Coconut prices fall on bumper crop

Phan Van Dinh, 68, of Giong Trom District in Ben Tre, Vietnam’s biggest coconut-growing province, has an orchard of 2,000 square meters.

“At present, we only manage to sell VND1 million worth of coconuts a month, enough only to cover costs, not profit,” he said.

Traders are buying at VND2,500-2,900 apiece, down from VND5,000-5,800 a year ago, he said.

Le Van Trong, owner of a 6,000-sq.m orchard in Ben Tre, does not want to sell the 2,500 fruits he has harvested because traders are offering only VND1,500, saying they are too small.

He is now drying the coconuts to sell them as seedlings for cultivation.

Huynh Quang Duc, deputy director of the Ben Tre Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, said it is the coconut harvest season with large output, causing prices to fall.

Ben Tre has over 74,000 hectares of orchards, or 80% of the total coconut growing area in the delta and 50% of Vietnam’s.

Besides some exports to the U.S., coconuts are mainly exported to China via border trade.

“We are waiting for exports to China through the official quota with a much bigger volume, so that the life of coconut growers will improve,” Duc added.