BẮC GIANG — The northern province of Bắc Giang has sold more than 207,000 tonnes of lychees this year, including more than 1,000 tonnes shipped abroad.

According to the provincial Department of Industry and Trade, the lychees have entered more than 30 countries and territories worldwide, including the US, the EU, Canada, China, Japan, Thailand and Australia.

The department earlier this week announced that its total revenue from lychees and lychee products had reached VNĐ5.52 trillion (US$238 million) so far this year, with export turnover of $1.8 million.

Vietnamese lychees were also exported to Eastern Europe and Russia for the first time, with about 20 tonnes exported to Russia.

Bắc Giang’s speciality fruit is cultivated under GlobalGAP standards and eligible for export to demanding markets.

In the domestic market, Bắc Giang’s lychee this year has also seen sharp sales increase in wholesale markets in the southern region while expanding to cities such as Hà Nội, Quảng Ninh, Đà Nẵng and HCM City.

Notably, big retail chains such as Sài Gòn Co.op, Hapro and Big C have sold lychees this year.

The department also said farmers in the province directly earned more than VNĐ3.3 trillion from lychees. Total lychee output this year was expected at 218,000 tonnes, increasing 123,500 tonnes and turnover up by VNĐ427 billion from the previous season.

Trần Quang Tấn, the department’s director said the lychee season would end in the next 10 days. This year’s lychee season has been successful both in output and prices.

The lychee prices have been rising since June 30 to VNĐ35,000 per kilo.

Tấn added the lychee consumption market this year saw new aspects as the local consumption system was expanded, making the selling price stable.

Currently, lychee output is centred in the city’s Lục Ngạn District. There were 182 Chinese traders co-operating with Vietnamese ones to ship lychees to China.

Vietnamese lychees welcomed in Malaysia

The first container of the 2018 Vietnamese lychee crop arrived in Malaysia on Monday and was warmly welcomed by consumers.

The batch was imported by the Kuala Lumpur-based Billyan Global Resources from Việt Nam’s Hà Nội Trade Corporation (Hapro).

After seeing the high demand for the fruit, Billyan Global Resources has decided to increase Vietnamese lychee imports for sale in Kuala Lumpur and nearby states, such as Selangor.

In the near future, an additional 20 containers, each weighing nearly 10 tonnes, will be delivered to Malaysia.

Apart from Malaysia, Vietnamese lychees have also been imported to demanding markets such as the US, Australia, Japan and Europe.

The Vietnamese Commercial Counsellor in Malaysia Phạm Quốc Anh said the Vietnamese Trade Office had been working with authorities to bring Vietnamese lychees and various other local goods – such as fruits and vegetables, seafood and processed foods – to Malaysia. 

He advised Vietnamese enterprises to improve their product design, quality and delivery standards to increase their market share in Malaysia. — VNS