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Boom in cashew prices brings in US$490 million so far this year
Vietnam earned US$490 million from exporting 81,000 tonnes of cashew in the first seven months of this year, up 2.2 percent in volume and nearly 50 percent in value from a year earlier, the General Office of Statistics reported.
Nguyen Anh Phong from the Institute of Policy and Strategy for Agricultural and Rural Development (IPSARD) estimated that the cashew industry would possibly notch up an export value of US$850 million by the end of this year, a year-on-year increase of 45 percent.
The figure of US$850 million is much higher than earlier expected surpassing the industry’s anticipated export revenue for 2010 which was a mere US$670 million.
Phong attributed the high export turnover to the cashew price rises on the global market and better quality Vietnamese cashew products.
In 2006, Vietnam overtook India to become the world’s leading cashew exporter, supplying 40 percent of total global demand, exporting to 40 nations and territories.
To improve cashew quality, producers invested more than US$9 million in advanced processing technologies over the past year.
Based on this uptrend, the cashew sector updated its 2010 export target to US$1 billion.
Vietnam now has 220 cashew processors with a total capacity of 600,000-700,000 tonnes per annum.
The national yield of unprocessed cashews has fallen below the total demand for local consumption and exports. To make up for the shortage, since 1999, Vietnam has had to import unprocessed cashews, and import volumes hit 200,000 tonnes last year. It is expected to reach 250,000 tonnes this year.
Nguyen Thai Hoc, deputy chairman of the Vietnam Cashew Association recommended that the Government cut the import tariff on unprocessed cashews from 5-7.5 percent to zero and streamline customs procedures to help processors and farmers.
Vietnam now has around 350,000ha of high-yield cashews, mainly in the south and central highlands provinces.
However, the sector is facing the danger of shrinking plantations due to land being used for other products such as rubber, coffee and tea among others, Hoc said.
In addition, the local association has urged the Government to provide about US$3 million to help farmers expand cashew plantations and attain world-class GAP (good agricultural practices) standards.
VOV
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