The northern province of Bac Giang is also known as Vietnam’s “kingdom of the lychee”. This region’s officials have devised three scenarios for the sales of its staple in the face of the current pandemic. Unfortunately, the province has become a hotspot of Covid-19 outbreaks in recent times, with thousands of confirmed infections, mostly in its industrial parks.
In the first scenario, if Covid-19 is repelled, sales of the fruit will become favourable as the total yield will be divided equally between both local and export markets.
However, if the pandemic lingers but its scope remains largely under control, 70 percent of the harvest, or 130,000 tons, will be set aside specifically for the domestic market. The lychees will be distributed to wholesale markets, major firms with distribution chains at supermarkets and shopping malls, processing companies, wet markets, traders, mobile points of sale, and online marketplaces.
Regarding exports, China is expected to hold the lion’s share in terms of volume, with 95 percent, or 47,500 tons, while the remaining 2,500 tons will be shipped to Japan, Australia, Europe, the US, Thailand, and Singapore.
For the worst-case scenario, if the pandemic deals a major blow to all aspects of life, forcing all export activities to cease, the estimated total yield of 180,000 tons of lychees is to be primarily for domestic consumption. Then, some 80,000 tons will be sent to wholesale markets, another 30,000 tons to processing and export firms, and 2,000 tons to be sold on e-commerce platforms.
Source: sggpnews.org.vn