Mr. Pham Van Cong, Chairman of the Vietnam Cashew Association (VINACAS), revealed that despite facing many difficulties, the cashew industry in Vietnam set a new record last year, exporting over 645,300 tons of various types of cashews. However, the success in export has also created a major risk for both the Vietnamese cashew industry and the global cashew industry.
In particular, the “hot” growth of the Vietnamese cashew processing industry has led to a situation of buying raw cashews and selling cashew kernels, resulting in a deep decline in kernel prices while raw cashew prices remain high. The price of cashew kernels at the beginning and end of the crop has decreased, but the quality has also declined and is still not in balance with the selling price of cashew kernels, causing many processors to incur losses.
The 13th International Cashew Conference in Vietnam
According to Mr. Cong, the “hot” growth in the area and production of raw cashews in some African countries and Cambodia shows no sign of stopping, while the processing industry in these countries is still modest. Some countries with large production capacity are applying deep protectionist policies on raw cashews, such as minimum price regulations, export taxes, and various fees, leading to high prices for raw cashews.
Cashew roasters and supermarkets face competition from other types of nuts, and consumer demand does not increase the selling price, so they do not raise the purchase price of cashew kernels.
Mr. Pham Van Cong – Chairman of the Vietnam Cashew Association
“If this situation continues, a series of domestic and international cashew processing companies will go bankrupt. Vietnam accounts for nearly 80% of the world’s cashew kernel exports and consumes nearly 65% of the global raw cashew production. The collapse of the Vietnamese cashew processing industry will have unforeseen consequences for the global cashew industry, not only leading to a decrease in supply of cashew kernels but also posing a significant risk to cashew-growing and raw cashew-exporting countries due to a sharp decline in import demand from Vietnam,” warned Mr. Cong.
