In the first 7 months of the year, Vietnam imported 1 billion USD of raw cashew nuts from Cambodia, according to newly released data from the General Department of Vietnam Customs.
The sale to Vietnam accounts for 95% of Cambodia’s total cashew nut production. However, industry insiders in Vietnam and Cambodia said that this is likely to decline in the coming years as Cambodia commits to localizing its post-harvest processing industry.
Vietnam spent 1 billion USD to buy cashew from Cambodia.
According to a report by the Vietnamese Customs, 790,000 tons of raw cashew nuts were imported from Cambodia in the first 7 months of this year, accounting for nearly 95% of Cambodia’s total raw cashew production. The Customs details that the total volume of cashew nut imports from Cambodia has increased by more than 34% in quantity and 26% in value over the same period in 2023.
Statistics show that the proportion of cashew nuts sourced from Cambodian producers accounts for about 47% of Vietnam’s total cashew nut imports. Meanwhile, Vietnam exported about 478,000 tons of processed cashew nuts to the international market in 8 months, with a total value of nearly 2.7 billion USD. These statistics show that Vietnam’s total export volume of cashew nuts increased by 23% and the total export value increased by nearly 22% compared to 2023.
Mr. Pham Van Cong, the President of the Vietnam Cashew Association, once told the Vietnamese press about the excessive dependence on importing raw cashew nuts from Cambodia and other major supply markets, such as markets in Africa. This is due to their efforts to localize post-harvest processing of cashew nuts in these countries.
He said that although Vietnam is the world’s leading supplier of cashew nuts, the raw materials for processing in Vietnam mainly depend on imported sources.