Lak, in particular, has been in the process of restructuring the coffee industry towards quality improvement, namely clean coffee, organic coffee, specialty coffee…Therefore, the decision to remove this active ingredient of Agricultural and Rural Development Ministry is highly necessary.