Durian exporters are feeling the heat brought by El Nino phenomenon as some businesses are bracing for a slowdown in exports.
Agnessia Best Fruits Trading (Malaysia) director Albert Tan expects the company’s durian exports to decrease as he said the extreme weather had stunted the growth of the trees.
“We are expecting a drop of 30 per cent in exports due to the extreme weather as the flowering process of the durian trees have been slower,” he said.
Due to the lack of supply of the fruit because of low crop yield, Tan has not discounted the possibility of a price hike as he said farmers would take advantage of the situation due to the constant demand from consumers.
“Farmers will take into account the scarcity of the fruit and increase prices to reduce losses,” he said.
Tan Sue Sain, 42, owner of Durianseller.com, an online platform which sells durian to local and overseas markets, said he expects about a 10 per cent decrease for durian exports.
He also said farmers would be expecting to harvest the fruits in August because of the weather, a month after the usual durian season, which is between May and July.
“The trees have not matured and we don’t expect a harvest in June or July,” he said.
Tan said the northern states were the most affected because of the lack of rain and with the decreased water supply in Penang and Kedah would mean the fruits from these areas would decrease during the harvest season.
However, it would not be a nationwide problem as durian orchards in Pahang and Johor would not be affected, he said.
