Durian Season Likely to Last Until Nov With Prices Kept Low

Durians are the quintessential Singaporean fruit, albeit polarising. Still, they have their fair share of ardent fans, and if you’re one of them, you’ll be glad to find out that the durian season this year is projected to last all the way to November.

But here’s the best thing—apparently, the prices of these durians will be kept low throughout, so you don’t need to worry about burning a hole in your pocket to get your hands on them.

Durian Season To Last Till November

According to a Facebook post by Shin Min Daily News, this year’s durian season is projected to last until November, because of climate change affecting the flowering period of durian trees.

Because of this, there’s no regular durian season, and there’ll be a steady supply of durians in the Malaysian market this year.

In an interview with the Chinese news outlet, a durian farm owner in Muar spoke about the situation. According to them, the durians have only been on the market for two weeks, and the bulk of the harvest will occur after next week.

They also revealed that the current wholesale price of the popular Mao Shan Wang durian has dropped to less than RM40, or around SGD$11.70  (thank the low exchange rates now). Other less popular durian types have seen their prices dip to as low as RM15-20, approximately S$4.40 to S$5.90.

The low durian prices have resulted in losses for plantation owners.

Greater Supply, Lower Demand

It’s the age-old tale of supply and demand again—everyone who knows the slightest bit about economics knows that the greater the supply and the lower the demand, the lower the prices too.

There’s an overabundance of durians produced this season, but not enough demand. According to other durian sellers in Muar, the economy is poor right now, so people are less likely to spend on durians.

Additionally, the season’s harvest cannot be exported to China. Because of this, the local market is swamped with durians, and prices have fallen low. 

In order to promote durian sales, sellers had to resort to placing smaller durians in baskets and selling them in bulk, at about RM50, or S$14.70 for over ten kilograms of the fruit.

Indirect Exports To China?

According to Malaysia’s Agricultural and Food Ministry, Thai buyers have been purchasing Malaysian Mao Shan Wang durians and selling them to China, under the label of “Thai Musang King”.

Often, these Thai durian buyers harvest the fruit from the tree before it fully ripens and falls, and freeze them in liquid nitrogen to ship them to China.

In doing so, it is possible that the quality of the durians is compromised, thereby jeopardising the brand name of “Musang King” and its reputation.

“We must use proper trade channels for exporting durian to ensure that local farmers do not lose out in the long run and protect the reputation and brand name of Musang King from being exploited by other markets,” said Malaysia’s Deputy Agriculture and Food Security Minister Chan Foong Hin.

Currently, the Malaysian ministry is working on obtaining approval to export durians to China directly.