The surge was driven by stable global demand and limited supply, which has kept export prices at a high level.

In August alone, Viet Nam shipped 21,464 tonnes of pepper worth 139.8 million USD, up 2.6% in volume and 1.7% in value from July. Compared with the same month last year, export volume rose 10.6% while earnings jumped 19.5%.

From January to August, the country exported 166,510 tonnes of pepper of all types, including 142,627 tonnes of black pepper and 23,883 tonnes of white pepper. Despite a 9.4% decline in export volume from a year earlier, revenue rose 28% to over 1.12 billion USD, thanks to higher prices. The average export price reached 6,666 USD per tonne for black pepper and 8,732 USD per tonne for white pepper, up 41.5% and 38%, respectively, year-on-year.

The US remained the largest buyer of the Vietnamese spice, accounting for 21.4% of the country's total pepper export value with 35,697 tonnes.

However, shipments to this market fell more than 31% compared to the same period last year. By contrast, exports to China rose sharply by 58% year-on-year to 13,282 tonnes, while sales to the United Arab Emirates and India expanded 9.7% and 13.7%, respectively.

On the import side, Viet Nam purchased 34,524 tonnes of pepper worth 215.3 million USD in the eight months, up 61.7% in volume and 143.5% in value from a year ago. Brazil remained the largest supplier with more than 17,500 tonnes, followed by Cambodia and Indonesia.

Domestically, pepper prices have been on the rise since late August. Farm-gate prices climbed from 142,000-143,000 VND ( 5.4 USD) per kilogramme on August 20 to 154,000-155,000 VND by early September, before stabilising at around 152,000-153,000 VND. VPSA attributed the increase to the end of the harvest season and dwindling on-farm stocks, while exporters continue to buy to fulfil signed contracts.

Industry experts forecast that limited supply will keep prices firm in the short term, especially as Vietnamese firms reduce imports of raw pepper for re-export processing due to new US reciprocal tariffs of up to 40% on transshipped goods.