SINGAPORE - The durian season has come early, and some local fruit stalls will be selling the fruit from Monday (Nov 20), reported Lianhe Wanbao.

However, due to insufficient stock of some types of durian like Mao Shan Wang, the selling price of the king of fruits could be more than $20 per kg.

Ms Hong, the owner of Combat Durian Balestier, told Wanbao that her stall will be bringing in durians from Yong Peng in Malaysia but there will be limited stock of Mao Shan Wang and D13 durians.

"At the start of the season, the durian prices will be higher," she said.

The owner of Ah Seng Durian, Mr Xu Bao Sheng, said that they will be stocking durians of many varieties from Tuesday, including Mao Shan Wang and D81. He said that the usual durian season is in December, but it has arrived about a month earlier.

He added that the supply of durians might be unreliable and that he is unsure of their quality. However, because he has been receiving requests from regulars for durians, he will first gauge the reaction of customers.

As it is not the high season , sellers expect a short supply and higher prices.

Mr Xu said that the better quality types such as Mao Shan Wang will be selling for more than $20 per kg, while the normal kinds will be selling for at least $12 per kg.

The durian season is also dependent on the weather. Mr Xu said that due to the unpredictable nature of the weather, it is hard to estimate the durian supply. He said that with the current conditions, one can only tell three months in advance when the season will arrive.