Hai Duong (VNA) - The northern province of Hai Duong had soldabout 28,000-29,000 tonnes of its “thieu” lychees to both domestic and foreignmarkets as of May 31, accounting for 55 percent of its annual output, accordingto the provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Development.

Half of these, or 15,000 tonnes, have been shipped to the neighbouringcountries of China, Laos, and Cambodia.

Some 1,500 tonnes of high-priced lychees have been exported to other countries,including 800 tonnes of fresh lychees to Japan, the US, Australia, the EU,Singapore, the Middle East, and Malaysia. The remainder, which are frozen, havebeen sent to the Republic of Korea, Japan, and the EU.

Notably, Japan has purchased 100 tonnes of lychees from the province sofar this year, tripling the total amount it bought from Vietnam in 2020. Thelychees have fetched around 350,000-500,000 VND (15.1-21.6 USD) per kilo in theEast Asian country.

There has been a surge in exports to Japan and the EU thanks to improvedperformance by local growers this year, said director of the department’s plantprotection division Luong Thi Kiem. All batches sent to Japan and elsewhere havesatisfied the necessary standards, she noted, adding that testing found zeropesticide residue.

An additional 5,000 tonnes of lychees are expected to be shipped abroadby the end of this harvest season.

Domestically, some 6,000-7,000 tonnes have been sold at wholesalemarkets around the country while 2,000 tonnes have hit the shelves of majorsupermarket chains such as Vinmart, BigC, Metro, Lanchi Mart, and CoopMart.About 100 tonnes have also been purchased by online shoppers via e-commerceplatforms.

Hai Duong has for the first time this year hosted a video teleconferenceto connect growers and local and foreign traders.

The province has more than 9,100 hectares of lychee area, with totalproduction estimated at about 55,000 tonnes this year, with 30,000 tonnes beingearly-ripening lychees. The main-crop lychees will be ready for harvest fromJune 5./.