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Cashew exports facing decline
Viet Nam's cashew exports rank first in the world. However, the development of the industry is far from stable.
Ten years ago, the cashew industry set an output target of 100,000 tonnes by 2010, but today this figure is three times higher, at 313,000 tonnes.
Last year was the third successive year Viet Nam ranked first in the world for cashew exports, with a turnover of US$920 million, an increase of 41.3 per cent over 2007. But the sector is now facing many difficulties, according to the Viet Nam Cashew Association, which adds that last year only a few enterprises were in trouble but this year, all businesses in the sector will face problems.
The reason is that cashew processing enterprises and cashew farmers still have 30,000 tonnes of cashews in stock, worth VND4.6 trillion ($26.3 million).
Enterprises have been able to sign export contracts for only 40-50 percent of the total amount of processed cashews in the whole industry.
Viet Nam's cashews are now mostly exported to North America, Europe and China, but all these markets are at a current standstill.
According to Nguyen Thanh Binh, director of the Vinafimex Binh Phuoc Company, a cashew processing, export and import company in the southern province of Binh Phuoc, Chinese cashew buyers have almost stopped transactions, while the US and Europe have bought only small amounts of mostly high-quality products.
If the situation were to continue, the cashew stock would grow huge, he said.
Pham Van Che, director of the Ham Long Company in the southern province of Tay Ninh, said that in the last three months, his company had only received a few orders, while business had been so busy during the same period last year.
Che said that because of the global economic crisis, cashew consumption in the US and Europe had been sharply reduced.
Moreover, selling prices this year were reduced.
Farmer Le Van Ha in the southern province of Binh Duong said that from his last crop, his family had earned a profit of VND30 million, but this year the family would not see much money because cashew priced had dropped from VND13,000 to VND9,000 per kilogramme.
Number one
But the cashew industry had still set a target to maintain its number-one spot in the world.
The head of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development's Department for Processing Agricultural, Forestry, Fishery Products and Salt Industry, Le Xuan, said that this year the sector expected to export 170,000 tonnes of cashews, and earn an export turnover of $900 million, a reduction of $20 million compared to last year. But because of the global financial crisis, export prices had fallen.
In the first three months of this year, Viet Nam exported 30,000 tonnes of cashews, with an export turnover of $95.4 million, a 4.6 per cent reduction compared to the same period last year.
According to the chairman of the Viet Nam Cashew Association, Nguyen Duc Thanh, although the sector faced many difficulties, it still held the number-one position in the world, and the market would soon be revitalised. Some exporters from the US, Europe, China and Australia had arrived in Viet Nam to learn how to continue to importing Vietnamese cashews, he said.
To help the sector keep its position in the world, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Cao Duc Phat said that the ministry would work out policies for cashew exports, such as asking localities to provide land-use certificates to cashew farmers.
The Ministry of Industry and Trade also proposed to reduce enterprise income tax for cashew enterprises.
Banks would also supply more loans and reduce interest rates to help enterprises maintain production.
Vietnamese cashews are now being exported to 78 markets, of which the US is the main one with 29 per cent of market share, while Europe holds 35 per cent and China, 17.6 per cent.
Viet Nam is now first in the world in cashew-peeling technology, with a ratio of cleaned seeds at 87 per cent (Italy is at more than 40 per cent).
Enterprises last year invested more than VND150 billion ($8.5 million) in equipment to peel cashew nuts. To peel 10 tonnes of cashew nuts a day, Viet Nam needs only 20 workers, instead of the previous 300.
The nation now has more than 350,000 ha of cashews, mostly in the southern coastal part of the central region and Tay Nguyen (Central Highlands).
Output now amounts to more than 350,000 tonnes per year, and an average productivity of 1 tonne per hectare.
VietNamNet, Viet Nam News
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