Chinese people’s fascination with durian has caused demand for the stinky fruit to quadruple between 2021 and 2022, VnExpress cited a June 25 report by HSBC bank.
China buys 91% of durians on the international market worth more than 6 billion dollars (510 billion rubles) a year. The General Administration of Customs of China reported that the country purchased 1.43 million tons of durian in 2023; 6.7 billion, increasing imports by 66% compared to 2022.
The main suppliers are Thailand, Vietnam and Malaysia. According to the Thai government, durian exports to China will increase to $3.75 billion (320 billion rubles) by 2023. In 2012, this figure was equal to $128 million (11 billion rubles), according to the UN Comtrade database.
Durian production increased 180% in 12 years to 1.4 million tonnes last year, and orchard area increased 80%, Thai newspaper Khaosod English reported. Durian now accounts for 25% of Thailand’s top four agricultural exports. The other three are rice, rubber and cassava.
The Bangkok Post reported that strong demand from China has led Thai farmers to switch from growing rice and corn to durian.
Vietnam began supplying the stinky fruit to China in 2022. The area under durian cultivation in Vietnam doubled between 2020 and 2024 to reach 151,000 hectares, said Nguyen Quoc Manh, deputy director of the agricultural production department at the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. Production during this time increased from 366,300 tons to almost 1.2 million tons.
The Ministry of Agriculture has warned that increased production could lead to excess supply and make quality control of exports difficult.
“I think durian will be a new economic boom for Malaysia.”said the Minister of Agriculture, Mohamad Sabu. Malaysian farmer Eric Chan started growing durian 15 years ago, when the fruit was cheap and often sold by the truckload. “Everyone makes good money. Many went from wooden houses to brick houses. “They can afford to send their children to study abroad at university.”he said, referring to the once-poor durian farmers in Raub province.
Source: Rossa Primavera
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