Mangosteen price triples, 20,000 tonnes sold under new domestic strategy
The per-kilo price of Thai mangosteen has risen from 4-5 baht to 13-15 baht after the Fruit Board switched its strategy to domestic consumption rather than Covid-hit exports, the Agriculture and Cooperatives Ministry said on Wednesday.
The adjusted 2021 fruit management plan helped release more than 20,000 tonnes of mangosteen to the market in the past few weeks, with quality-grade mangosteen fetching close to 50 baht per kilo.
The Department of Internal Trade said around 150,000 tonnes of mangosteen will be released in August.
Alongkorn Pholbutr, adviser to the ministry, said the price could increase even further under the new measures, plus efforts to solve the container shortage, logistics problems, and labour mobility issues.
Agriculture Minister Chalermchai Sri-on has also urged the Fruit Board to help longan and rambutan farmers facing low prices ahead of a harvest expected to yield 40,000 tonnes of Southern langsat.
The Commerce Ministry reported that fruit exports rose 185 per cent and mangosteen exports grew more than 400 per cent in June. But in July, the surge of Covid-19 cases spurred lockdown measures that impacted exports to China, Thailand’s largest overseas fruit market, as well as to Vietnam and Laos. The container shortage also affected logistics, trade and fruit prices, said the Commerce Ministry.
