CHINA reopening its borders on Sunday should be good news for Malaysia’s durian exporters but they are not exactly jumping for joy just yet because they see more hurdles in resuming exports to the lucrative Chinese market.

Malaysia Durian Exporters Association president Sam Tan told The Malaysian Insight that exports could probably take up to six months to reach normal levels.

Tan said exporters are wary of what actions the Chinese authorities could take to tackle the surge in Covid cases following Beijing’s decision to relax strict virus restrictions.

He said his members expect a new wave of the pandemic to break out during the peak Lunar New Year travel season, during which Chinese authorities could impose new restrictions that might impact Malaysian export plans.

The long new year holiday in China and the near shutdown of freight transport would just add to their woes, Tan added.

“There’s a risk that the durian shipments won’t arrive on time.”

Tan was concerned that consignments could rot in their containers before they reach the importers.

Tan said the border closure and the Chinese’s thirst for the ‘king of fruits’ had pushed up demands by 200%.

That, he added, had a chain reaction with the price of local durians going up by about 20%.

However, he believed the price will drop in a week’s time or when it gets closer to new year, when freight transport to and across China grinds to a halt and workers take their festive break.

Export pie getting smaller

Raub district plantation association (Persatuan Pengusaha Tanaman Industri Daerah Raub) chairman Nicky Koh said past measures taken by China to control the pandemic had strongly impacted durian exports from Malaysia.

Koh, who is also an exporter, said despite expecting more difficulties, he remains positive and said things will improve after Sunday when China opens its border.

One of the expected difficulties is competition from countries entering the market, particularly Thailand and Indonesia.

“The share of the export pie is slowly getting smaller.”

On top of which, he pointed out that the price of durians, particularly the popular Musang King variety, would not return to its heyday price of RM100-105/kg two years ago.

Koh said the price could hover around RM40/kg.

The main reason for the drop, he said, is that there are more investors going into the durian growing business.

On the peninsula, the durian acreage has grown exponentially. In Kelantan, it is estimated more than 10,000 acres of land is used for durian plantation.

Koh said the increase in competition should be a good thing for consumers.

“In the past, the cost of growing a kilo of durian could be RM15. When the planters applied fertilisers, the cost shot up to RM25.

“Yet these days, the large plantations are not heavy into fertilisers. That in turn will help push the cost down and the price of the fruit at the same time.

“The situation is this: when the price of durian is good, planters use fertilisers to produce a good harvest, but when the price is bad, they will use less fertiliser.”

Koh said the current drop in price was due to poor demand locally and in neighbouring Singapore.

“People will be busy with their children starting school and doing new year shopping. Buying things for the new year celebrations, and not durians, is their priority.”

Koh said one important consideration is the general economic situation.

“People are spending more cautiously now. They will not spend on non-essential items.”

So sharp is the drop that you can buy six Musang King for RM100 – a durian gourmet’s dream. – January 6, 2023.