IMPORT RAW CASHEW: PROPER EVALUATION OF CASHEW KERNEL MARKET BEFORE BUYINGRAW CASHEW

Thepriceofrawcashewnutsistoohighcomparedtothesellingpriceof cashew kernels, causing many Vietnam cashew processing and export enterprises to suffer losses in 2022. In 2023, when the cashew kernel market has been not bright abundant output of raw cashew enterprises need to , …. calmlyevaluatethemarketandthendecidetoimportrawcashew.

Unreasonable price of raw cashew demand for raw cashew import decreased. In addition, there was a fairly large volume of raw cashew in stock from 2021. Therefore, in 2022, although the volume of imported raw cashew decreased, it still was not used up, at the beginning of 2023, there was still quite a lot in stock of enterprisesandbondedwarehouses.

According to VINACAS, in 2022, Vietnam continued to be the leading country in importing raw cashew in theworld,butthevolumeofimported raw cashew decreased significantly. Specifically, statistics from the General Department of Vietnam Customs showed that in 2022, Vietnam imported nearly 1.9 million tons of raw cashew, down 34.6% comparedto2021.

Mr. Bach Khanh NhutStanding Vice of President VINACAS, Deputy General Director of Vinacontrol Vietnam; Chairman of The Administrative Council of Vinacontrol Ho Chi Minh City said that the sharp decrease in the volume of raw cashew import was due to market factors. The three largest markets of Vietnam cashew industry, including the US, EU and China, all recorded a reduction in cashew nut consumption due to high inflation, thereby reducing the purchasing powerofconsumers(theUS,EU)and Zero-COVIDpolicy(China).

Decrease in consumption and the price of cashew kernels in 2022 that fell to a very low level compared to previous years made export become difficult, so the

The volume of imported raw cashew in 2022 decreased much, but the price was too high compared to the price of cashew kernels. Mr. Nguyen Minh Hoa - Vice President, Head of VINACAS Policy Board; Director of Bimico., Ltd. (Tay Ninh), said that the average price of imported raw cashew for the whole year was about USD 1,400/ton. In the context that the price of cashew kernels fell too low, the high price of raw cashew plus the sharp increase in production costs made the price of cashew kernels in 2022 much higher than the selling price, so in general, Vietnam cashew enterprises failed to gaineconomicefficiency.

Proper evaluation of the marketbeforebuyingrawcashew

Talking about the raw cashew market in 2023, Mr. Nguyen Minh Hoa, said that the global supply of raw cashew was abundant because the output was still increasing by 15-20%/year, even the output in Cambodia increased by 30%/year.

The high growth rate in global raw cashew output does not stop here because the cashew cultivation area in Cambodia and African countries in general increases year by year. When the area increases, the output will increase, and the increase will be even higher because many areas have just begun to be harvested, so the yield will increase in the coming years. Therefore, global raw cashew outputiscurrentlyatabout4.5million tons, with an increase of 15-20% per year,itwillincreasetoapproximately 5milliontonsinthenearfuture.

In recent years, besides importing raw cashew nuts, there have been a large number of cashew kernels imported into Vietnam for export processing. In 2021, imported cashew kernels were 1,000 tons (900 tons of cashew kernels with silk skin and 100 tons of white cashew kernels). In 2022, the number of imported cashew kernels was 2,600 tons, of which white cashew kernels were 300 tons, the rest werecashewkernelswithsilkskin.

Cashew kernels imported from Ivory Coast (accounting for 70-75%) and Mozambique (25-30%) show that the governments of these countries are encouraging the processing of cashew kernels instead ofexportingthewholerawcashewnutasbefore.

Cashew kernels imported to Vietnam are not much compared to total output of cashew kernels processed in Vietnam, but they also cause some problems. First of all, this number of kernels will "Occupy position" of the corresponding number of caschew kernels processed in Vietnam in export purchase orders, thereby affecting the work and life of a part of workers in the cashew industry. In addition, Vietnam authorities have almost no control measures on food safety for imported cashew kernels right from the stages of processing and preservation in the exporting country, thereby, possibly adversely affecting the quality of Vietnam cashew kernels in the world market. The quality of African raw cashew nuts in 2022 decreased compared to before, specifically, the kernel outturn rate decreased by 2 units. The main reasonwastheweather.

Averyremarkablethingisthatforthepast4-5 years, for raw cashew from Africa to Vietnam, the rate of mold, sprouting and weevils is very small. This shows that the warnings and recommendations of VINACAS at VINACAS Golden Cashew Rendezvous related to the quality of African raw cashew have been absorbedandimprovedbyexportersandtradersofraw cashewnutsinexportingcountries.

The growth rate of raw cashew output is higher than that of cashew kernel consumption under normal conditions (about 510%/year). In the context that the world economy has not been bright, especially in the major markets of cashewnuts,includingtheUSandthe EU, it is likely that the volume of cashew kernels consumed this year comparedto2022maynotincreaseor onlyslightlyincrease.

Mr. Cao Thuc Uy, Member of Standing Executive Members' Board, Head of VINACAS Science and Technology Board; Chairman of Members' Council of Cao Phat Company Limited also said that, with the development of the area of cashew growing countries and the application of advanced methods in intensive farming, post-harvest preservation, the global raw cashew output this year would continue to increase.

Therefore, according to Mr. Nguyen Minh Hoa, in the context of abundant raw cashew output in the world, a large number of raw cashew nutswerestillinstockinVietnamand also in India (evidenced by the fact that at the end of last year, the beginning of this year and possibly in the near future, there are many batches of raw cashew nuts from India to Vietnam, each batch from hundreds to thousands of tons, which is something that has never happened before), then Vietnam enterprises do not need to rush to buy raw cashew when its price is unreasonably high compared to the export price of cashewkernels.

Mr. Cao Thuc Uy shared: “Vietnam cashew processors before deciding to import raw cashew. should calm down and realize that the supply of raw materials is more abundant this year, in contrast to the current rather quiet cashew kernel consumption market and the current trend of cashew kernel consumption; This situation of the world may continue in the coming time. I think that 2023 is a year that still has many unknown and promising things for Vietnamcashewindustry”...