Viet Nam’s cashew nut exports are forecast to surpass the US$3 billion benchmark for the first time in 2017 thanks to increasing shipments in the first ten months of the year.

According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, cashew nuts raked in $2.87 billion from 289,000 tonnes, down 0.4 per cent in volume but up 23.1 per cent in value.

With this growth, the country’s export revenue of cashew nuts is likely to hit some $3.4-3.5 billion in 2017.

The result is spurred by a surge in both prices and demands. Viet Nam experienced a poor cashew crop during 2016-17 with productivity of 250,000 tonnes, thus cashew nuts has been sold at higher prices, average $9,909 per tonnes in nine-month period ending in September, an increase of 25.1 per cent year on year.

Vietnam Cashew Association (Vinacash) Chairman Nguyen Duc Thanh said that export prices of cashew nuts in the nine months reached a record high, resulting in significant growth in export revenue from key markets like the US (34.7 per cent), the Netherlands (45.2 per cent), China (9.1 per cent) and the UK (4.6 per cent).

Notably, Vietnamese cashew nuts have captured a lion’s share of the US market with 73.7 per cent and the Netherlands with 65.2 per cent, he noted.

Despite a considerable increase in cashew nut prices, demands for the product are growing. The International Nut and Dried Fruit Council (INC) said that global cashew nut demands rose 6.1 percent per year while cashew productivity only picked up 3.5 per cent per year.

Thành said that it is crucial to develop a national brand for Vietnamese cashew nuts, given that although Vietnamese cashew exports occupied half of the world’s volume and value, foreign consumers believed that all cashew products are originated from India. — VNS