Rare story, Vietnamese fruit exports to Thailand are strong

China, the largest customer, is reducing fruit purchases from Vietnam, but this item is in high demand in Thailand, with exports to this market increasing by 215%.

A report by the Department of Agricultural Product Processing and Market Development (Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development) shows that in the first 8 months of 2020, our country's fruit and vegetable exports are estimated at 2.26 billion USD, down 11.3% over the same period in 2019.

Accordingly, in the first 7 months of 2020, China was still the largest customer of Vietnamese fruit and vegetable exports with 58.2% market share. However, in the past 7 months, the export value to this market of 1.4 billion people only reached 1.15 billion USD, down 28.9% compared to the same period in 2019.

The decrease in export volume is one of the reasons why dragon fruit prices dropped dramatically in August. Photo: Internet

In contrast to the Chinese market,exportVietnamese vegetables and fruits to South Korea, the United States, Japan, and Taiwan increased sharply. Notably, in the first 7 months of 2020, Vietnamese vegetables and fruits were extremely popular in Thailand when exports to this market increased by 215.5%.

The Department of Agricultural Product Processing and Market Development also reported a sharp decrease in the export of key fruit products. Specifically, the products with the highest export market share among fruits are dragon fruit, down 7.7%, bananas down 9.1%, watermelon down 37.7%, durian down 66.3% and longan down 78.5%.

As a result, in August, the price of dragon fruit at home gardens in some provinces such as Binh Thuan, Dong Nai, Dak Lak dropped to 3,000 - 3,500 VND/kg, while this figure at the end of last month was 6,000 - 7,000 VND/kg.

Traders said that this season, dragon fruit ripens right at the time when Covid-19 recurs in many places in the country, making consumption difficult. Export warehouses are holding back, and there is still a lot of inventory in the warehouse, so prices are pushed down quickly.

Similarly, the longan harvest season in the northern provinces, especially Hung Yen province, during the epidemic daysCovid-19return, affecting consumption. The best fresh longan in the garden costs from 13,000 - 14,000 VND/kg and at times drops to 7,000 - 8,000 VND/kg;

In Ben Tre province, due to the influence of salt water, the fruit in most coconut gardens is of poor quality, and traders only buy it for 6,000 VND/12 fruits.

The Department of Agricultural Product Processing and Market Development forecasts that fruit exports to the US will have many positive signs after the negotiation efforts of the Vietnamese Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development with the US Department of Agriculture. Accordingly, the US Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) has continued to send experts to supervise the processing of fresh fruit exported to this market after interruptions due to the complicated developments of the Covid-19 pandemic.

In addition to the Chinese market, fruit exports have shown many positive signs as many types of Vietnamese fruit are being promoted for export to markets with high requirements for product quality such as: red-fleshed dragon fruit is exported to Japan and Russia; frozen durian is exported to Australia...