Last year, traditional lychees sold at stores for only 35,000-60,000 VND, but this year the price is 100,000-180,000 VND per kilogram.
Ms. Nguyen Thi Hien in Luc Ngan (Bac Giang) shared that her family expected this year’s lychee output to decrease by 30%, but in reality, when harvested, it decreased by up to 60%. Severe crop failure caused lychee prices at the end of the season to skyrocket. Her family’s last half ton of lychee was sold for 80,000 VND per kilogram – the highest price since growing lychees.
Similarly, Mr. Giang in Thanh Son commune, Thanh Ha (Hai Duong) said that last year he harvested 11 tons of lychees, but this year only 3 tons remained. The unprecedented increase in lychee export prices is still not enough to cover family expenses. “In the garden, a few trees only have a few fruits left, but they are big, round and sweet, so traders pay up to 100,000 VND per kilogram,” Mr. Giang shared.
This is also the common situation of lychee growers in Bac Giang and Hai Duong. According to them, lychee output at the end of the season decreased sharply, prices doubled compared to the beginning of the season but there was not much left to sell.
Luc Ngan District People’s Committee informed that the locality has 126 purchasing points and more than 1,000 drying and processing kilns for dry fabric. However, some weighing points have to temporarily suspend operations due to lack of goods.
Lychee transported by cold truck to Ho Chi Minh City is being retailed for 100,000-120,000 VND per kilogram. Image: Thi Ha
Authorities also said the price of lychees increases every day. Traders go everywhere to deposit and collect goods. In recent days, there is no longer the hustle and bustle of carrying fabric to the weighing station or market to sell, but traders come to the garden to buy. On average, this year’s lychee price is the highest ever since lychee became a large-scale commodity crop locally.
Ms. Hoang Anh, a fabric trader in the North, said Thanh Ha is almost out of fabric, she only buys it in Luc Ngan. Fabric prices increased due to large demand from domestic and international sources. In addition to China’s crop failure increasing demand, orders from the South also increased dramatically. Currently, she can only meet 50-70% of demand.
“U Hong lychee has a purchase price of up to 200,000 VND per kilogram but the gardens no longer have any stock because it’s the end of the season,” Ms. Hoang Anh said.
High lychee prices and scarce supplies have caused the amount of lychee from the North to the South to decline sharply. Surveys at stores and traditional markets in Ho Chi Minh City show that lychees only appear sporadically on the shelves of some fruit stores, not as popular as usual.
At high-end fruit stores, the price of grade 1 lychee transported by air is up to 320,000 VND per kg, while traditional lychee costs 165,000-180,000 VND per kg, twice as expensive as the same period and up 50%. compared to the beginning of the season. Some supermarkets have temporarily stopped importing goods, others sell them for about 120,000-135,000 VND per kg but the quantity is very limited.
At the MM Mega Market system, lychees are being sold for 95,900 VND per kg, a newly adjusted price compared to 79,000 VND per kg 2 weeks ago. At Winmart, each kilogram of Luc Ngan lychee is 85,000 VND per kilogram, previously the promotional price was 49,900 VND.
MM Mega Market representative said that normally at the end of the season, lychee prices will decrease, but this year the purchasing price has increased 3 times last year due to a nearly 70% decrease in output in Bac Giang and Hai Duong. At the beginning of the season, MM Mega Market signed an agreement with Bac Giang province to consume about 100 tons of lychees, but with current developments, it will be difficult to purchase enough output.
Central Retail said it planned to consume 300 tons of fabric, but with the current situation, the supermarket will reduce consumption. Right from the beginning of the season, Central Retail predicted that due to the impact of unusual weather, this year’s lychee crop would fail, output would decrease by half compared to last year, and selling prices would increase by about 40% over the same period.
According to statistics from the Department of Industry and Trade of Bac Giang province, this year’s lychee output in the whole province is estimated at 100,000 tons. By June 14, farmers had harvested 67,000 tons, of which early ripe lychees reached about 45,430 tons. To date, 43,000 tons of lychees have been consumed domestically, with the remainder exported to many countries and territories. China is still the main consumption market with 23,800 tons, besides Japan, the US, the EU, Australia, Dubai and some Southeast Asian countries.