Areca nut prices in the Central region stagnate as Chinese traders remain cautious.

Son Tay and Nghia Hanh districts are the largest areca growing areas in Quang Ngai province with about 2,200 hectares. In the past few months, areca prices have been increasing continuously. At the beginning of the season, areca prices were about 50,000 - 60,000 VND/kg. At the peak, areca prices were over 90,000 VND/kg. Thanks to that, areca growing families have high incomes, some households earn billions of VND.

gia cau o mien trung chung lai do thuong lai trung quoc de chung hinh anh 1 — The clusters of betel nuts are laden with fruit, but always precarious.

gia cau o mien trung chung lai do thuong lai trung quoc de chung hinh anh 2 — People weigh areca nuts to sell to traders

gia cau o mien trung chung lai do thuong lai trung quoc de chung hinh anh 3 — Locals transport betel nuts to sell to traders during peak season.

gia cau o mien trung chung lai do thuong lai trung quoc de chung hinh anh 4 — Clusters of betel nuts, laden with fruit, fetch high prices at the beginning of the season.

However, in recent days, areca nut consumption has begun to “slow down”. Areca nut prices have also gradually decreased and traders are also cautious, not daring to buy for fear of not being able to sell.

Mr. Truong Van Phuong, who specializes in buying areca nuts, said that areca nuts are only sold to export agents to China. Currently, the price of areca nuts is only about 50-60 thousand VND/kg. But the worrying thing is that the agents are not buying as much as before.

Mr. Truong Van Phuong said: "For the past three days, the price of betel nuts has dropped compared to before, and we don't know if they will buy them again. It's only been like this for the last four days; before that, we could still buy them. There were a few small buyers along the road who used to supply their factories, but now they're not buying anymore. Only the main factories, with their capital, buy from their regular customers, just to get a few extra for their business partners. They don't buy from strangers."

gia cau o mien trung chung lai do thuong lai trung quoc de chung hinh anh 5 — Processing of areca nuts after drying

gia cau o mien trung chung lai do thuong lai trung quoc de chung hinh anh 6 — Areca palm plantations of the people of Quang Ngai

gia cau o mien trung chung lai do thuong lai trung quoc de chung hinh anh 7 — Endless areca plantations

gia cau o mien trung chung lai do thuong lai trung quoc de chung hinh anh 8 — Due to the slow pace of purchases, traders have temporarily stopped buying betel nuts.

gia cau o mien trung chung lai do thuong lai trung quoc de chung hinh anh 9 — Areca nuts are picked, processed, and then dried.

According to Mr. Dam Bang, Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Nghia Hanh district, betel nut trees are not a key crop and the locality does not encourage people to plant them.

The market for areca nuts is very unstable, depending on Chinese traders. Every year when areca nuts are priced well, people plant them en masse, but after a few crops when they cannot sell, they cut them down. Mr. Dam Bang added:

"The market for betel nut trees in Nghia Hanh district is unstable. People only buy them through traders from China. If they buy, the price is good, but if they don't, the people cut them down. Therefore, the district does not encourage planting betel nut trees, and in the process of restructuring the agricultural sector, betel nut trees are not included in the planning because the market for betel nut trees is unstable."

Source: https://vov.vn/kinh-te/gia-cau-o-mien-trung-chung-lai-do-thuong-lai-trung-quoc-de-chung-post1129630.vov