Vietnam shipped nearly 33,000 metric tons of durians worth US$161 million to China in the first two months of this year, overtaking Thailand to become the largest exporter of durians to the northern neighbor, the Vietnam Fruit and Vegetable Association cited China's General Administration of Customs as saying.

China imported over 53,000 metric tons of durians valued at $283 million in the two-month period.

Vietnam reported an increase of 2.4 times in both the volume and value of durians shipped to China.

Vietnam accounted for 57 percent of the total market share for durians in China, well above the 32 percent in 2023.

Thailand came in second with more than 19,000 metric tons worth $120 million, plunging 50.3 percent in volume and 45.2 percent in value year on year.

Besides Vietnam and Thailand, China also bought durians from the Philippines but with a mere $2.2 million.

Despite taking a lead in durian exports, the average export price of Vietnam’s durians reached $4,900 per metric tons, lower than the $6,133 of Thailand.

Dang Phuc Nguyen, general secretary of the Vietnam Fruit and Vegetables Association, said Vietnam has advantages in the abundant volume of durians and the availability of durians all year round.

The short transport time between Vietnam and China helps reduce the durian prices, which is another advantage of Vietnamese durians.

As of last year, Vietnam had some 110,000 hectares of durian farms with an output of 900,000 metric tons, double the area and output in 2019.

In 2023, Vietnam exported more than 595,000 metric tons of durians with a value of $2.1 billion to China.

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