Dry coconut prices increase again, many gardeners have nothing left to sell

In recent months, the price of dry coconuts has suddenly increased again to 50,000 VND/dozen. Although the price is good, Ben Tre gardeners are not very happy because there are not many coconuts left to sell. Mr. Dang Van Thanh’s family (living in Giong Trom district, Ben Tre province) said that his family has 3 hectares of dry coconuts, but for the past 2 years, the income has been insignificant because the price is too low.

There were times when the price of dry coconuts dropped to 15,000 VND/dozen (12 fruits) but there were no buyers, making his family frustrated and abandoning the coconut garden.

“At that time, my children discussed cutting down coconuts to switch to growing grapefruit, but the price of grapefruit also decreased, so we had to leave it like that. Because we had no money to buy fertilizer and did not add mud, the coconut trees became weaker and weaker. Up to now, the whole bunch of coconuts only has a few fruits. Selling the whole garden only got a few hundred fruits,” said Mr. Thanh.

This is also the common situation of many gardeners in Ben Tre during this period. Because the price of dry coconuts had previously dropped, most gardeners did not invest, causing the coconut trees to lose strength and productivity to decrease.

A few gardeners, seeing the price of coconuts drop, tried to hold on to the fruit and wait for the price to increase. When the price of coconuts increased again, they immediately called traders to buy. The family of Mr. Le Manh Hung (living in Giong Trom district, Ben Tre province) is one of them. Mr. Hung said that his family had just sold more than 2,000 coconuts for 55,000 VND/dozen.

“It has been a long time since gardeners like us have been able to sell at such a good price. The previous times, even though it was harvest time, the price was too low, so I did not sell. Luckily, this time the coconuts have a good price, so I can make up for some of the money spent on fertilizer and pesticides,” Mr. Hung said.

According to records, the price of dry coconuts is currently fluctuating between 40,000-50,000 VND/dozen (12 fruits). This is the best price in the past 2 years and more than double the price of coconut in the first months of 2023.

Mr. Huynh Quang Duc – Deputy Director of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Ben Tre – said that the reason for the recent increase in coconut prices is due to the increase in world coconut prices. According to Mr. Duc, although Ben Tre province’s coconut acreage is the largest in the country, it is very small compared to the world, so the price of coconut depends largely on the world market.

Mr. Duc added that in the coming time, if the official export market to the US and China is opened up, the price of coconut will stabilize. The whole province currently has more than 78,000 hectares of coconut, mainly raw dry coconut, with a total estimated output of about 688 million fruits/year.