Cashew exports hit over 1.3 billion USD in first five months

Vietnam exported 141,000 tonnes of cashew in the first five months of 2018, raking in more than 1.39 billion USD (Photo: VNA)

Hanoi (VNA) – Vietnam exported 141,000 tonnes of cashew in the first five months of 2018, raking in more than 1.39 billion USD, reported the Import-Export Department under the Ministry of Industry and Trade.

The figures showed a rise of 21.4 percent in volume and 25.3 percent in value year-on-year.

In May alone, 35,000 tonnes of cashew were exported with revenue of 330 million USD, up 8.8 percent in volume and 6.4 percent in value compared to the previous month. Cashew exports have expanded for four consecutive months.

Export cashew price hit an average of 9,867 USD per tonne in the first five months, up 3.2 percent year-on-year.

According to statistics from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, as of the end of 2017, Vietnam was home to 337,143 hectares of cashew, 4,410 hectares more than the previous year. Yield, nevertheless, remains low at under a tonne per hectares.

There are more than 465 cashew processing firms with total designed capacity of more than 1.4 million tonnes per year. However, nearly 70 percent are small scale.

Vietnamese cashew is present in ore than 90 countries and territories. The country achieved its highest-ever cashew exports in a year in 2017 with 353,000 tonnes of cashew kernels exported for a value of 3.52 billion USD, a year-on- year increase of 1.9 percent in volume and 23.8 percent in value.

Also, the country has set up a cashew processing industry, creating jobs in the farming and processing sectors for nearly 1 million people.

Vietnam’s cashew industry has targeted 300,000 tonnes of cashew exports at a value of 3 billion USD this year, said the Vietnam Cashew Association.