Vietnam's exports increase exponentially

In 2024, China will continue to be the world's largest durian consumer market (about 91%). In particular, with the formula "durian combined with everything", this delicious and fatty cake is growing bigger and bigger, predicted to soon reach the 10 billion USD mark.

In recent years, China's durian imports have increased sharply. In addition to its experimental planting efforts, China has opened its market to many countries that officially export durian, such as Vietnam, the Philippines, and Malaysia. Accordingly, the race to export durian to China is getting hotter as Thailand has more competitors in this market, especially Vietnam.

Since mid-2022, Vietnam's durian export turnover to the billion-people market has increased exponentially since the protocol was signed. From 421 million USD in 2022, it jumped to 2.24 billion USD the following year. In 2024, durian exports set a record of nearly 3.3 billion USD, of which China accounted for more than 90% of the total export turnover of this item in our country.

Not only that, Vietnam's durian market share in the Chinese market also increased sharply, from 5% in 2022 to about 35% in 2023. In the 11 months of 2024, Vietnam's durian accounted for 47.09% of China's total imports, about to catch up with its rival Thailand with 52.03%.

In contrast, in 2024, Thailand exported about 860,000 tons of durian to China, down 13% compared to 990,000 tons in 2023, causing the value to decrease from 4.12 billion USD to 3.75 billion USD.

Thai agricultural officials predict that the country’s durian industry will continue to face challenges in the coming time, because Vietnam’s durian output is increasing rapidly and in about 1-2 years it could be on par with Thailand’s.

In fact, since Vietnam signed the protocol and officially exported durian to China, Thai media and experts have issued many warnings to farmers in the Land of the Golden Pagoda about competition from Vietnamese goods.

Therefore, to maintain market share, Thailand not only raises the quality standards of exported durian but also promotes the transportation of goods by rail to reduce time and costs, while increasing the freshness of this fruit.

Recently, when Chinese customs discovered that Thai durian contained yellow O and imposed strict inspection measures, the Thai Government Office issued a warning that "Trust in Thailand's staple fruit product has been shaken."

Thai people launch "special campaign"

Immediately, the head of the Thai agricultural sector launched a major nationwide campaign called: “Safe, quality fruits for domestic consumption and export”. This special campaign was called “Set Zero” by the Thai media.

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Thailand "speeds up" campaign to improve durian quality. Photo: Xinhua

A series of strong measures were taken such as: checking 100% of exported durian containers, testing for Cadmium and Yellow O residues in durian according to China's requirements... In case of detecting violations, they will be immediately handled, even prosecuted.

In addition, many groups of experts were sent to large durian growing areas, especially the southern region of Thailand, to standardize quality right from the first step in the production chain.

Through this campaign, Thailand wants to strengthen consumer confidence in quality, while maintaining its market share in the Chinese market.

Currently, Thailand has 6 laboratories designated for testing O-yellow working at full capacity to promptly meet China's new requirements. The country is also piloting the first large-scale organic durian growing model in the Eastern region, serving both domestic and export markets.

In Vietnam, durian exported to China was also affected by the discovery of yellow O on Thai durian. Many container trucks carrying durian exported to China had to return to the domestic market for sale at prices ranging from 40,000 to 50,000 VND/kg due to stricter inspections.

After many days of difficulties, a representative of the Plant Protection Department (Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development) said that Vietnam has 9 testing centers for yellow O substance recognized by the General Administration of Customs of China as qualified. The durian shipments that meet the required standards have been cleared.

To date, in addition to exporting fresh whole durian, Vietnam has signed a protocol with China on exporting frozen durian to this market. According to Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Le Minh Hoan, exporting durian to the billion-people country will contribute to gradually increasing the proportion of processed products - which always have a value 10 times, even 100 times higher than the value of exporting raw goods that we are looking for.

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Vietnam also needs to set national standards for durian. Photo: Manh Khuong

By 2025, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development forecasts that the durian acreage in our country will increase to 160,000 hectares, with an estimated output of 1.55 million tons. This shows that the durian supply will continue to increase strongly and become increasingly abundant.

Recognizing that the export potential is still very large because less than 1% of Chinese people have access to durian, experts and businesses believe that the durian industry chain needs to be more systematic, from growing area codes, packaging facilities to product quality and brand issues.

In addition, Mr. Nguyen Thanh Binh - Chairman of the Vietnam Fruit and Vegetable Association recommended that the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development research and soon develop national standards for durian and other key fruit and vegetable products.

According to him, there are some general standards such as humidity, scratches, roughness, cold damage... but most of these standards have not been fully developed.

For example, durian requires strict procedures for harvesting, post-harvest preservation, transportation and processing. Without specific standards, farmers may inadvertently reduce product quality, and the shell (epidermis) may be scratched, reducing shelf life.

Mr. Binh emphasized that quality standards will help all parties have a common basis for production, harvesting, and processing. This is also a premise for ministries and sectors to confidently continue negotiating to open markets, while businesses can maintain their export markets.

China discovered carcinogenic substances in Thai durian, Vietnamese goods were affected . When Thai durian was discovered to contain yellow O, a substance that can cause cancer, China immediately tightened its restrictions, causing this Vietnamese product to also be affected, forcing some businesses to stop exporting.