Selling to China: Vietnam wins in quantity, far behind Thailand in value

According to statistics from the Chinese Customs Administration, in the first 3 months of 2023, the country spent 1.18 billion USD to import 885.3 thousand tons of fruits including: bananas, mangoes, mangosteens, watermelons, durians, longans, rambutans, dragon fruits, and lychees.

Compared to last year, import volume decreased by 18.9% but increased by 6.2% in value. The average import price of the above 9 fruits was 1,329.7 USD/ton, up 31% over the same period in 2022.

Of these, bananas, longans, dragon fruits, and durians are the most imported by China. Specifically, this country of more than 1.4 billion people imported 513.8 thousand tons of bananas, worth 313.1 million USD. The Philippines and Vietnam are the main markets supplying bananas to China.

Chart: Vietnamnet

Notably, after Vietnam and China signed the Protocol on official fresh banana exports, banana imports from Vietnam increased sharply, reaching 225 thousand tons, worth 108.6 million USD, up 39.6% in volume and 22.8% in value over the same period in 2022.

China's longan imports in the first quarter of 2023 reached 125 thousand tons, worth 168 million USD; dragon fruit imports reached 97.2 thousand tons, worth 93.3 million USD.

China's durian imports also continued to increase sharply, reaching 91.4 thousand USD, worth 506.8 million USD, up 154.3% in volume and 124.6% in value over the same period in 2022.

In previous years, China mainly imported durian from Thailand. However, after Vietnam and China signed the Protocol on Official Durian Export, Vietnam became the second Southeast Asian country after Thailand to officially export fresh durian to China.

In terms of market, Vietnam and Thailand are the two main suppliers of these nine fruits to China. The proportion of Thai and Vietnamese fruits in China's total fruit imports has both increased.

Accordingly, in the first quarter of 2023, China imported 376,300 tons of these fruits from Vietnam, worth 342.3 million USD, down 15.4% in volume but up 2.1% in value. Along with that, China also imported 204,600 tons from Thailand, worth 583 million USD, down 3% in volume but up 20.2% in value.

Notably, the average price of nine types of Chinese fruit imported from Vietnam is only 909.6 USD/ton, while that imported from Thailand is up to more than 2,850 USD/ton.

The above figures show that the amount of fruit exported from Vietnam to China is 1.8 times more than that of Thailand, but the amount of money earned is far less.

At a forum promoting agricultural exports to the Chinese market, Mr. Bob Wang - Chairman of the Nanning Business Association (Guangxi) - pointed out that, in terms of annual fruit output of 5.43 million tons, Thailand is certainly at a disadvantage compared to Vietnam's output of 12-13 million tons.

But in terms of export value, in 2022, Thailand is expected to earn 8.53 billion USD, while Vietnam is estimated to reach 3.2 billion USD.

According to Mr. Bob Wang, many Vietnamese fruit producers lack understanding of market trends and sell their products passively. When China's wholesale markets open in the morning, Thai traders can quickly grasp prices and sell their products effectively, while Vietnamese traders are slower.

Vietnamese durian is competing with Thai products in the Chinese market.

The leader of the Vietnam Fruit and Vegetable Association also admitted that Thai people adapt very quickly in fruit export. They follow Vietnamese businesses to our country's growing areas to learn. With durian, when Vietnam exported the first shipment to China, Thailand made a big news. They researched and analyzed their direct competitors carefully.

An expert in the agricultural industry said that Vietnam must learn from the Thais from production, branding to sales methods.

China is a large and potential market, but it is increasingly demanding. Not only does it require good quality goods and food safety, but the designs must also be attractive. Chinese consumers also prefer branded goods.

Thai people do this very well. They study the export market carefully and then produce the most suitable products that best suit the tastes. This is also the reason why Thai fruits can penetrate deeply into the domestic Chinese market, while Vietnamese products can only penetrate the border provinces.