Danish pine trees are more expensive than Russian

The pine tree market has been quiet as Christmas nears, mostly due to Covid-19. Entertainment activities are less bustling as economic difficulties have affected people’s spending.

The HCM City market is seeing competition among Russian, Danish and East European pine trees.

Nguyen Thi Anh Hien, the owner of Dear Rainy floral chain, said it was always difficult to transport pine trees and even more so this year because of the pandemic.

She said Danish pine trees have a long journey from Denmark to the Netherlands and then on flights to Hanoi or HCM City with transit in Turkey. If problems arise during transport, the trees have to stay in the third country, or will be sent back to the Netherlands or Denmark. Because of the long journey, pine trees from Denmark are more expensive.

As Vietnamese cannot travel to Europe this year, they are decorating with fresh pine trees, hoping to bring a European Christmas atmosphere to their homes.

At Dear Rainy, Danish trees of different sizes, from 1.25 meters to over 3 meters, are being sold for VND16-38 million, not including decorative items.

The shop is offering handmade products, priced at VND2-4 million, with fresh pine tree branches.

Russian pine trees, available in the market for the first time, have been welcomed by Vietnamese as they are beautiful and more affordable.

Trinh Loc, the owner of a Da Lat pine tree workshop, said a consignment of Russian pine trees arrived in Vietnam in early December. The prices are between VND290,000 and VND3.6 million for sizes between 80 centimeters and 3 meters.

He said Russian pine tree prices are just one-tenth of the price of Danish trees, so they have attract more buyers. Clients prefer medium size trees of 1.2-1.5 meters.

The distributor said Russian pine trees can be transported non-stop from Russia to Phu Quoc.

The workshop has 3,000-4,000 imported trees sent to Hanoi, Dak Lak, BinhThuan and HCM City.

Nguyen Dan Thanh from the Urban Garden Center specializes in selling European imported pine trees. They are slightly more expensive than Russian trees, priced at VND3.5-6.9 million for 1.4-2.7 meter trees.

Danish pine trees are believed to have a longer life cycle and can be displayed for one or two months if treated properly.

Meanwhile, those who want a Christmas atmosphere at a reasonable cost, can use Vietnam pine trees – cay tung thom, or Cupressus macrocarpa, priced at VND90,000-500,000. 

Tran Chung

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