Malaysian durian to cost more due to lower yield, higher costs

GEORGE TOWN • Malaysia's exports of frozen durian are expected to drop by 50 per cent due to a lower yield caused by the wet spell during the flowering season.

International consumers would have to pay more for the king of fruits, with prices expected to be 40 per cent higher compared with last year, said Top Fruits Plantation's managing director Tan Sue Sian, 48.

"All this is due to lower production volume and higher labour and fertiliser costs," he said, adding that frozen whole durians were scheduled to be exported to his top three markets - China, Singapore and Indonesia - by mid-June.

"This year, we are also venturing into South Korea, Japan and Kenya as we have orders from these countries. For our frozen durian export market, we usually supply them with varieties like Musang King and D101 as well as D24," he said.

Locals, on the other hand, prefer "kampung" durians cultivated in villages to the commercially cultivated ones, he said.

Hernan Corporation chief commercial officer Cheah Chun Wai said the export of frozen durian was affected by the drop in yield, resulting in higher retail prices.

"There is a 25 per cent to 30 per cent drop in yield due to the wet weather early this year. The Raub and Karak areas in Pahang state were flooded and many flowers were washed away. We are starting to witness more flowering in the trees and we are looking forward to a reasonable price adjustment with higher yield," he said.

Mr Cheah said the firm would usually airfreight the fruits to Hong Kong after these were collected from the farm in the morning.

He said the durian harvest season in Raub, a popular durian-growing area in Malaysia, would be pushed to the fourth quarter because of the rain and floods early this year.

Durian orchard owner Eric Yeap said frozen durian from his orchard would be exported only in July.

"For now, we have not exported frozen durians yet. Our main customers are from Hong Kong, Taiwan and China, and this year, we will be exporting to Brunei as well," said Mr Yeap, who started exporting fresh durian a few years ago.

He added: "With greater connectivity via cargo flights, we get to fly our durians straight to our customers. In fact, I sent 300kg of fresh Capri durians to Hong Kong on Tuesday by plane. The durians arrived fresh and we had customers waiting for them."

THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK