EVFTA to boost cashew sector

Hanoi (VNA) – The EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA), signed in Hanoi on June 30, is expected to help boost Vietnam’s cashew nut exports.

Illustrative image (Photo: VNA)

According to the General Department of Vietnam Customs, the country exported 174,700 tonnes of cashew nuts worth some 1.34 billion USD from the beginning of this year till mid-June, up 9.6 percent in volume but down 13.6 percent in value year on year. 

Cashew nuts were sold for 7,689 USD per tonne, a drop of 21.3 percent against the same period last year. 

Tran Trong Khoi, Deputy General Director of Ha My JSC in the southern province of Binh Phuoc, explained that Vietnam had to import cashew nuts from Africa with lower quality for exports. 

The Export-Import Department under the Ministry of Industry and Trade forecast that the global cashew nut price will recover in the coming months thanks to increasing demand during Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays.  

Khoi said the EVFTA will offer huge opportunities to businesses, suggesting they should pay special attention to product quality as well as food safety and hygiene. 

The Department of Industry and Trade of Binh Phuoc province – the country’s largest cashew producer and exporter – said the EU, especially Germany and the Netherlands, remain Vietnam’s most important markets. 

Binh Phuoc aims to encourage enterprises to optimise opportunities generated by the EVFTA and study requirements of importers. 

Local officials had a working session with representatives of the Ivory Coast – the world’s leading cashew producer with total area amounting to 1.4 million hectares and average productivity reaching about 5 tonnes per ha.

The country, which has only 8 percent of cashew nuts undergoing intensive processing before being delivered abroad, wishes to work with Binh Phuoc firms in cashew nut processing.