Phong, who owns a half-hectare durian orchard in the Mekong Delta province of Tien Giang, is anxious that few traders are buying though the main durian season is reaching its peak and his trees are ready to be harvested.
Some traders signed contracts last month to buy his fruits at VND60,000 per kilogram and even paid deposits, but he fears they might cancel their purchases as prices drop.
“My only option now is to sell [my durians] to small retailers at around VND45,000.”
Minh Thai, an established trader in the province, said last year he bought up to 30 tons of durian a day for businesses exporting to China, the world’s largest market for the fruit, but this year he is buying only around three to four tons to sell in the domestic market after exports started slowing in March.
Most traders in other durian-growing areas like Can Tho City and Ben Tre Province have similarly stopped procuring the fruit fearing losses.
Those who did said they faced stringent inspections when selling to exporters and could only sell them for VND10,000 higher than their purchase prices, leaving them with almost no profit.
One of them said: “If we do not procure goods, we earn no money. But if we pay deposits, we are constantly worried because we do not know if prices will decline tomorrow.”
The main reason for the sharp price drop is the stricter inspection imposed by China since earlier this year.
China now requires testing for cadmium, a heavy metal, and auramine O, an industrial dye known to pose cancer risks, and also increased the inspection rate for Vietnamese durian shipments from 10% to 100%.
Shipments have been piling up at border gates as customs clearance, which previously took only one or two days, now takes up to a week.
Some of them eventually pass inspection but the fruit is damaged or cracked by the time it reaches wholesale markets in China due to the long wait, Doan Van Ven, CEO of export company Anh Thu Dak Lak, said.
“This is why businesses are wary and no longer dare to export in large volumes.”
One exporter in Tien Giang has had to redirect shipments and sell their durian at a 40% discount in the domestic market due to border customs delays, incurring heavy losses.
Exporters are calling on authorities to push for faster customs clearance, at most within three to four days, and to get more testing centers approved by China.
Ven also emphasized the need to educate farmers on proper fertilizer use to ensure their products meet quality standards. He added that companies producing low-quality fertilizers should be punished severely.
Local authorities have been encouraging farmers to conduct tests on their fruits before harvesting and tightening their oversight of orchards and packaging facilities.
Any entity that fails to meet regulations on pesticide residues, heavy metals or traceability has its export code suspended. The code is a key requirement to export fruits to other markets.
Vietnam exported a record $3.3 billion worth of durian in 2024, or nearly half of all fruit and vegetable exports.
The figure dropped 69% year-on-year to $52.7 million in the first two months of 2025, with shipments to China declining by 83% to $27 million.
Once the top fruit export, durian has now fallen behind dragon fruit and banana and may struggle to meet its $3.5 billion export target for this year.
The Vietnam Fruit and Vegetable Association has warned that if issues related to inspection and customs clearance are not quickly resolved, the durian industry could face even greater setbacks.
