Vietnam litchi eyes southern market as exports to China drop
Vietnam litchi eyes southern market as exports to China drop
Localities with huge litchi-growing areas in northern Vietnam are considering traveling south to find alternative outlets for their products as China has begun reducing imports, fruit producers said Monday.
Hai Duong and Bac Giang Provinces are among the country’s largest litchi-growing localities, and around 30 percent of their produce used to be shipped to China.
“But litchi exports to China have shown signs of declining,” Nguyen Anh Cuong, deputy chairman of Hai Duong Province, stated at a meeting held to boost litchi sales in the southern region by the Ministry of Industry and Trade in Hanoi.
China has even halted imports of dried and packaged litchi over the last three years, which “exacerbated the tough problem of finding an outlet for the produce,” Cuong added.
Representatives from Hai Duong and Bac Giang said their production is expected to rise to 190,000 tons of fresh litchis this year.
Some 60 percent of these will be distributed domestically, and the remaining will be shipped to Japan, the UK, Indonesia, and China, they said.
Litchi producers said they are focusing on increasing sales in the southern region, but face some challenges.
The southern market is still unstable and litchi producers from the north still do not know much about them, according to Hai Duong and Bac Giang chief officials.
They expressed their wish to be able to cooperate with wholesale markets and retailers to distribute their products at reasonable prices, instead of relying on brokers as they currently do.
In response, Nguyen Thi Hong, deputy chairwoman of the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee, said the country’s southern hub is willing to cooperate and create conditions to help northern farmers find outlets for their produce.
Saigon Co.op, the country’s leading supermarket chain, also made a similar commitment to supporting northern litchi producers.
Supermarkets under the chain are currently sourcing litchis from a wholesaler in south-central Ninh Thuan Province instead of those in Bac Giang or Hai Duong, which a Saigon Co.op representative deemed “a great pity.”
Saigon Co.op is selling around 10 tons of litchis on a daily basis, and the company will “seek to increase litchi sourcing to boost its consumption,” its representative said.
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