Vietnam's pepper exports surge 40.8 pct in 7 months

HANOI, Aug. 8 (Xinhua) -- Vietnam's pepper export earnings surged 40.8 percent year-on-year to 764.2 million U.S. dollars in the first seven months of this year, Vietnam News reported Thursday, citing the Vietnam Pepper and Spice Association.

Rising global pepper prices primarily drove the remarkable growth, said the report.

During the cited period, the country exported 164,357 tons of pepper, comprising 145,330 tons of black pepper and 19,027 tons of white pepper.

The association forecast that pepper export revenues will hit 1 billion dollars this year.