AsemconnectVietnam - The Mintec Benchmark Prices of Vietnamese cashews (WW320, FOB Vietnam) were assessed at $2.45/lb in the last week of August, steady month-on-month but down 9% year-on-year.

The cashew market was quiet in August, with the purchasing activity from many US and European buyers reduced due to the summer holidays in the Northern Hemisphere. Prices were steady at the bottom end of the market compared to a month ago, with good quality cashew kernels from SMETA certified suppliers offered 8-12 cents/lb above the lowest BRC offers. Mintec saw some offers from large Vietnamese shippers moving down a few cents in August.
Markets such as the Middle East and Asia continued buying nuts throughout August. Demand from China reportedly accelerated ahead of its Mid-Autumn Festival, Vietnamese exporters said, providing some price support to larger calibre nuts. This was also reportedly due to general tightness across larger-sized nuts available to Vietnamese processors. “Recently, we have seen more enquiries than before. It is looking good for the coming months, especially for larger sizes such as WW240 and WW180. After the Mid-Autumn festival, we must prepare for the New Year and Spring festivals. People have to ready their inventories before end-December,” a Chinese trader shared with Mintec.
Cashew exports brought in more than USD1.94 billion
According to the preliminary statistics of the General Department of Customs, in July 2022, Vietnam's cashew exports reached 54,675 tons, worth more than USD 304.3 million, a decrease of 7.5% in volume and a decrease of 10.2% in turnover compared to June 2023
Accumulated over the first seven months, cashew exports reached 334,870 tons, bringing in more than USD 1.94 billion, an increase of 13.3% in volume and an increase of 9.7% in value compared to the same period in 2022. The average export price in the first seven months reached USSD 5,805/ton, a decrease of 3% compared to the same period last year.
Cashews are one of the agricultural products with export value of over USD 1 billion after the first seven months of the year.
In terms of market, the US is the largest import market of Vietnamese cashews. Specifically, the export of cashews to the US in July reached 14,385 tons with a turnover of more than USD 79.5 million, a decrease of 12.2% in volume and a decrease of 15% in value compared to June 2023. Accumulated over the first seven months of the year, the export of cashew nuts to the US reached 88,903 tons with a value of more than USD 512 million, an increase of 0.7% in volume and an increase of 0.32% in value over the same period in 2022.
According to the Import-Export Department - Ministry of Industry and Trade, in the first months of 2023, weakening growth, rising inflation, no signs of cooling down in the Russia-Ukraine conflict have caused most of major economies in the world to decrease cashew nut imports. This negatively affects the global cashew industry in general, including Vietnam.
Cashew industry moves to boost green production, consumption
Although the cashew nut processing and exporting industry was warned of many difficulties in 2023, Vietnamese exporters still have many opportunities to boost exports if both businesses and farmers turn to green production, insiders have said. Marc Rosenblatt, a representative of The Richard Franco Agency of the US, said that American and European consumers have paid great attention to food safety, hygiene and production environment safety when deciding to choose a product. Consumers in these markets also like to use cashew nuts because of their nutritional content, he added.
Cashew nuts are increasingly accounting for a high proportion in the consumption structure of nuts of global consumers. Therefore, clean cashew nuts will always be a priority for young people in Europe and Asia.
TOP 3 CASHEW COMPANIES IN VIETNAM
Vietnam is one of the largest cashew nut producing and exporting countries in the world with an annual export turnover of over USD 3 billion. This achievement is significantly contributed by cashew export businesses.
Following is detailed information about the 3 largest cashew nut manufacturers in Vietnam compiled by VietnamCredit.
1. LONG SON JOINT STOCK COMPANY
Established in 2000, over the years, Long Son JSC has become the largest cashew nut producer in Vietnam with 10 large factories spread across the country.
Moreover, Long Son has just put into operation a local export company which is the first Vietnamese processing enterprise besides overseas companies in the US, Mozambique, Côte d'Ivoire and Togo.
The company’s products have been exported to over 40 countries around the world as a high quality brand. More and more supermarkets and fried cashew manufacturers buy cashew products from Long Son because of the quality, performance and food safety.
During the past 5 years, Long Son continued to maintain a growth rate of 10% - 20% per year in terms of output.
2. HOANG SON I JOINT STOCK COMPANY
Hoang Son 1 JSC is a private company established on November 18, 2002. Its annual cashew nut revenue reaches millions of USD, mainly thanks to cashew nut export.
Hoang Son 1 owns an area of 50 hectares of drying yard and warehouse with more than 2000 employees. This business is one of the three largest cashew import and export enterprises in Vietnam.
The company is located in Binh Phuoc province, which is the “capital” of Vietnam's cashew. Therefore, it always actively buys raw materials on the spot to put into production to reduce costs so that the price is always competitive.
In 2021, Hoang Son 1 Joint Stock Company put a factory specializing in roasting nuts and packing with a capacity of 100 containers/month into operation. This factory is located in Binh Phuoc with an area of 6ha, built according to a modern model, meeting the strict requirements of food hygiene and safety according to international standards.
3. DAN ON FOODS CORPORATION
Dan On Foods Corporation (DOF), established in Vietnam since 1999, is a member company of DAN-D FOODS Group. The head office of the corporation is located in Richmond, British Columbia (BC), Canada and is led by the founder and general manager, Mr. Dan On, who started and laid the foundation for the development of the corporation.
Other member companies of DAN-D FOODS Group are located in British Columbia and Ontario, Canada, California, the United States, Bangkok, Thailand, China, Hong Kong and Taiwan. Currently, the Group has more than 800 employees working towards a common goal: Providing quality products to customers on a global scale.
The company’s main factory is located in Thu Dau Mot, Binh Duong province. Another factory was established in 2010, in An Dien commune, Ben Cat town, Binh Duong province, about 16 km from the main factory. This factory specializes in processing raw cashews into finished cashew nut products and other products such as packaging bags, plastic jars and rolled paper cans.
The most modern factory was put into operation at the end of 2018 with a total investment of about USD 20 million in My Phuoc 3 industrial park, Ben Cat town, Binh Duong. This new factory is a typical symbol of an enterprise aiming for green, clean production and commitment to social responsibility, where the convergence of modern technological machines is automatically operated by solar power.
T.Huong
Source: VNA