Durian prices increase sharply, quality control warning

Hot weather pushes up durian prices

Last weekend, Mr. Phan Hoang Tan in Tien Thuy Town (Chau Thanh District, Ben Tre ) harvested more than 2 tons of durian. During the off-season, he sold a batch to traders for 100,000 VND/kg. Mr. Tan said that in the next 2-3 weeks, he will continue to harvest another batch with an estimated output even higher. The joy was doubled when the price of durian continued to increase to 110,000 - 120,000 VND/kg due to unfavorable weather and intense heat, causing many off-season durian gardens to fail and have low yields.

However, Mr. Tan also said: "In the past few days, there has been information that China has warned about the quality of Vietnamese durian, this is the main consumer market so I am worried. If there are any adverse developments, it will greatly affect the consumption and price of domestic durian. I hope that the authorities will coordinate with China to soon clarify the issue to protect the durian industry and so that people can feel secure in production."

Vietnamese farmers, businesses and authorities need to join hands to improve durian quality to avoid losing market share.

Photo: Hoang Nguyen

In Tien Giang - the locality with the largest durian growing area in the Mekong Delta, according to Mr. Vo Van Men, Head of the Department of Cultivation and Plant Protection of this province, currently the off-season durian is still being harvested regularly and consumed stably. The price of grade 1 durian can reach 150,000 - 180,000 VND/kg, depending on the variety and quality. The main crop will not begin until the end of April, so from now until then, the price may remain high.

"Regarding the information about durian quality that China has just warned about, we are currently implementing the instructions of the Plant Protection Department to investigate the cause, organize remedies and apply preventive measures; send a report of the results to the Department before April 1. We also recommend that gardeners in general should feel secure in production, continue to practice safe production processes, use fertilizers and pesticides according to the list licensed by the competent authorities, as well as the quality requirements of the importer," Mr. Men informed.

In 2023, durian exports reached a turnover of 2.3 billion USD, of which the Chinese market accounted for 2.1 billion USD. Thanks to the "rapid" growth of durian, the export turnover of the fruit and vegetable industry in 2023 reached a record figure of 5.7 billion USD. The growth momentum continued in the first months of 2024. Preliminary estimates show that in just the first 3 months of the year, Vietnam's fruit and vegetable exports reached nearly 1.25 billion USD, an increase of 27% over the same period in 2023.

China demands higher quality

While the durian market is doing well, information emerged last weekend that made many in the industry worried. The Plant Protection Department (Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development) announced: Received warning information from the Animal and Plant Quarantine Department (General Administration of Customs of China - GACC) about 30 shipments of Vietnamese durian exported to China being contaminated with heavy metal cadmium exceeding the food safety regulations of China. These shipments belong to 18 enterprises, which were discovered by China to have violated the regulations from June 2023 to January 2024.

Photo: Hoang Nguyen

The Plant Protection Department has sent documents to the Plant Quarantine Sub-Departments, the Department of Food Safety of Ho Chi Minh City, the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of the provinces, and the enterprises on the warning list, requesting them to investigate the cause, trace the warned shipments, review all records, production, collection, and export processes; organize remedies and apply preventive measures to avoid recurrence of violations; and report the results to the Department in writing before April 1. The Department also requested local management agencies to monitor enterprises in implementing the above requirements, verify reports on the cause of the warned shipments and the enterprises' remedies.

Responding to Thanh Nien, an expert in the fruit growing industry said this is a complicated issue. To clearly determine the cause (soil, water, fertilizer, pesticides, etc.) or during the packaging process, it also takes time and expertise. Cadmium is a substance banned from use in fertilizers and pesticides in Vietnam. If it is present in fertilizers and pesticides, from which products; where did it come from..., many issues need to be clarified by the authorities as well as the coordination with Chinese partners. "We should not be too worried or act hastily without enough information because that will affect the development of this very young billion-dollar industry," he said.

From a market perspective, Mr. Dang Phuc Nguyen, General Secretary of the Vietnam Fruit and Vegetable Association (VINAFRUIT), emphasized: If in the past, China only cared about external factors of the product such as insects, fungi, etc., the new warning shows that they are paying more attention to the internal factors of the product. This also means that the Chinese market is now as "difficult" as the EU, Japanese or American markets.

Meanwhile, this is a large and rapidly growing market, with a value of 4 billion USD in 2022, nearly 8 billion USD in 2023 and expected to reach 10 billion USD in 2024. In this market, although Vietnam's turnover ranks second after Thailand, its quality and value rank third after Malaysia and Thailand. Therefore, if we cannot manage and improve quality, we will lose market share to very strong competitors such as Thailand and Malaysia.

Mr. Nguyen warned: "Not only durian but also vegetables and fruits in general, Vietnam's main market is still China. Thailand is also a large importer of Vietnamese vegetables and fruits, but they pay very cheap prices (for trade) and require EU quality standards. Saying this shows that if we do not improve quality and maintain it sustainably, we will not be able to sell to anyone. To avoid this situation from happening again, authorities need to closely monitor fertilizers and pesticides; regularly update market requirements to promptly adjust recommendations to people. Farmers need to strictly comply with good agricultural practice standards, at least VietGAP standards. We need to pay more attention to the quality of durian"./.

In October 2023, Japan forced the destruction of 1.4 tons of durian imported from Vietnam. The reason was that the country's quarantine agency discovered that the product contained residual procymidone at a content of 0.03 ppm, while the allowable standard is 0.01 ppm. This is an active ingredient in pesticides that kills mold. Japan is applying quarantine regulations to all durian imported from Vietnam. This causes businesses to incur many costs, time and affects the distribution stage.

On February 7, 2024, the EU officially monitored Vietnamese durian products at the border gate with a frequency of checking 10% of shipments. This is a new update this year along with other items such as bell peppers and instant noodles. The EU is one of Vietnam's fastest growing durian export markets.

According to thanhnien.vn

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/gia-sau-rieng-tang-manh-canh-bao-kiem-soat-chat-luong-185240324203012019.htm

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