February 15, 2020 | 17:48 (GMT+7)
Long An exports 50 tons of dragon fruit by sea a day
The Dragon Fruit Association of southern Long An province exports 50 tonnes of dragon fruit a day on average to China and other Southeast Asian nations by sea as export by road has faced lots of difficulties due to the outbreak of the acute respiratory disease caused by the novel coronavirus (COVID-19).
The association has exported over 1,000 tons since the Lunar New Year festival which fell on January 25 this year, Sai Gon Giai phong newspaper reported.
According to Chairman of the association Nguyen Quoc Trinh, the outbreak has long caused stagnancy in dragon fruit export and price drop for farmers.
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Baskets of dragon fruit for export. Photo: Sggpnews.org.vn |
Before Tet holiday, traders paid as low as VND 5,000 per kg of red flesh dragon fruit. The price increases to VND 12,000-15,000 per kg now. After transporting the fruit to China and some other nations by sea, mostly through Cat Lai seaport, traders sell the fruit in local markets at the price of VND 40,000-42,000 per kg
The volume of dragon fruit exported by sea has been increasing for the last few days.
Source: VNA