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The race to enter the Chinese market
Thai durians have been “dominating” the Chinese market for many years. However, since mid-September 2022, Vietnam has started to export durians to China through official channels. With this development, Thailand now faces an additional competitor in the world’s largest durian-consuming market.
In the first 5 months of the year, Vietnam’s durian exports reached 503.4 million USD, up 18 times over the same period last year. Among markets, China imported the most Vietnamese durian with a value of 477 million USD, accounting for 95% of the total export value of this commodity group. Experts predict that with the current pace of durian exports, this specialty fruit could contribute $1.5 billion to our country’s revenue in 2023.
The landing of Vietnamese durians in China is making Thai people uneasy. Therefore, Thailand has decided to transport durians through the Laos-China high-speed railway in the new international sea-land trade corridor. This move aims to quickly and cost-effectively bring Thai durians to the national market of billions of people.
According to Terapong Techasathian, assistant CEO at Pan-Asia Silk Road Ltd (PAS), on April 23rd, the company set a record when it shipped 25 containers of durians from Thailand to China via the Map route. Ta Phut – Guangzhou. The train arrived at its destination in 4 and a half days, 6 days faster than originally planned.
The exploitation of this new route has led to a significant increase in Thailand’s export turnover. Anucha Burapachaiisri, the spokesperson for the Thai government, said that the country has exported 477,700 tons of fresh durians to China, equivalent to 62.6 billion Baht (1.75 billion USD) in the first 5 months of 2023. This is the highest export turnover in the same period in the past 30 years.
Earlier, in March, when the durian harvesting season officially began, Thailand decided to enhance the quality standards for exported durians. The minimum dry matter content was increased to 35%, compared to 32% in the previous year. According to plant protection experts, when the dry matter in the fruit increases, the water content decreases, resulting in firmer and tastier durians. This move by Thailand is aimed at retaining Chinese consumers by ensuring the quality of their durians.
Vietnamese durians still have advantages
The significant effort to reduce the transportation time of durians from Thailand to China by half is a notable step forward. However, the transit time for Thai fruits is still longer compared to Vietnam (1.5-3 days, depending on customs clearance activities). Additionally, Thai durians are only available seasonally and are often affected by diseases, while Vietnamese durians are available almost year-round and enjoy favorable weather conditions. These advantages allow Vietnam to have a greater presence in the Chinese market with the ability to provide stable and continuous supply.
Mr. Dang Phuc Nguyen, Secretary General of the Vietnam Fruit and Vegetable Association, believes that Vietnam has more advantages than Thailand due to its border proximity to China. According to him, transporting durians by rail is advantageous for Thailand as it saves time and costs. On the other hand, Vietnam has the advantage of road transportation due to lower investment costs for refrigerated containers compared to rail (investment in refrigerated containers and accompanying power generators). Therefore, in a single day, hundreds of refrigerated containers can be easily mobilized for transporting durians to northern border gates for export to China. However, achieving the same efficiency with rail transportation would be extremely challenging.
He acknowledges that the consumption of durians in the Chinese market is still on a strong upward trend, with forecasts reaching 2 million tons in the near future. However, along with this, the competition to enter the Chinese market with this fruit is also becoming more intense. In addition to Thailand, Vietnamese durians have to compete with other rivals such as Malaysia and the Philippines. This competition requires constant innovation and quality improvement to gain favor from consumers.
Hao Nguyen
