Booming orders from China, fruit and vegetable exports will set a new record
Recently, in Dong Nai – the largest durian capital in the Southeast – 6 enterprises have exported 360 tons of
Goods are not supplied
Six businesses recently transported 360 tons of Dona and Ri6 durians from Dong Nai, the largest durian hub in the Southeast, to China under a protocol drafted by the Chinese General Department of Customs and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.
It is expected that in 2023, Dong Nai will export 20,000 tons of durian, estimated at 50 million USD.
Mr. Nguyen Dinh Tung, General Director of Vina T&T Group, said China is promoting purchasing many types of Vietnamese fruits, especially durian. His company agreed to sell 1,500 containers of durian, each holding 15 tons, to a Chinese partner this year. The enterprise has paid 30% of the order up to this point.
"Durian is harvested in batches, so if it is fully ripe, it will be exported a lot and vice versa. However, at this time, there are not enough goods to pay for partners," he said. Besides China, vegetables and fruits exported to other markets such as the US, Australia and the EU recorded an increase of 5-10% over the same period last year.
According to Ms. Ngo Tuong Vy, General Director of Chanh Thu Fruit Import Export Co., Ltd Co., Ltd., Thailand is also in the harvest season, but our country's durian exports are still unaffected due to the demand of the Chinese market being very big.
Also read: Taking advantage of opportunities for exports to China
The Western provinces are nearing the conclusion of the durian season, followed by the Eastern provinces and then the Central Highlands provinces. Vietnamese durian has the benefit of being able to be picked constantly for virtually the whole year.
These days, Chanh Thu regularly plays durian to export to the Chinese market, she said.
Mr. Nguyen Khac Tien, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Ameii Vietnam Joint Stock Company, also said that the enterprise is busy transferring lychee export orders to Japan, Germany, the UK, the Middle East, etc., In Japan this year, enterprises expect to export lychee volume to increase by 30-50% over the same period last year. In addition, durian exports to Japan also grew well.
Not only were lychee fruits sent recently to established countries, but numerous companies also opened the UK market. Vietnamese seedless lychees are sold on UK supermarket shelves for 400,000-800,000 VND/kg.
Businesses commented that this year's export of fruits and vegetables to most markets is favorable, and orders have grown steadily. The Chinese market is still the most volatile, though.
Notably, this market of over 1.4 billion people consumes a significant quantity of durian and purchases many other local fruits and vegetables. Therefore, at the end of May, the number of trucks carrying agricultural products to the border gate for export to China increased dramatically, and the Department of Industry and Trade of Lang Son province had to warn about congestion at the border gate area.
Mr. Nguyen Quoc Trinh, Chairman of Long An Dragon Fruit Association, shared that exporting dragon fruit is much more favorable than in previous years. Since the end of last year till now, farmers have gained money since the price of dragon fruit has always been greater than the cost.
With a selling price of 20,000 VND per kilogram, producers make around 400 million VND per hectare annually.
Vegetables can bring in 4.5-5 billion USD
The General Department of Customs reported that the export of fruits and vegetables generated US$656.2 million in May, a rise of 67.7% from April 2023.
By the end of May 2023, the export turnover of this group of products reached nearly 2.03 billion USD, up 42.9% over the same period last year.
Vegetables and fruits are the export items that recorded the strongest growth of the agricultural sector in May and the first 5 months of 2023.
China is still the number one customer, accounting for 63.4% of the total export turnover of Vietnamese fruits and vegetables in the first five months of this year (compared to 50.6% in the same period in 2022). Notably, China suddenly increased its purchases of fruits and vegetables from our nation to about 483 million USD in May 2023, nearly five times what it had done in May 2022.
By the end of May this year, the export of vegetables and fruits to the Chinese market reached about 1.29 million USD, up 78.6% over the same period last year.
Mr. Dang Phuc Nguyen, General Secretary of the Vietnam Fruit and Vegetable Association, acknowledged that in the first 5 months of 2023, fruit and vegetable export had become a bright spot in the agricultural industry.
According to him, exported vegetables and fruits tend to have good growth. In particular, durian exports to China exploded in orders. As a result, in the first 5 months of this year, durian exports reached 503.4 million USD, 18 times higher than last year's (27.6 million USD).
Among the import markets, China imported the most Vietnamese durian, with a value of 477 million USD, accounting for 95% of the total export value of this product group of the country.
Mr. Nguyen said, "Durian export quota to China will reach approximately 400-500 thousand tons if we are granted more planting area codes and packing facilities; this fruit can earn approximately 1.5 billion USD this year."
In addition, dragon fruit can also regain its billion-dollar fruit position thanks to China's stronger "eating" than in previous years. Due to drought, China's dragon fruit output is decreasing, so they import more to meet domestic demand.
As for bananas, last year's export was only 311 million USD, this year, the trend of exporting to China, Japan, Korea ... increased sharply. Therefore, banana exports are expected to earn about 700-800 million USD.
Due to its close geographic position, China's reopening following the outbreak is a significant benefit for Vietnam's exports of fruits and vegetables. In previous years, this market accounted for more than 50% of Vietnam's total fruit and vegetable export turnover; now, this figure has increased to nearly 65% and may account for 70%. However, Nguyen noted that we must focus on quality and improve design, packaging, and traceability to meet market standards and regulations.
Mr. Nguyen predicted that this year's vegetable and fruit export revenue would set a new record high of 4.5 billion USD. Suppose the Chinese side continues to permit more durian planting area codes, and there is no change in the unfavorable direction. In that case, the fruit and vegetable business might earn about $5 billion in 2023.
