Thailand becomes Vietnam's second largest durian importer

In the period, Thailand spent up to US$22.5 million importing Vietnamese durian, a year-on-year surge of 82%. This figure is much higher than that of the third ranked market, China’s Hong Kong, with only US$3.6 million. In 2023, Hong Kong (China) was the second largest import market with a turnover of US$20 million, followed by China’s Taiwan with US$16 million.

Dang Phuc Nguyen, general secretary of the Vietnam Fruit and Vegetable Association (Vinafruit), explained that in recent times, Thailand increased imports of Vietnamese durian because during that time, Vietnam was the only country supplying this kind of fruit in the world.

Although Thailand is the largest exporter of the fruit, its durian has decreased significantly in quantity and quality due to severe drought, so it has to buy this fruit from other countries to serve domestic and tourist needs, stated Nguyen.

Vinafruit Chairman Nguyen Thanh Binh added that while China is the largest importer of Vietnamese fresh durian, Thailand is Vietnam's top frozen durian importer thanks to competitive prices.

Some of the imported frozen durian is to serve processing activities, but the majority is exported to third countries, mainly China, Binh said, adding that currently, Vietnam is not allowed to export frozen durian to China while Thailand and China have a protocol on frozen durian.

Therefore, the Vietnamese business community is looking forward to the early signing of a protocol between Vietnam and China, so that products do not have to detour to benefit both Vietnamese farmers and Chinese consumers.

In April, Vietnam earned US$217 million from shipping durian abroad, up 487% against the same period last year.

The figure for the first four months of this year reached US$470 million, a year-on-year rise of 146%. China was the largest importer, accounting for 92% of the market share.