Malagasy authorities have recently lifted the minimum export price on vanilla of $250/kg which was in place since July 2020. Amid a plenty of vanilla from the previous year still unsold in Madagascar in the hands of farmers and collectors, the Malagasy president Andry Rajoelina has decided to liberalise the export trade ahead of the new campaign, which has already started in Ambanja in the northwest of the island.
The new market regulation published by Malagasy authorities in May states that it is forbidden to export vanilla below the ‘cost price’ and any exporter trying to do so will have his export licence removed. The regulation does not further specify what the cost price is but according to market sources, it is around $140-$150 for a kilo of cured vanilla beans.