Vietnam predicts exports of up to 360,000 tonnes of cashews for a value of US$3 billion this year which would be an increase of 3.4% in volume and 5.6% in value over last year, according to the Vietnam Cashew Association (Vinacas).
Speaking at a meeting in HCM City on Monday, Vinacas chairman, Nguyen Đức Thanh, said that global demand for all kinds of nuts was expected to remain high this year because of the widely reported health benefits of nuts.
Last year, enterprises imported, from many countries, 1.06 million tonnes of raw cashew nuts for processing for export. The imports, mostly from African countries, represented an increase of 14 per cent over 2015. About 1.1 million tonnes of raw nuts are expected to be imported this year.
In Vietnam’s large import markets like the US, the Netherlands and China, demand is expected to increase, but each market has its own difficulties, according to Vinacas.
In the US market, for instance, starting from February, supermarkets are expected to raise cashew prices, causing concern among Vietnamese exporters that the move would affect US consumption.
Vũ Thái Son, general director of Long Son JSC, said that in the near future, Chinese authorities would tighten exports of the nut via border trade and enhance requirements on hygiene and food safety. He said that Vietnamese exporters must prepare for stricter requirements.
Vietnam exported cashews to 90 countries and territories, with the US being the largest import market (accounting for 35 per cent of total cashew export volume), followed by the EU and the UK (25 per cent) and China (18 per cent).
