Cashew export value up 38.3 per cent

HA NOI — Cashew exports in the first month of this year reached 15,000 tonnes, worth US$98 million, a year-on-year increase of 14.3 per cent in volume and 38.3 per cent in value, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development said.

Nguyen Thai Hoc, chairman of Donafoods Dong Nai Company, said in January alone, exports were worth $3.1 million, up 30 per cent in value against last year.

The company expects the export value in 2011 to be $47 million, up 10 per cent against last year.

Nguyen Duc Thanh, deputy chairman of the Viet Nam Cashew Association, said the cashew industry was aiming to boost the total export value of cashews by 32 per cent to $1.5 billion this year.

Cashew are grown on 390,000ha, mainly in the eastern region of south Viet Nam and the Central Highland, Thanh said.

However, he said, processors were now suffering shortages and would need to import 300,000 tonnes of raw cashews in 2011. Processors will also have to cope with high loan interest rates.

To meet this year's target, Cao Duc Phat, minister of agriculture and rural development, said his ministry would develop favourable policies to boost cashew production at home.

In 2010, 196,000 tonnes of cashew nuts were exported, worth $1.14 billion, a year-on-year increase of 10.8 per cent in volume and 13.4 per cent in value, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

Viet Nam is the leading exporter of cashews in the world.

For the first time, in 2010 the cashew sector became one of the country's leading agricultural products when export revenue reached over $1 billion.

Hoc said Vietnamese cashew nuts were exported to 52 countries and territories worldwide. — VNS

(Source: http://vietnamnews.vnagency.com.vn/Economy/208429/Cashew-export-value-up-383-per-cent-.html)