Vietnam Asks Cashew Industry To Revisit Export Markets

Vietnam has called on its cashew industry to focus on markets where it had signed trade deals to take advantage of preferential tariffs and expand exports as inflation had pushed up the prices of raw materials and forced people to tighten spending.

Photo Insert: The government call was made following the decline in cashew exports which saw two-digit drops in the first seven months.

The government call was made following the decline in cashew exports which saw two-digit drops in the first seven months, according to the Việt Nam Cashew Association in a report prepared by Vietnam News.

Statistics of the Import-Export Department under the Ministry of Industry and Trade showed that cashew exports were estimated at 294,000 tonnes, worth US$1.76 billion in January-July, dropping by 10.5 percent in volume and 12.1 percent in value against the same period last year.

While the average export price increased by 1.45 percent compared to the same period last year to $5,792 per tonne, the price of raw cashews rose by 15-20 percent. The department predicted that cashew exports would continue to struggle in the third quarter due to rising inflation, which was taking place in big economies and forced people to tighten spending.

Sharing the same viewpoint, the Việt Nam Cashew Association also said that cashew exports would continue to drop in the following months, even to the end of this year. The association said that inflation was badly hitting the import markets of cashews such as the US and the EU.

In this context, the association had to lower its annual export target from $3.8 billion to $3.2 billion, around $400 million lower than the export revenue for 2021. There was room to promote cashew export in the medium and long term, providing that Việt Nam enhance the product quality and consolidate the brands.

According to the Import-Export Department, global cashew exports are forecast to grow 4.6 percent per year in the 2022-27 period, along with the worldwide trend of vegan and plant-based diets, favoring alternative protein sources.

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