Vietnam's cashew nut export revenue up 43.8% in first two months

Vietnam's cashew nut export revenue hits 154 million U.S. dollars in the first two months, posting a year-on-year rise of 43.8 percent, according to a report by Vietnamese General Statistics Office on Thursday.
The country exported some 22,000 tonnes of cashew nuts in the first two months this year, up 6 percent year-on-year, said the report.
This year, Vietnam is expected to pocket 1.4 to 1.5 billion U.S. dollars from cashew nut export, up 32 percent over 2010, according to Vietnam Cashew nut Association (Vinacas).
2011 will be a difficult year for enterprises in purchasing materials that require the cooperation and consent of all enterprises, said Vinacas.
In order to have enough raw materials for processing, besides the amount of raw materials purchased domestically, in 2011, the country will import approximately 450,000 tonnes of raw cashew.
Of the 45,000 tonnes, 70 percent is imported from West Africa and the rest will be imported from East Africa and Indonesia, according to Vinacas.
Along with traditional markets, including the United States, European Union, China, Australia, the country will widen its market to the Middle East, Eastern Europe, North Asia and countries in ASEAN, said Vinacas.
Last year, Vietnam pocketed 1.14 billion U.S. dollars from cashew nut export, up 34.2 percent year on year.

(Source: http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/90001/90778/90858/90863/7315691.html)