The local cashew industry has
seen a spike in cashew prices, marking a 10 year record high, mostly due to
increasing global prices.
As reported by Vietnam News
Agency, a kilogramme of raw cashew nuts can now be sold for VND32,000 (US$1.4),
and a kilogramme of dried cashew nuts fetches VND40,000, the highest prices
recorded in the past 10 years.
Viet Nam Cashew Association
(Vinacas)'s chairman Nguyen Duc Thanh said that cashew exporters are also
buying cashew nuts from local farmers at higher prices. "Exported cashew
prices are rising due to global prices increasing. In addition, Vietnamese
cashews are good quality and much favoured by foreign markets," Thanh
said.
Since early March, growers in key
cashew cultivation areas in the Southern and Central Highlands provinces have
started to collect their cashew nuts as it is now entering peak harvest season.
Tran Van Thi, a cashew grower in
the Central Highlands of Dak Nong Province said a kilogramme of cashew nuts
previously sold for between VND18,000 and 20,000, but now the prices have
increased by VND10,000 per kilogramme.
"With higher prices, a
cashew growing household can now earn VND90 million to 100 million per hectare
of cashews, and after deducting all kinds of expenses and costs, they can gain
from VND70 million to VND 85 million in profit," Thi said.
Nguyen Thi Hue, who owns two
hectares of cashew plantation in the southern Binh Phuoc Province's Dong Xoai
Commune said this season she has collected about four tonnes of cashew nuts,
adding that she has received numerous orders from cashew traders. She expects
to earn a profit of VND100 million after selling all this year's crop.
According to statistics from
Vinacas, in the first two months of this year, Viet Nam exported 37,000 tonnes
of cashews with a total revenue of $280 million, an increase of 11 per cent
compared with the same period last year.
Short supply
All though cashew prices are
increasing, the cashew industry is still facing a shortage of cashews for
export. Last year's cashew crops saw low productivity due to unusually bad
weather, which in turn led many farmers to narrow their cultivation area for
cashews, or even replace cashew plantations with coffee, rubber or fruit trees.
Many farmers now feel regret
because they don't have enough cashews for traders, and therefore, the cashew
industry cannot fully meet the export demands.
For many years, Thanh said,
cashew prices have depended on the local traders. "Farmers don't directly
supply cashews to export enterprises, but have to sell them through several
traders. Therefore profits for farmers have been significantly
diminished," he said.
In addition, Vietnamese farmers
lack advanced preservation technology so they cannot store cashews for long
periods. Often farmers will sell the raw cashew nuts right from their gardens,
and can easily suffer losses.
To improve the situation, he said
that Vinacas is co-operating with relevant agencies to develop a model linking
production, processing and consumption, gradually connecting cashew growers
with exporters, and helping farmers to increase their profits.