China stops purchasing, areca nut prices in many places 'plummet'

If 1 month ago, the price of areca nuts peaked when it reached 90,000 VND/kg, many people converted 100 kg of areca nuts to buy 1 tael of gold, traders from everywhere flocked to localities such as Hung Son, Cao Son, Hoa Son (Anh Son); Thanh Nho, Thanh Hoa, Cat Van (Thanh Chuong), some communes in Do Luong... to buy areca nuts.

However, for more than half a month now, the price of areca nuts has dropped sharply. From 90,000 VND to 80,000 VND/kg, then plummeted to 50,000 VND/kg and now, only 25-30,000 VND/kg.

“I never expected the price of areca nuts to drop this quickly. The previous batch of areca nuts was sold for 80,000 VND/kg, traders came and begged to buy, they picked and weighed them themselves, and I just had to calculate the money. But with this batch of areca nuts, after only 15 days of harvesting, the price has dropped to only one-third, and no one has asked to buy yet,” said Ms. Hoang Thi Hoi, a resident of Ngoc Son commune (Do Luong).

In Thanh Chuong - the locality with the largest number of areca nuts in the province, the current price of beautiful, grade 1 areca nuts is 50,000 VND/kg, while grade 2 and grade 3 areca nuts range from 25-30,000 VND/kg.

The family of Ms. Le Thi Huong, Thanh Nho commune (Thanh Chuong) planted 300 areca trees. At the end of September, she sold nearly 150 kg of areca for 70,000 VND. Now, many bunches are ready to be harvested for sale, but the price of areca has dropped. "Beautiful areca costs 40,000-50,000 VND/kg. Now that the price has decreased, traders are also selective, only buying beautiful areca at the right time, not buying in bulk like before," said Ms. Dan.

Not only did prices drop, but the consumption of areca nuts also encountered many difficulties. There was a time about five days ago when traders stopped buying.

Areca nut prices have decreased, but compared to previous years, they are still "high". With this price, areca nut growers still have a significant source of income and are not affected much. Moreover, it is the end of the season, so there are not many areca nuts in people's gardens.

Mr. Ha Huy Thach, Chairman of the Farmers' Association of Cao Son Commune (Anh Son), said: "Areca trees are easy to grow and care for, are less affected by pests and diseases, and require low fertilizer costs. Areca trees begin to bear fruit at 5 years old, and the fruiting period can last for decades. Under good care conditions, each areca tree yields an average of 18-20kg of fruit.

For "areca nut" (areca nut in the period of maximum fruit production), each tree has on average 3 main bunches, each bunch weighs about 7-8kg, plus odd fruits, the yield reaches nearly 30kg. If the price of areca nut is at 30,000 VND - 40,000 VND/kg, each areca nut tree will bring in an average income of over 1 million VND. It is now the end of the season so there are not many areca nuts left".

However, the most worrying thing is that when China stops buying, the situation of areca trees falling all over the ground will repeat, and many households will have to cut them down like in previous years. "Previously, Cao Son had hundreds of households growing areca trees with a relatively large area. There was a year when areca prices dropped dramatically, only 2,000-3,000 VND/kg, but there were no buyers, so most of them were cut down," Mr. Thach added.

Currently, in some localities such as Quang Ngai and Quang Nam, the price of areca nuts has dropped to only 25-30,000 VND/kg, Chinese traders have stopped purchasing, causing some drying kilns to have large quantities of unsold goods.

Accordingly, traders at drying kilns in Nghe An predict that areca nut prices will have difficulty recovering in the near future and may continue to decrease when the harvest season ends. Drying kilns are also operating at a slower pace than before.

"After this batch of goods is finished, we will continue to collect or stop depending on the situation. China is not importing as much as before. We also limit purchases to check the price. If we continue to buy and dry, if the price drops again, not only will we lose money but we will also have to hold on to the remaining inventory," said an areca drying kiln owner in Nam Dan.

This is not the first time that areca nut prices have reached a record high and then suddenly plummeted, because the output of areca nuts depends entirely on China. Therefore, in the face of this year's unexpected developments, with high areca nut prices, localities still advise people not to follow the price to expand acreage.