In Dong Nai, the biggest durian growing area, six enterprises have exported 360 tons of Dona and Ri6 durian to China under a protocol signed between the Vietnam’s Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) and China’s General Administration of Customs.

It is expected that in 2023, Dong Nai will export 20,000 tons of durian worth $50 million.

Nguyen Dinh Tung, general director of Vina T&T Group, said China is collecting a wide range of Vietnam’s fruits, especially durian. His company has signed a contract on exporting 1,500 containers (15 tons per container) of durian to China. To date, 30 percent of the contracts have been delivered.

“We can’t collect enough products to deliver to the partners at this moment,” he said.

Besides China, veggie and fruit exports to other markets, including the US, Australia and EU, all have seen 5-10 percent growth rates in comparison with the same period last year.

Ngo Tuong Vy, general director of Chanh Thu Fruit Import-Export, said Thailand is also harvesting durian, but Vietnam’s exports to China remain unaffected because demand from China is very high.

While the durian season is ending in the southwest region, the durian season is beginning in the southeast and after that, in the provinces in the Central Highlands. This is a great advantage of Vietnam as it can provide durian year round.

Meanwhile, Nguyen Khac Tien, chair of Ameii Vietnam, said the company is busy fulfilling contracts on exporting lychees to Japan, Germany, the UK and Middle East. The lychee exports to Japan are expected to increase by 30-50 percent this year.

Vietnam’s lychee is also seeking new markets. Seedless lychees are selling at VND800,000 per kilogram at supermarkets in the UK.

The 1.4 billion consumer market of China remains the largest market for Vietnam. It not only consumes a huge volume of durian, but also imports other fruits. 

Nguyen Quoc Trinh, chair of the Long An Dragon Fruit Association, said dragon fruit exports are selling this year at good prices, and farmers can make a profit of VND400 million per hectare per annum.

The General Department of Customs (GDC) reported that veggie and fruit exports brought revenue of $656.2 million in May, up 67.7 percent over April 2023, and $2.03 billion in the first five months of the year, up 42.9 percent.

Tam An