According to the General Statistics Office, Vietnam exported nearly 4 billion USD of cashew in 11 months of 2024, but imports also reached 3.040 billion USD. Vietnam ranks first in the world in the production and export of cashews, but it depends too much on imported raw materials.
Along with coffee, fruits, vegetables, and rice, cashew exports have set a record in 11 months of 2024, with 669,000 tons, worth 3.98 billion USD. This is an increase of 15.2% in volume and 20.6% in value compared to the same period last year. If compared to the entire year of 2023, the export value increased by about 340 million USD.
Vietnam mainly exports cashew W320, W240, and W180, accounting for 63.5% of the total volume and 70% of the total export value. In recent years, Vietnam’s cashew export turnover has held the No. 1 position in the world, with a value of around 3-4 billion USD per year.
Vietnam still increases raw cashew imports.
Considered the world’s leading cashew producer, however, the Vietnamese cashew industry is facing many opportunities and challenges in the context of fierce competition with other countries like Cambodia and some African countries.
Exports have increased strongly to nearly 4 billion USD in the past 11 months, but the cost of importing cashews has also increased significantly. Data from the General Statistics Office shows that in 11 months of 2024, Vietnam spent 3.040 billion USD on cashew imports, a slight decrease of 1.3% compared to the same period last year. That means the cashew industry exports a lot, but the raw materials depend heavily on external sources, resulting in a trade surplus of 940 million USD in 11 months.
Mr. Tran Huu Hau, Deputy Secretary-General of the Vietnam Cashew Association, said that Vietnam imports a lot of raw cashew nuts from Africa and Cambodia because Vietnam does not cultivate a lot. In 2023, the demand was 3.1 million tons of raw cashew nuts, but domestic production only reached 260,000 tons, accounting for about 10-12% of the supply.
The advantage of the Vietnamese cashew industry, according to Mr. Hau, is the relatively good processing capacity; mastering the technology and processing equipment. Mr. Hau added, “The largest cashew-exporting country, but with poor production, causing farmers’ income to be unstable. Moreover, cashew trees have to compete strongly with durian and other fruit trees.”
Currently, businesses have to import about 3 million tons of raw materials each year, of which nearly 80% comes from Africa. This significantly contributes to the export results of the Vietnamese cashew industry. Dependence on imported raw materials makes the industry more vulnerable to risks.
It is expected that the export turnover of the cashew industry could reach 4.3 billion USD this year, but the import figure is likely to hit 3.2 billion USD.