Imports of raw cashew nut decreases in 2 continuous months

After a sharp rise in the beginning months of 2021, imports of raw cashew nut decreased continuously in recent months, especially from the Cambodian market.

Imports of raw cashew nut decrease in two consecutive months. Photo: TL.

According to the Vietnam Customs, in September, the import volume of raw cashew nut was 206,810 tons, reaching USD 271.5 million, down by 10.3% in volume and 7.1% in value in comparison to the previous month. This shows a decrease in two consecutive months. In August, imports of raw cashew nut decreased by 30% in volume and 34.6% in value as of July.

In contrast to the sharp rise in the beginning months of this year, imports of cashew nut from Cambodia have been in a constant sharp decrease.

In September, imports of cashew nut from Cambodia reached 8,920 tons with a turnover of USD 14.5 million, a very sharp drop in comparison to the previous months especially April when the imports volume was 417,107 tons and the imports value was USD 693 million.

While there is a strong decrease in imports from Cambodia, imports from Ivory Coast are on the rise. In September, imports of cashew nut from the Ivory Coast reached 100,268 tons with the value of USD 127.5 million, accounting for 48.5% in volume and 47% in value of the total cashew nut imported nationwide.

Although having continuously decreased in the past two months, imports in the first seven months of the year increased sharply, so in the overall nine months of 2021 imports of cashew nut reached more than 2.5 million tons with the value of nearly USD 3.7 billion, up 129.1% in volume and 171.8% in turnover over the same period last year. In particular, imports from Cambodia are 1.1 million tons with a value of more than USD 1.84 billion.

There are many unusual signs as the volume and value of cashew nut imports increased sharply as mentioned above, especially cashew nuts from Cambodia. Therefore, the customs agencies have conducted a review of cashew nut imports.

Recently, the Post-Clearance Inspection Department (under the General Department of Vietnam Customs) has concluded the initial inspection for 18 cases. To be specific, two enterprises were found to have fraudulent acts on the origin of exported cashew nuts; four enterprises without headquarters, no longer engaged in production activities at the registered business location, suspected of selling for domestic consumption. Documents of these four enterprises have been sent to Binh Phuoc Provincial Police for further investigation. One enterprise is in the process of initiating prosecution with the collaborating of the Supreme People's Procuracy to consider signs of violations.

The Vietnam Customs has also assigned a number of local customs departments to conduct a post-clearance inspection for 34 enterprises; transfer the list of other 280 enterprises to local customs departments to study and develop inspection plans according to regulations.