(Image source: Photo.com)
With the advent of summer, durian, as the king of tropical fruits, is ushering in the annual peak production period. Compared with the price of durian in early April, it has fallen by about half. The sharp drop in prices has made many consumers lament that the era of "durian freedom" has arrived.
Recently, the reporter of "China Times" visited the fruit wholesale market of Xinfadi market. Mr. Li, a merchant, said that the price of durian this year is very cheap, and the price reduction time has been earlier than in previous years, and it has reached the lowest level in the same period in history. He also pointed out that after the price of durian dropped, the overall sales situation increased, "I opened hundreds of durians a day, and the tools were tired. ”
In the Xinfadi market and major fresh supermarkets in Beijing, the price of durian is generally between 25.9 yuan per catty and 40 yuan per catty, while some special durians are even as low as 15.9 yuan per catty.
Professor Hong Tao, vice chairman of the China Consumer Economics Association and director of the Institute of Business Economics of Beijing Technology and Business University, pointed out that the sharp decline in durian prices is mainly due to the centralized listing of goods in Thailand and Vietnam, as well as the acceleration of mass production of domestic durian. At present, the planting area of durian in Hainan is close to 40,000 mu.
Some merchants predict that with the deepening of the durian season, there is room for further price reduction around May 20, and it is expected that the price per catty will be reduced by 2~3 yuan. This will undoubtedly further stimulate consumers' enthusiasm for buying and allow more people to realize the dream of "durian freedom".
The mainland is the world's largest importer and consumer of durian, accounting for 82% of global durian consumption every year. According to the import data of the General Administration of Customs, the total import volume of fresh durian in 2023 will be 1.426 million tons.
In recent years, China's fruit import and export trade has shown a rapid growth trend, and China is one of the world's largest fruit producers and consumers, as well as an important fruit importer. China imports a variety of fruits from all over the world, such as bananas, durians, cherries, etc., to meet the demand for diversified fruits in the domestic market.
In 2021, Thai fruits accounted for the total number of imported fruits in mainland China
28.18%In 2021, mainland China imported fruits from 85 countries and regions, an increase of 2 from 2020. Among them, the number of fruits from 13 countries and regions such as Thailand, South Africa and Egypt exceeded 100,000 tons, accounting for 94.56% of the total imports.
Specifically, the fruit volume from Thailand was 2.1047 million tons, accounting for 28.18% of the total imports; The fruit volume from Vietnam and the Philippines was 1,306,400 tons and 1,066,400 tons, respectively, accounting for 17.49% and 14.28% of the total imports.
Durian is the king of imported fruits in China
In 2020, durian remained the mainland's main imported fruit, with an import value of US$2.3 billion in 2020, followed by cherries with US$1.64 billion and bananas (including plantains) with US$930 million.
According to the total import and export volume of trade, from 2016 to 2020, the import and export trade categories of mainland fruits have changed significantly. In the past five years, the popularity of fresh durian has been increasing, rising from fifth place in 2016 to first place in 2020, while fresh apple has reversed the trend, dropping from first to fifth place. The top five fruits in terms of total trade imports and exports are cherries, fresh or dried grapes, fresh or dried citrus and fresh apples.
Hong Tao, vice chairman of the China Consumer Economics Association and director of the Institute of Business Economics of Beijing Technology and Business University, said that the output of durian produced in mainland China is accelerating. However, in the long run, there is still a huge gap between the production of domestic durian and the market consumption. Although the production of domestic durian is gradually increasing, the market's dependence on imported durian may decrease in the future, but imports still dominate the market.
With the rapid development of the mainland economy and the improvement of consumption level, people's demand for quality fruits is increasing. However, the domestic fruit industry is limited by climate, land and resources, and cannot meet market demand. Therefore, the mainland fruit import market has broad prospects, especially for imported fruits with good quality and good taste. With the continuous development and opening up of foreign trade, mainland fruit imports will usher in more opportunities and challenges, and become an important part of the mainland fruit market.
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