Fearing a glut of longans in the market, the Ministry of Commerce is accelerating the expansion of exports to markets such as Indonesia, India, and China.

Longan floods the market

Longan is one of the many fruits that Thailand produces sufficiently to meet domestic demand and can be exported abroad. Longan is one of Thailand’s most important economic crops, especially for farmers in the northern region, and is considered a Product Champion.

Longan is a fruit that has a unique taste and smell that is difficult to replace with other fruits. Longan production in Thailand has expanded its planting area in the past 5-6 years, but most of the production is in the North, especially Chiang Mai and Lamphun provinces, which have the largest production volumes.

Longan is one of the dozens of fruits that are exported to foreign countries and generate billions of baht in revenue for the country each year, whether fresh longan or processed longan. Thailand is a major exporter in the world.

Domestic trade went to Chiang Mai Province to follow the longan production and found that the quantity has increased. They are preparing to expand the export market to “Indonesia-India” and China. They are coordinating and promoting the drying process. They are targeting a production of 100,000 tons and are asking gas stations to purchase and distribute to service users.

On July 9, 2024, Mr. Wattanasak Suea-iam, Director-General of the Department of Internal Trade, spoke about the overall longan production situation in the country, both in season and out of season, which is expected to be 1.44 million tons, an increase of 2%, especially Chiang Mai, which is a major plantation area, approximately 40-50% of the total production.

The current price is in a good direction, with Grade AA at 40-45 baht per kilogram (kg), higher than last year’s price of around 30-35 baht per kilogram. The department has prepared measures to take care of the produce, which will be available from July to August.

For the measures to be implemented, coordination has been made with exporters, collectors in the area and outside the area to purchase the products, both dried and exported. The drying target is 100,000 tons and there will be a nationwide consumption campaign.

Especially tourist attractions, including having gas stations collect and distribute both dried and fresh longans as souvenirs to the people who fill up their tanks like every year in the past.

In addition, discussions were held with exporters to expand the longan export market to Indonesia and India, which confirmed that the market has increased demand for longan from Thailand and the Chinese market also has high demand, said the Director-General of the Department of Internal Trade.

He also said that the measures that the department has prepared are ready to take care of longan production, including accelerating the release of products from the area, promoting exports, using them to make dried longans, and processing them into pitted longans, which will begin in 2024.

Previously, the Department of Internal Trade had prepared fruit management measures for 2024 since November 2023, with a volume of 900,000 tons, with approximately 200,000 tons of longan in particular, including promoting exports and processing.
and the consumption campaign, confident that it will push prices to be in good condition throughout the season.

Source of information: Thai PBS