Fruit exports surge in five months

Among the top 10 fruit and vegetable export markets, China, the U.S., the Netherlands, and Malaysia have the strongest growth, with China importing $805 million worth of Vietnamese products, accounting for 59% of market share, compared with 53% in the same period last year.

Durian in an orchard in the Mekong Delta City of Can Tho. Photo by VnExpress/Manh Khuong

Nguyen Dinh Tung, general director of Vina T&T Import Export Trading Service Company, told VnExpress that while his company’s fruits exported to the U.S. and Canada dropped in the first four months of this year, goods shipped to China, including durian, dragon fruit and banana, helped its export turnover increase 20%.

The company has signed contracts to export 1,500 containers of durian, with each container holding 15 tons of the fruit to China this year.

In foreign markets, including China, Vietnamese fruits had to fiercely compete with peers from Thailand, Cambodia and the Philippines, according to Tung.

"The export prospects in the second half of the year will be brighter as Vietnamese agricultural products are being favored by many countries," he said.

Dang Phuc Nguyen, general secretary of the Vietnam Fruit Association, said this is the first year after three years of being hit by the Covid pandemic that local items such as dragon fruit, durian, mango and jackfruit were imported the most by China.

"In the second half of this year, fruit and vegetable exports will be very positive if enterprises meet the requirements of the Chinese market in terms of Good Agricultural Practices (GAP).

It is expected that the total export turnover of vegetables and fruits this year could be over $4 billion. The Vietnamese fruit and vegetable export will surge this year and the years to come," Nguyen said.

China is favoring Vietnamese agricultural products, but according to Nguyen Xuan Cuong, director of the Department of Crop Production under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, this market is increasingly demanding.

Vietnam earned nearly $3.4 billion from vegetable and fruit exports last year.