BANGKOK — The eastern durian season closed with cumulative exports from January 1 to June 30, 2024 totaling 595,681.88 tons and worth 79.3 million baht. Prices remained strong throughout the season as more than 1,500 traders competed to buy. Even at the end of the season, prices were still between 170-190 baht per kilogram.
However, during the southern durian season in the second half of the year, prices fell sharply, averaging 140-150 baht per kilogram. The drought, the overlap of the season with the Vietnamese durian season and the summer season in China posed further challenges to pricing.
Lessons from the Fierce Eastern Competition
Mr. Wutthichai Khunjate, President of the Thai Durian Association, explained that the Thai durian market continues to grow, with new challenges arising from various factors such as drought, which is affecting production efficiency, increasing costs and causing varying degrees of damage to farmers — 30 percent, 50 percent and 100 percent. In addition, the quality of durian fruits has declined and there are more undersized fruits.
Despite higher prices, production costs have also risen. The influx of many buyers has led to intense competition, which means that the initial purchase prices on the market do not correspond to the actual prices. In order to keep Thai durian on the market in the long term, a comprehensive supply chain concept is required.
If farmers produce quality durians and professional buyers purchase and supply quality products, traders can maintain their markets without driving purchase prices above market levels, which could drive them out of business. Thai durians need real partners for long-term competition as international competition increases, giving traders more choice but ensuring that Thailand remains the market leader.
“Currently, farmers are benefiting from new traders who are driving up prices, but these inexperienced traders are selling lower quality durians, leading to falling prices. Large traders with an established customer base cannot compete, which reduces the number of traders. We need to retain key traders who maintain the quality of Thai durians,” Wutthichai emphasized.
Falling Chinese Market Causes Traders Heavy Losses
Mr. Nakarin Wanitchthanom, an exporter of “Khunnon Durian”, told Prachachat Business that the high prices in 2024 are illusory due to the presence of over 1,500 traders leading to intense price competition.
“There are two groups of traders: those who buy and sell for profit and those who buy to build a customer base for Thai durians. While importers benefit from the high prices in the short term, their profits are lower and many have stopped buying to switch to other sources.
The problem is that new traders are snapping up the quality durians and driving up prices unrealistically. They lack the experience to keep the quality durians on the market. Established dealers with a customer base can’t compete on price, so ultimately fewer dealers remain in the market,” explains Nakarin.
Mr. Sanchai Kosalwattana, owner of the site “Farming for Profit, Not Money”, told Prachachat Business that price competition among traders is unrealistically high this year. A survey at the Jiangnan market in late June 2024 revealed durian prices of 600 yuan per box (18.5 kg), about 146 baht per kilogram.
Considering that the cost of Thai durian 7-10 days earlier was 150-160 baht per kilogram plus 35 baht per kilogram export packaging cost, this comes to 185-195 baht per kilogram. Given the weak economy and low purchasing power in China, these high costs exceed the selling price and cause considerable losses for the traders. If this situation continues, fewer Chinese will get involved in the Thai durian business.
First Half Export: 80 Billion Baht
Ms. Athinan Intarapim, Agricultural Affairs Advisor at the Beijing Agricultural Affairs Bureau, reported that Thai durian remains a rising star with continuous import potential despite competition from Vietnam, the Philippines and, more recently, Malaysia. In 2023, China imported 928,645 tons of Thai durian worth 4.5 billion baht, 492,111 tons from Vietnam worth 2.1 billion baht and 3,770 tons from the Philippines worth 13 million baht.
Comparing imports in 2024 (Jan-May), Thailand exported 420,537 tons (72.18 percent), Vietnam 160,284 tons (27.51 percent) and the Philippines 1,803 tons (0.31percent). In Q1 (January-March), Vietnam’s exports of 45,048 tons were higher than Thailand’s exports of 27,264 tons as there were no Thai exports. However, in April, Thailand exported 94,349 tons and Vietnam 34,207 tons, and in May, Thailand exported 299,139 tons and Vietnam 81,098 tons.
The Department of Agriculture’s Office of Plant and Agricultural Materials Control ceased export statistics reporting on 30 June 2024. Cumulative exports from 1 January to 30 June 2024 were 37,703 containers/shipments, totaling 595,681.88 tons, valued at 79.3 billion baht.
The Department of Agriculture’s Office of Plant and Agricultural Materials Control ceased reporting export statistics for the eastern region as of 30 June 2024. In comparison, the Office of Agricultural Economics Region 6 (Chonburi) reported that the eastern region’s durian production would be 782,874 tons, and the southern region’s durian production would be 558,353 tons (Region 8).
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