After 2 years of decline due to the pandemic and war in the world, since the beginning of the year, the cashew industry has recovered, especially in recent months when more orders have been signed.
Preliminary statistics from the General Department of Customs show that in the first 9 months of 2023, Vietnam exported 1.25 million tons of cashew nuts, earning 3.13 billion USD, down 8.3% in volume but up 0.7% in value over the same period last year.
Mr. Pham Van Cong, Chairman of the Vietnam Cashew Association (Vinacas), said that based on export results and current orders, cashew exports will certainly achieve the target of 3.2 billion USD this year.
However, since June 2023, many shipments of cashew nuts exported to the US and Europe have been continuously warned about the contamination of live insects. The level of alarm has increased in the third quarter of 2023 when there are more export orders, overtime at night makes it easier for live insects to breed, the disinfection process has also increased but does not ensure the quarantine time; leading to pesticide residues in processed cashew products.
Mr. Bach Khanh Nhut, Permanent Vice President of Vinacas, added that the number of customer warnings about food safety issues increased at the end of the year.
Most recently, Vinacas has received official documents from two associations in Europe, the US and several major customers warning about the decline in the quality of Vietnamese cashew nuts. Among the warning indicators are live worms (insects), pesticide residues and foreign impurities.
 |
| Cashew nuts continuously receive warnings from export markets |
"Customers have reminded Vinacas to rectify the business, otherwise importers will not be able to buy at high prices. However, the business with the warning shipment is not a Vinacas member, so we cannot intervene directly. If the authorities do not control the problem when it first appears, it will affect the future of the cashew industry. At that time, the cashew industry will take many years to regain its reputation," the Vinacas representative emphasized.
According to Mr. Cong, up to now, maintaining the quality of exported cashew products is a vital factor for cashew production and trading enterprises as well as the Vietnamese cashew industry. The reason why many of the previous advantages of the cashew industry no longer exist is because the competitive pressure from African countries is getting bigger and bigger.
“Previously, Vinacas did not raise issues related to quality, but now we have to warn about the quality of processed cashew nuts of some businesses. Because the quality is increasingly decreasing, the selling price of cashew nuts has not increased and is even lower than the price of cashew nuts in other countries, specifically India. Our association can only make recommendations and we need to have stronger solutions to rectify this problem. Specifically, there needs to be the participation of local leaders as well as functional agencies,” Mr. Cong added.
Regarding the market situation, Mr. Dang Hoang Giang, General Secretary of Vinacas, said that since the beginning of the year, although the export volume has recorded high growth, the export price has always been lower than the same period in 2022.
However, since the beginning of October 2023, the export price of cashew nuts has started to increase slightly, but the cashew nut market is still quite quiet and there is not much demand for purchase. Although there is still some demand for purchase for delivery until early next year, there are not many successful transactions because the offered price is higher than the buyer's expectations.
Notably, the demand for large seeds such as W180 and W240 is increasing and the price is increasing, but there are not many offers because the quantity on the market is not much.
Vinacas representative said that currently, the amount of raw cashew nuts - raw materials worldwide is enough for processing in the next 9 months. If the 2024 crop season takes place normally, there will be no shortage of raw materials. In addition, Vietnamese cashew processing and exporting enterprises have also imported large quantities of raw cashew nuts to serve production for the peak consumption season at the end of the year and Tet. On the other hand, the recent increase in foreign exchange rates has also contributed to helping the cashew industry benefit from importing raw materials at a time when the exchange rate is still low.
Source link
Comment (0)