Recently, the high price of Thailand’s signature Monthong (“golden pillow”) durians on the Chinese market [3] has been starting to relax, while that of Vietnamese Kanyao (“long stem”) durians has fallen sharply.

On June 2, a total of 93 containers of durians were in stock at Guangzhou’s Jiangnonghui Market (the imported fruit section of the Jiangnan Wholesale Fruit Market), including 41 containers of Thai Monthong durians. The price of grade A fruit is expected to drop below 1,000 Chinese yuan ($140) per box in the near future, while grade B fruit are currently priced at around 770–882 yuan ($108–124) per box, with each box containing six to seven durians. Meanwhile, traders at the market had in stock 47 containers of Kanyao durians from Vietnam, the price of which is continuing to fall. Smaller boxes of grade A fruit, each containing three durians, are now selling for just 250–270 yuan ($35–38). Boxes of Vietnamese Monthong durians, each containing five to six fruits, are selling for 820–860 yuan ($115–121).

The local price of Monthong durians in Thailand [4] remains relatively high, while the typical retail price in China still exceeds 80 yuan ($11.23) per kilogram. However, some unscrupulous merchants have been found attempting to pass off Vietnamese Kanyao durians as Thai Monthong durians, with prices in the range of 40–60 yuan ($5.62–8.42) per kilogram.

The steep decline in the price of Vietnamese Kanyao durians comes as Vietnam enters its peak durian season [5], with ample supply from the country’s western provinces. Compared with mid-March, prices have fallen by almost half for many varieties.

Da Huoai, a rural district of Lam Dong province in Vietnam’s Central Highlands region, has almost 6,000 hectares of durian plantations. Six orchards have commodity codes issued by Chinese customs authorities, covering an area of nearly 300 hectares with an annual output of over 100,000 metric tons.

The purchase price of high-quality Kanyao durians in Vietnam is approximately 70,000–75,000 Vietnamese dong ($2.98–3.19) per kilogram, with lower-quality fruit selling for 50,000–55,000 dong ($2.13–2.34) per kilogram. Meanwhile, Monthong durians fetch somewhat higher prices of 80,000–100,000 dong ($3.41–4.26) per kilogram. With Monthong durians in high demand, many purchasers are reportedly now visiting orchards directly requesting to buy.

Image: Pexels

This article was translated from Chinese. Read the original article [6].