China buys cheap areca nuts to make candy, sells to Vietnam for millions of dong per kilo

Chinese areca nuts are sold everywhere in Vietnamese markets at expensive prices.

These days, areca nuts are as expensive as gold, areca nuts have reached record prices, areca nuts have plummeted... becoming "hot" keywords, because China has been increasing purchases to use as raw materials for production, then stopped "buying" the goods.

In our country, the areca tree is quite familiar to people. However, the market for this fruit is quite narrow, because it is only used in weddings, betel chewing customs, and is the fruit bought to burn incense during holidays and Tet.

Therefore, in addition to a small amount consumed in the domestic market, a large amount of areca nuts are exported. Some provinces in our country such as Quang Nam , Quang Ngai, Thanh Hoa... have quite large areca nut growing areas for export.

The main customers of Vietnamese farmers' areca nuts are Chinese. In this country of a billion people, areca nuts are used as a precious medicine. In Oriental medicine, areca nuts are used to treat a number of diseases related to the digestive system, prevent anemia, and treat skin allergies...

In addition, young areca nuts are also used to make candy. This candy is very popular in China, especially in cold regions, because it has the effect of preventing sore throat and keeping the body warm.

Therefore, for many years now, China has become a major customer for Vietnamese areca nuts. However, the price of areca nuts is quite unstable. There were times when the price of this fresh fruit jumped to 60,000-90,000 VND/kg. The rest, most of the areca nuts are purchased at quite cheap prices, even super cheap.

For example, at this time in 2022, the price of areca nuts skyrocketed to 60,000 VND/kg but then dropped to 3,000-4,000 VND/kg. Last year, fresh areca nuts were only purchased at 5,000-7,000 VND/kg, the highest price was 20,000 VND/kg.

In recent days, the price of areca nuts has increased from 40,000 VND/kg to 80,000-90,000 VND/kg. However, this price only held for a few days and then plummeted.

Currently, fresh areca nuts cost about 60,000 VND/kg. However, the drying kilns are quite cautious in purchasing, some places even stopped purchasing, so the price of this item plummeted. The reason is that the Chinese partner has collected enough raw materials for production.

Notably, the Chinese buy areca nuts from Vietnam at cheap prices to produce areca candy. Then, these items are imported by wholesalers and sold at Vietnamese markets at very expensive prices.

For example, on e-commerce platforms, Chinese areca nuts are sold everywhere with common prices ranging from 60,000-200,000 VND/package, depending on weight and brand. If calculated by weight, 1 kg of areca nuts costs about 3-3.3 million VND depending on the type.

The seller also noted that you should not swallow the gum residue after chewing. For those who eat areca candy for the first time, they may experience hot flashes, sweating, dizziness, and even chest pain...

This type of areca candy is only used a lot in cold weather. However, the number of orders on e-commerce sites is quite high.

Mr. Nguyen Van Quang, a wholesaler of Chinese areca candy, said that the candy is quite picky because of its high price. However, each month, the amount of candy he sells to wholesale and retail customers is up to thousands of packs.

According to Mr. Quang, each year he only imports areca nuts to sell from September to February of the following lunar year. The colder the weather, the more areca nuts sell because many people buy them to keep their bodies warm. In other seasons, when the weather is warm or hot, areca nuts are almost unsaleable.

TB (summary)

Source: https://baohaiduong.vn/trung-quoc-mua-cau-gia-re-lam-keo-ban-sang-viet-nam-hang-trieu-dong-moi-can-396211.html