Durian, the “king” of fruits, continues to lead the export turnover in the group of vegetables with 1.5 billion USD in the first half of this year.
The Vietnam Fruit and Vegetable Association said that in May 2024, durian export turnover reached 450 million USD, up 107% over the previous month and 34% over the same period in 2023. In June 2024, durian exports were estimated at 600 million USD. In just two months, Vietnam has earned 1.05 billion USD from durian exports.
Durian, the “king” of fruits, continues to lead the export turnover in the group of vegetables.
According to the Vietnam Fruit and Vegetable Association, the total export turnover of this fruit in the first half of the year reached 1.5 billion USD.
Some farmers in the Southwest said that durian productivity this year has decreased compared to 2023, averaging only about 15 tons/ha. However, the price is quite high, ranging from 60,000 to 100,000 VND per kg.
The “king” of fruits continues to lead the turnover in the group of exported vegetables and fruits. Currently, durian’s turnover is 3.5 times higher than dragon fruit, which used to hold the leading position in the group.
Mr. Dang Phuc Nguyen, General Secretary of the Vietnam Fruit and Vegetable Association, said that the main harvest has come, so durian exports have increased sharply. Now, China is increasing its purchases of Vietnamese durian.
According to calculations, this year the export of this fruit will reach 3 billion USD. If the export protocol for frozen durian is signed, export turnover may reach about 3.5 billion USD.
Up to date, Vietnam has exported durian to 22 countries and territories, while freezing durian exports to 23 countries and territories. For example, China, Thailand, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Japan, the US…
ENSURE QUALITY TO INCREASE EXPORT TURNOVER
According to Mr. Dang Phuc Nguyen, Vietnamese durian has many advantages over current competitors, such as abundant production, year-round harvest, fast delivery, and reasonable prices. Notably, frozen durian is now exported strongly to China and is increasingly being controlled for better quality and improved product value.
To minimize risks, durian exporters and traders actively check the cadmium content before sending them to border gates.
However, recently, due to mass exports, the quality has not been absolutely guaranteed. There have been some shipments that have been warned about banned substances, affecting the reputation of Vietnamese goods. Regarding this matter, Mr. Dang Phuc Nguyen said that, due to the large demand from China, many farmers run after quantity and ignore quality. In fact, China issued warnings for more than 30 batches of durians contaminated with cadmium.
Immediately after that, the Plant Protection Department (Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development) set up a team to inspect and take samples (including soil, water, fertilizer, etc.) at the factory and planting areas included in the warning list. But so far, the cause has not been found. It is known that the Department continues to set up a second inspection team and work with enterprises, packaging establishments, and planting areas, focusing on Tien Giang province. The results are expected in July.
In particular, some exporters said that, recently, China has increased quarantine and inspection of banned substances, especially heavy metal content in durians. After 2-3 days, the results will be available, and then durians will be imported into China. So, there have been trucks of durian that have been delayed in delivery or even returned because of unguaranteed quality.
Therefore, local Customs Departments have recommended that, to minimize risks, durian exporters and traders actively check the cadmium content at gardens and packaging facilities before sending goods to border gates. This is to ensure that no shipments contaminated with banned substances are exported. Currently, there are about 17 points that can check the cadmium content of the fruit. These checkpoints are near durian gardens or big cities. Thereby, it is possible to ensure the quality of products when exporting to the Chinese market.
According to experts, durian is playing an important role in agricultural exports. As a result, strict control over the quality of the whole chain will help increase the export turnover of this product in particular and the overall export turnover in general. Therefore, exporters need to pay attention to tight control over durian quality.