Challenges from Thailand and Vietnam's efforts to increase market share
Thailand has established a strong position in exporting durian to China. In the second quarter of 2024, durian imports from Thailand reached nearly US$2.67 billion, accounting for 75% of China's total durian imports. This is a strong growth compared to 42.5% in the first quarter of the year.
The main reason for Thailand to maintain this position is that the Thai durian harvest coincides with the second quarter, when demand in China increases. Moreover, Thailand quickly overcame the difficulties caused by heat and drought in May 2024 - causing durians to crack on the trees, ensuring a stable supply to the Chinese market. Data from July shows that Thailand's fresh durian imports were US$363 million and Vietnam's exports were US$270 million. In the four-month period ending in July, Thailand exported 609 million kg of durian, far exceeding Vietnam's 296 million kg.
According to experts, the consistent taste and strong brand of Thai durian have contributed to its popularity among Chinese consumers.
Despite Thailand's dominance, Vietnam has shown a strong rise in durian exports to China. Since being licensed to export fresh durian in 2021, Vietnam has quickly become the second largest durian supplier to China. In 2023, Vietnam exported about 500,000 tons of durian, worth US$2.3 billion, of which 90% went to China.
Vietnam has a big advantage thanks to its low production costs and the ability to transport it quickly across land borders, which allows Vietnamese durian to often be cheaper than Thai durian in the Chinese market. However, product quality remains a major challenge for Vietnam.
In June 2024, China temporarily suspended durian imports from 33 Vietnamese suppliers, including 18 durian growing areas and 15 packaging factories, due to the detection of heavy metal content exceeding the permitted level. This suggests that competitive pressure may have caused some producers to pursue quantity at the expense of quality, damaging the reputation of Vietnamese durian.
Nguyen Thanh Trung, a political science expert at Fulbright University Vietnam, warned that increasing production without quality control could cause long-term damage to the reputation of Vietnamese durian. This requires Vietnam to focus on improving product quality and strictly complying with international standards to maintain its market share in China.
The import suspension has raised concerns about the future of Vietnamese durian in the Chinese market. Although Chinese officials have stressed their desire to continue cooperation and promote imports from Vietnam, the incident has raised urgent demands for quality improvement and compliance with international standards.
Speaking at the National Assembly forum on August 21, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Le Minh Hoan admitted that Vietnam is currently lagging behind Thailand and Malaysia in exporting durian to China.
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