Malaysia wants pepper exporting nations to adopt a self-imposed output quota to prevent oversupply, the Business Times newspaper reported on Monday. "It will be a voluntary co-operation among pepper-producing countries to work together to make sure that there is no oversupply of pepper in the global market," the paper quoted Plantation Industries and Commodities Minister Peter Chin Fah Ku as saying in an interview.
The newspaper gave no details of the proposal but said it would include Vietnam, India and Indonesia.
Vietnam, the world's top producer and exporter of black pepper, has already decided to stabilise production of the spice amid slumping world prices, officials there said recently.
Vietnam exported around 83,000 tonnes of pepper in the first eight months of this year, up 40.6 percent from the same period last year, but exports by value rose by a more modest 37 percent, fetching an average price of $1,350 per tonne.
High production has led to speculation that supply from Vietnam will further weigh down global prices, which have fallen from around $2,000 last year. The pepper industry already has a forum where producers and consumers can discuss demand-supply issues, the International Pepper Community.
Set up in 1972, it has five full members: Brazil, India, Indonesia, Malaysia and Sri Lanka. Papua New Guinea is an associate member.