In April 2026, the distribution of durian, Vietnam's largest fruit export, fell into a serious standstill. The cause is not a drop in market demand. There are only 13 accredited labs nationwide able to handle the residue testing for cadmium and auramine O (a yellow dye) that China requires, and shipments are stalled while waiting for testing. In Dong Thap province, a major Mekong Delta growing region, 80 of 111 export packing facilities halted operations. On April 12, the wholesale price of the Ri6 variety plunged about 20% in a single day, from VND 82,000\/kg to VND 65,000\/kg, causing losses of hundreds of millions of dong to both farmers and exporters.<\/p>\n
Vietnam's durian planted area exceeds 200,000 hectares, and annual production reaches about 2 million tonnes. Fruit and vegetable export value in the first quarter of 2026 topped US$1.5 billion, of which durian holds the largest share.<\/p>\n
China tightened residue standards for cadmium (a heavy metal) and auramine O (Basic Yellow 2, a synthetic yellow dye) on imported fruit. Only 13 testing labs nationwide in Vietnam have Chinese accreditation. Between March 10 and 25, lab utilization fell further, and at one point the situation was reduced to only one facility operating.<\/p>\n
The wait for testing is normally two to seven days, but at the cooperative level delays of up to 15 days have been reported. While waiting for results, hundreds of containers piled up at ports and packing facilities, causing quality deterioration and disposal losses of the fruit.<\/p>\n
Behind this is the re-inspection penalty on the Chinese side. China's quarantine authorities immediately recall any shipment in which auramine O is detected and suspend the packing code of the source. The labs themselves also bear the risk of being shut down if there is a problem with testing accuracy, so they have no choice but to spend time on analysis.<\/p>\n
Tran Huu Toan, head of a cooperative in Dong Thap province, points out that \"farmers have not been shown concrete ways to deal with cadmium contamination. There are no soil-management guidelines either, so they are feeling their way.\"<\/p>\n
| Variety \/ grade<\/th>\n | Period<\/th>\n | Price (VND\/kg)<\/th>\n | Yen conversion (reference)<\/th>\n | Change<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n | ||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ri6 (wholesale)<\/td>\n | Early April<\/td>\n | 82,000<\/td>\n | About 500 yen<\/td>\n | Baseline<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n | ||||||||||||||||||
| Ri6 (wholesale)<\/td>\n | April 12<\/td>\n | 65,000<\/td>\n | About 396 yen<\/td>\n | \u25b220.7%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n | ||||||||||||||||||
| Ri6 Grade A<\/td>\n | April 23<\/td>\n | 54,000\u301c60,000<\/td>\n | About 329-366 yen<\/td>\n | \u25b226\u301c34%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n | ||||||||||||||||||
| Thai VIP (wholesale)<\/td>\n | April 23<\/td>\n | 120,000\u301c125,000<\/td>\n | About 731-762 yen<\/td>\n | Flat<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n | ||||||||||||||||||
| Monthong (wholesale)<\/td>\n | Early April<\/td>\n | About 80,000<\/td>\n | About 488 yen<\/td>\n | Baseline<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n | ||||||||||||||||||
| Jackfruit<\/td>\n | March<\/td>\n | 1,000\u301c3,000<\/td>\n | About 6-18 yen<\/td>\n | Crash<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n * Yen conversions calculated at 1 VND = approx. 0.0061 yen (as of April 2026)<\/p>\n Voices on the ground: the sense of crisis as told by farmers, exporters and authorities<\/h2>\nHuynh Thanh Nha, an exporter in Dong Thap province, says, \"In the few days before results come out, more cases are arising where Chinese buyers who had already contracted switch to canceling. It means losses of hundreds of millions of dong in a single day.\"<\/p>\n Another farmer does not hide his impatience: \"The off-season fruit is nearly all shipped, and what remains is only inventory waiting for testing. We want to ship it before quality drops, but we cannot move it.\"<\/p>\n An official of Dong Thap province's agriculture department explains that \"four facilities in the province are awaiting accreditation. Once accreditation comes through, processing capacity will improve, but the timing is undecided.\"<\/p>\n Three points Japanese import buyers should note<\/h2>\nFor Japanese buyers of Vietnamese fruit, this testing bottleneck is not someone else's problem.<\/p>\n 1. Factoring in delivery-delay risk<\/strong> 2. The opportunity in price swings<\/strong> 3. Strengthening traceability checks<\/strong> China accounts for more than 90% of Vietnamese durian export value. In Q1 2026 alone, Vietnam exported more than US$1.5 billion of fruits and vegetables, but the annual US$10 billion target<\/a> depends heavily on China's quarantine policy to be achieved.<\/p>\n While coffee farmers' switch to durian accelerates and planted area expands (Related Articles<\/a>), the buildout of testing infrastructure has not kept pace. The gap between expanding production and testing capacity is the root cause of this standstill, and a short-term resolution is difficult.<\/p>\n The standstill in Vietnamese durian exports is not merely a price swing but a structural problem in which testing infrastructure has not kept up with the speed of production growth. The current system of handling testing demand for 2 million tonnes at 13 accredited labs is unsustainable, and the fact that 80 facilities in Dong Thap province alone were forced to halt operations shows its limits.<\/p>\n For Japanese buyers, it is a phase to treat the short-term price drop as an opportunity while keeping a close watch on delivery risk and changes in traceability standards. We recommend continuously monitoring progress on the green-lane system and lab expansion advanced by the Vietnamese government and reflecting it in procurement plans.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Vietnamese durian exports have stalled due to a shortage of inspection labs. With inspection concentrated at 13 accredited facilities, the Ri6 variety dropped 20%. We report the full picture of an abnormal situation in which 80 facilities in Dong Thap province have halted operations and hundreds of containers are stuck.<\/p>","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"template":"","categories":[14,102,85,110,22],"tags":[126,77,174,157,15,72],"crop_category":[207],"class_list":["post-1057","industry_news","type-industry_news","status-publish","hentry","category-mekong-delta","category-market-price","category-fruits","category-quarantine-regulation","category-export","tag-jackfruit","tag-durian","tag-traceability","tag-dong-thap","tag-mekong-delta","tag-china","crop_category-tropical-fruits"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vietnam-agri.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/industry_news\/1057","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vietnam-agri.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/industry_news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vietnam-agri.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/industry_news"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vietnam-agri.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1057"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vietnam-agri.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1057"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vietnam-agri.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1057"},{"taxonomy":"crop_category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vietnam-agri.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/crop_category?post=1057"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}} |