Grapefruit prices plunge after holiday

Farmer Truong in the southern province of Dong Nai has 45 tons of green grapefruit ready to be sold but only a few traders have made an inquiry.

Having been growing the fruit for 10 years, Truong has seen their prices drop from VND50,000 in 2020 to 25,000 last year and now VND16,000.

Thanh in Ben Tre Province recently received an offer to sell at VND13,000, 13% lower than the production cost.

Trader Thu Hien in Dong Nai said that a decline in China’s demand for the fruit had caused its prices to fall. Domestic demand is also low, she added.

Nguyen Ding Tung, CEO of fruit exporter Vina T&T, said that supply was now more abundant than in previous years and therefore prices had dropped.

Prices are expected to rise again in March when demand is forecast to rise.

Vietnam’s fresh green grapefruit has been approved for exports to the U.S., but exporters face strong competition from their Chinese and Thai counterparts.

Vietnam has 105,400 hectares of different varieties of grapefruit that produce nearly one million tons annually.