Vietnam farmers enjoy lychee export price surge

The prices of lychee Vietnam exported to China have doubled over last year on the back of a poor harvest in the neighboring country.

Vietnam expected to export around 70,000 tons of lychees to China in 2019. Photo by VnExpress/Ngoc Thanh.

Officials of Bac Giang Province’s Department of Industry and Trade said lychees were being sold to Chinese traders for VND30,000-60,000 ($1.3-2.6) per kilo for several weeks now.

Lychee prices have been stable this season, occasionally peaking at VND70,000 ($3), several times that of last year, they added.

"Prices range from VND25,000-50,000 ($1.1-$2.1) per kilo, depending on variety and quality, but can even go as high as VND70,000 ($3). On average, the price of lychees is two times higher than it was last year," said Cao Van Hoan, vice chairman of Luc Ngan District People's Committee. Bac Giang is home to Luc Ngan, the nation’s leading lychee producing region.

According to the Ministry of Industry and Trade, China is buying lychees from Vietnam at high prices because they have suffered a poor harvest this year.

Guangdong, which produces half of China’s lychees, had a warm winter and little rain last year, so lychee output in the province fell 40 percent compared to 2018.

Statistics compiled by the Dong Dang-Lang Son Border Gate Economic Zone Management Board show Vietnam has exported nearly 50,000 tonnes of lychee to China this season. Vietnam expected to export around 70,000 tons to China in 2019, the board said.

On average, around 140 vehicles have registered to carry lychees to China a day, equivalent to 4,000 tons of lychee, it said.

According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Vietnamese lychees are mainly exported to China, but smaller quantities also go to countries in the Middle East, EU, Russia, the U.S., Canada, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Thailand, and Australia.

Vietnam’s lychee harvest typically happens from mid-May to early July, but some varieties of lychees could ripen even later.