Specialty Mekong Delta mango prices halved

VnExpress surveys at fruit shops and traditional markets in Ho Chi Minh City revealed that Hoa Loc is selling for VND70,000 (roughly $3) per half-kilo, the lowest price since last year.

Thanh Hoa, a fruit trader at Can Cu Market in the city’s Go Vap District, said the retail price for half a kilogram of first-grade Hoa Loc mango is VND70,000, while second-grade fruits fetch prices of VND35,000-40,000.

The wholesale price of the mango stands at VND23,000-35,000 per kilogram.

Ha, a wholesale farmer in Dong Thap Province, said he had just sold two tons of Hoa Loc mango for VND23,000 per kilogram, down 50% over three months ago.

“With current prices we don’t gain profits because of higher production costs, including the higher costs of fertilizers and pesticides,” he said.

Hanh, a fruit trader in the Mekong Delta, said mango is in season now, meaning supply is growing but demand is decreasing.

Mango exports to China are slower than usual because the country now requires officially-approved growing area codes and traceability, Hanh said.

In addition, foreign mangos are also being imported into Vietnam en masse, competing more fiercely with local produce.

“Demand for mango on the domestic market has decreased 20-30% over the same period last year,” said Hanh, a fruit seller at the city’s Ba Chieu Market. “Weaker sales have pushed its prices down.”

The Mekong Delta province of Dong Thap in southern Vietnam is home to over 14,000 hectares of mango farms with an annual output of nearly 137,000 tons of the fruit.

Over 8,200 hectares of mango in the province have been granted officially-certified growing area codes to better serve domestic and foreign markets, including China, Australia, the United States, New Zealand, South Korea and Japan.

Hoa Loc mango, a Mekong Delta specialty, was the first fruit in the region to be granted a certified geographical indication.

Vietnam is expected to reel in over $4 billion exporting vegetables and fruit this year, up 20% against last year.