Durian lovers, rejoice! The durian season in Malaysia usually starts in May, and you can expect to see the thorny fruit appearing in fruit stalls everywhere. Now, durians aren’t exactly cheap especially if you go for the more premium varieties like Musang King, Red Prawn and XO.
However, your wallet will not be burning as big of a hole in your pocket this year as experts predict that there will be a decrease in Musang King prices. According to Oriental Daily, the price for Musang King is expected to drop further to RM20 per kg as supply is more than demand at the moment.
In fact, even though we are supplying durians over to Singapore, the prices for Musang King there have dropped to as low as S$15 (RM45) per kg compared to the same time last year where the same durians were sold for double the price, CNA reported.
Melissa Yap, the chairman for Pahang’s fruit farmers’ association, when interviewed by CNA said that this decrease in durian prices is influenced by a few factors. Apparently, there has been a bumper crop of durians this time around and since it is currently the Ramadan month, the demand for the king of fruits has lessened considerably.
“It is fasting month, so people living in Peninsula Malaysia are not eating durians as much in the day time. Also, good weather means that there has been a bumper crop in many states. A combination of these factors could have led to the lower prices,” she told CNA.
This week, prices for Musang King plummeted to around RM30 per kg in Raub, Pahang, which is a major durian producing area. In comparison, the same durians were sold for RM50 per kg last year. If you were worried that you won’t be able to enjoy the cheap and delectable Musang King durians before Ramadan is over, Yap says that these low prices could continue for the whole durian season. That’s because there will be even more Musang King from Pahang flooding the market in June.
“The thing is, states like Johor and Penang have produced a bumper crop of Musang King. But in Pahang, which produces tonnes of Musang King, the biggest wave of fruit fall will only come in June. This will boost the supply further to all our exporting countries, including Singapore,” Yap explained.
“After the fasting month, people will consume more and this will stabilise the prices and keep it to around RM30 (per kg) for the whole season until July,” she said.
Have you seen any cheap durians around so far? Will you be indulging in some yummy durians this time? Let us know in the comments section!
Also read: Genting Is Hosting Malaysia’s Biggest Durian Festival From May to September 2019