HANOI: The northern province of Bac Giang, home to the best litchi crops in Vietnam, achieved glorious victories in terms of both sales and prices of the fruit this year, after years of suffering poor prices against booming supply.
Bac Giang produced nearly 195,000 metric tons of fresh litchis in 2015, all of which have so far been sold out, the provincial administration announced Friday. More than 106,600 metric tons were sold domestically, whereas 88,000 tons were exported.
While China used to the biggest market for Bac Giang litchi, the domestic market this year accounted for 55 percent of the total crop, compared to 48 percent in 2014, according to the announcement.
Bac Giang only exported 45 percent of its bumper litchi crop, while exports last year accounted for 52 percent. Bac Giang litchis have been distributed across Vietnam, but the southern market is the largest consumer, according to the provincial administration.
Around 64,000 metric tons of litchis, or 60 percent of the total domestic consumption, have been sold to southern provinces and cities. However, Bac Giang still failed to really diversify the export markets for its litchis.
While the province has managed to ship the fruit to new markets including Australia, France and the U.S. in 2015, China remained the largest buyer, accounting for 93 percent of the total exports, or 82,000 metric tons.
Bac Giang has also managed to send its litchis to the in-flight meals on 1,400 flights operated by national flag carrier Vietnam Airlines to introduce the fruit to international customers.
While being able to sell out its litchi crop is already a victory, Bac Giang is even happier when the fruit is sold at “the highest prices in five years,” the announcement reads.
The province reaped a total of VND4.6 trillion, or US$211.3 million, from litchi sales and supportive activities. The Bac Giang administration said there are also lessons to be learnt from the 2015 crop, despite the glorious victory.
The weather in the year-end is expected to be unfavorable, which will affect the litchi productivity, whereas production costs also soared due to increased taxes in China, which reduced the competitiveness for Vietnamese litchis.
Litchi farmers in Bac Giang used to be forced to lower selling prices by Chinese traders whenever they enjoyed booming crops. The provincial authorities have thus exerted effort to reduce the reliance on the Chinese markets, while seeking new outlets for the fruit.
The first batch of Vietnamese litchi weighing around 500 kilograms was available for sale at a supermarket in France, whereas some 30 metric tons of the fruit was also shipped to Australia in early June.
