Vietnam spends US$2.89 billion importing cashew nuts

Throughout the reviewed period, Cambodia represented the nation’s largest supplier of cashew nuts with an output of more than 815 thousand tonnes, worth more than US$1.06 billion, up 33% in volume and 27% in value on-year.

The Ivory Coast ranked second among suppliers with more than 547 thousand tonnes valued at over US$678 million, down 30% in volume and 20% in value compared to the same period from last year.

Ghana made up the country’s third largest cashew nut supplier with more than 264 thousand tonnes worth more than US$301 million, up 12% in volume and 18% in value over last year’s corresponding period.

According to several international experts, cashew nut prices in terms of both imports and exports have been fluctuating continuously since the beginning of the year, possibly due to supply chain disruptions that have led to an increasingly narrowing of growing areas.

Vietnam, as the world’s largest cashew processor, is encountering a drop in raw cashew imports of more than 10% compared to the same period last year. Poor harvests in West Africa, the main source of raw cashews, have also exacerbated the shortage. High raw cashew prices and a lack of raw materials have pushed up the price of cashew kernels.

Additionally, demand remains high in emerging markets, with countries like China and other parts of Asia seeing strong demand due to an expanding middle class coupled with increasingly health-conscious consumers.

In addition, increased competition for available supply has pushed prices up.

Regarding the export situation, the first nine months of the year witnessed the whole country export 581,130 tonnes of cashew nuts of all kinds with an export turnover of US$3.38 billion, an increase of nearly 28% in volume and 32.6% in value compared to the first nine months from last year.

This year, the nation has set a target of achieving a record cashew export turnover of US$3.8 billion, about US$200 million higher than the level recorded in 2023.