Foreign fruits sold in Vietnam at super cheap prices

Imported kiwi, apples, pomegranates, and pears are currently priced at several tens of thousands of dong per kilogram, one-fifth of the peak two years ago and the cheapest ever.

Specializing in selling imported fruits on Bach Dang Street (Binh Thanh), Ms. Hanh said that imported yellow kiwifruit from New Zealand is selling for 200,000 VND per box (weight 3.5 kg), or only 57,000 VND per kg. For customers buying more than 10 boxes, the price is only 160,000 VND per box. "This price is 15% lower than the same period last year," she said.

According to Ms. Hanh, imported pomegranates and pears are also increasingly cheaper. Of which, pomegranates imported from China are currently fluctuating at 60,000-70,000 VND per kilogram, in some places only 40,000 VND. Or Tunisian pomegranates used to be one of the imported fruits classified as high-end with a selling price of 250,000 VND per kilogram in 2021, now only 35,000-50,000 VND, meaning the current price is only one-fifth of that two years ago.

Kiwi is being sold at many wholesale markets for 165,000-210,000 VND per 3.5 kg box. Photo: Fruit wholesale market

Similarly, Korean pears are being sold for 60,000-80,000 VND per kilogram for grade 1, and 30,000-40,000 VND per kilogram for grade 2 - the cheapest price ever.

The prices of apples imported from New Zealand have also dropped sharply every day, now at 40,000-60,000 VND per kilogram. In particular, Envy apples - the most expensive imported apple in the Vietnamese market (excluding Japanese apples) - 2-3 years ago were priced at 200,000-350,000 VND per kilogram, now down to 70,000-110,000 VND, a decrease of more than half.

The reason why the price of imported fruits in Vietnam is decreasing is due to the abundant supply in the market while purchasing power has not improved much, said Mr. Thanh - a fruit importer at Thu Duc wholesale market.

In addition, he said that in the past year, India and New Zealand have opened up their doors and want to export more fruits to Vietnam, so the selling prices are attractive. With the Chinese market, the agreements that create benefits between the two countries also help this country's fruits enter Vietnam more easily and cheaper than before.

Sharing the same view, Mr. Dang Phuc Nguyen, General Secretary of the Vietnam Fruit and Vegetable Association, said that Vietnam's participation in free trade agreements has helped reduce import taxes on fruits and vegetables to almost 0%. Therefore, fruit prices have also decreased quite sharply due to not having to pay taxes.

"We have signed EVFTA, RCEPT, CP TPP, ACFTA... with the US, Japan, Korea, New Zealand, so imported fruit prices receive large tax incentives," Mr. Nguyen added.

According to statistics from the General Department of Customs, by the end of October, Vietnam spent more than 1.6 billion USD to import fruits and vegetables. This year in particular, Vietnam increased fruit imports from low-cost countries such as India, New Zealand, and South Korea, with a growth rate of 4-62% compared to the same period last year.

Thi Ha

Vnexpress.net