China’s summer durian market heats up as Thailand, Vietnam vie for top spot

A rebound in fresh durian imports from Thailand has solidified its position as China’s top supplier, leaving main rival Vietnam behind

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The pungent durian is one of China’s most popular fruits, making the country’s enormous market a prize exporters seek eagerly. Photo: AP

Published: 5:00am, 21 Aug 2024Updated: 8:56am, 21 Aug 2024

Shipments of fresh durians from Thailand to China – the world’s top consumer of the pungent fruits – rebounded in the second quarter after a drop earlier this year, a change in fortunes attributed to a seasonal harvest spike and a lasting reputation for quality.

Durian imports from Thailand were valued at nearly US$2.67 billion according to Chinese customs data, representing a 75 per cent share of all inbound shipments of the fruit – a marked improvement from the 42.5 per cent registered in the first quarter of 2024, and a quarter-on-quarter increase of US$2.5 billion. The country’s share of China’s durian imports for the whole of 2023, meanwhile, was 68 per cent.

Thailand’s chief competitor, Vietnam, claimed all but a trickle of the remaining shipments over the second quarter. Vietnamese durians sometimes sell for less than their Thai peers in China as shipping costs are defrayed by the use of a land border.

However, Chinese authorities had cut off 33 Vietnamese durian export sources in June over quality concerns.

Vietnam’s quick growth in exports of fresh durian since 2022 – before which Thailand had a functional monopoly – may have prompted growers to pursue shipment volume at the expense of quality, analysts said.

Thailand has long had a “first mover advantage” among Chinese consumers, said Liang Yan, an economist at Willamette University in the US state of Oregon.

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