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Lychee accounted for just 0.8% of Vietnam’s fruit and vegetable exports during the period, down from 2.05% a year earlier, customs data shows.

A Hanoi-based export company said its shipments plunged by 70% as domestic lychee prices rose, as did the cost of air freight and cold storage to keep the fruit fresh during transport.

“Fresh lychees’ competitiveness in the international market was inevitably squeezed, leading to a decline in exports,” the company’s director said, adding that higher logistics costs eroded exporters’ margins.

Vietnam has around 55,000 hectares under the fruit, mostly in northern localities like Bac Ninh and Thanh Hoa provinces and Hai Phong City.

A poor harvest caused by adverse weather conditions during this year’s flowering and fruit-setting stages sharply reduced yields. Bac Ninh’s output, for instance, fell by nearly 36% year-on-year to 131,560 tons.

Prices at the farm gate jumped multiple times to VND90,000-120,000 (US$3.44-4.59) per kilogram as a result.

A rare seedless variety grown only in Thanh Hoa saw prices double to VND600,000 per kilogram after yields dropped to just one ton from seven tons a year earlier.