Difficult husband difficult
According to statistics of the General Department of Customs, in the first 6 months of 2021, Vietnam’s cashew industry has exported 273,000 tons, reaching a turnover of 1.64 billion USD, up 11% in volume and 1.4% in value compared to that of the General Department of Customs. same period in 2020.
This data shows that there is a clear difference between the increase in volume but the increase in export value is not commensurate. The reason for this disparity is because the cashew industry is facing many difficulties not only due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to the assessment of the Vietnam Cashew Association (Vinacas), the cashew industry has expanded the consumption market and approached customers better than last year, but because the export price in the first quarter of 2021 was lower than the same period last year. in 2020, so although the export price in the second quarter of 2021 is slightly higher, it is still difficult to be as valuable as in previous years. This has led to an increase in the export volume of cashew nuts, but the value has not increased commensurately.
In addition, when the export price of cashew kernels has not increased much, enterprises importing raw cashew nuts have to face increased raw material prices, due to the large processing capacity of Vietnam’s cashew industry and insufficient domestic raw materials. Supply has resulted in competition to buy raw materials for the factory.
Along with that, the complicated developments of the global COVID-19 pandemic caused markets to practice social distancing, reduce trade, leading to a shortage of containers, and skyrocketing shipping fees.
Cashew processing industry experts forecast that the global demand for cashew nut consumption by 2024 will reach 13.4 billion USD, with an average growth rate of 5.2% in the 5-year cycle from 2019 to 2024. .
The increased demand for cashew nut consumption is due to the increased demand for healthy snacks
Influenced by the increased demand for snacks from cashew nuts, the raw cashew exporting countries of Africa also gradually formed cashew processing factories, creating a competitive factor with Vietnam’s cashew industry.
In addition, during the cashew harvest period, the weather is not favorable for the cashew tree to bear fruit, leading to lower yield, and the quality of cashew nuts is also difficult to meet the requirements of high price buyers. Cashew farmers also cannot sell at high prices because the export price is not as high as expected.
Binh Phuoc, one of the localities with a large cashew acreage, up to 137,000 ha, belongs to the leading group of key crops, bringing significant income to people in the province.
However, adverse weather developments and the overall situation of Vietnam’s cashew exports have also had a great impact on this locality.
Mr. Hung Loc, Duc Hanh commune, Bu Gia Map district, Binh Phuoc province said that his family produces 4 hectares of cashew. However, this year’s cashew crop has a lower yield than the 2020 cashew crop. The weather is erratic, so it has affected the flowering and fruiting process of cashew trees. Most of the 2nd and 3rd spawns were damaged.
Increase deep processing to increase value
Solving the problem of the cashew industry’s value, restoring the high-value export position of cashew nuts is a matter of the whole cashew industry. This is also contributing to restoring the value of one of the nine key commodities of Vietnam’s agricultural industry.
According to experts, increasing the value of the cashew industry by increasing the import of raw materials for processing and then re-exporting is no longer the optimal solution, because importing raw materials, preliminarily processing and processing only brings one small profits. In addition, importing raw materials will create new difficulties for domestic cashew farmers.
Mr. Nguyen Quoc Toan, Director of the Department of Agricultural Product Market Development, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, shared that the increase in imports of raw cashews is making it difficult for domestic cashew farmers to find it difficult to consume fresh cashews. in the harvest season.
In the last cashew crop, unfavorable weather caused many cashew orchards to reduce their yield. Meanwhile, businesses have increased imports of raw cashews, which has pushed the domestic price of fresh cashews to low when the main cashew season is in progress.
Meanwhile, the capacity of Vietnamese cashew processing factories is up to 1.6 million tons/year, but imported raw materials in previous years accounted for three-quarters of the processing capacity. This proves that the profits brought from the cashew industry are mostly enjoyed by countries that export raw cashews.
According to Mr. Pham Van Cong, President of VINACAS, in the global cashew value chain, Vietnam mainly exports pre-processed cashew kernels at the price of 10 USD/kg, while finished cashew kernels are sold in international markets. price 30 USD/kg.
Currently, Vietnam’s cashew deep processing factories only account for 12 – 15% of the capacity of pre-processed cashew kernels. Thus, Vietnam currently accounts for only 30% of the cashew industry value chain. The remaining value belongs to international distributors and roasters.
In order to improve the value chain of the cashew industry, taking advantage of the current resources of preliminary processing technology, Vietnam’s cashew industry will continue to invest in cashew kernel processing technology, renew equipment to improve cashew processing products. deepened more than 30% to maintain the export position, bringing real value to Vietnam’s cashew industry.
Specifically, Vietnamese cashew processing enterprises have both invested in preliminary processing technology, creating better quality of cashew kernels, and invested in deep processing technology to create the final product of cashew nuts in processing. deep variable. Only then will Vietnam’s cashew industry increase its position in the global value chain, Mr. Cong shared.
