Goods from Cambodia flooded in, Vietnam’s top strength in the world had a trade deficit

Preliminary statistics from the General Department of Customs, as of April 15, our country exported 183.3 thousand tons of cashew nuts, earning 984.6 million USD. But our country also had to spend 1.04 billion USD to import nearly 834 thousand tons of raw cashew nuts.

This also means that Vietnam’s strength returns to the trade deficit period.

Currently, our country imports cashew nuts mainly from Cambodia, Tanzania, Ivory Coast… Notably, cashew nuts from Cambodia are flooding into Vietnam in large quantities.

Statistics in March showed that our country imported more than 386 thousand tons of cashew nuts from Cambodia, worth up to 449 million USD. Compared to March last year, cashew imports increased sharply by 65.6% in volume and nearly 40% in value.

Overall, in the first quarter of 2024, our country spent 593.2 million USD to import 462.4 thousand tons of cashew nuts from Cambodia, an increase of 32.6% in volume and 45.7% in value over the same period. last year.

Accordingly, in the total import turnover of the entire cashew industry in the first quarter of 2024, the amount of Cambodian cashews accounted for 69.7%, while the value accounted for 71.8%.

In fact, in recent years, our country’s cashew industry has relied heavily on imported raw materials, especially from Cambodia. Domestic raw materials only meet about 12% of the needs of processing enterprises.

According to a report from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, the total cashew growing area of ​​the country in 2007 was 440,000 hectares, by 2023 it will be 314,000 hectares, down 8,300 hectares compared to 2022. The harvest output in 2023 will reach more than 345,000 tons of cashew nuts. .

The gradually shrinking area leads to the situation where the cashew industry has to import more and a trade deficit occurs. In 2021, the cashew industry recorded a record trade deficit for the first time after more than 3 decades of maintaining a trade surplus.

For the past 17 years, Vietnam has continuously held the number 1 position in the world in exporting processed cashew kernels. However, dependence on imported raw materials makes this industry more risky.

Previously, the world cashew market was mainly supplied by Vietnam and India, of which Vietnam accounted for more than 80%. But recently other sources of supply have emerged, especially from some countries in Africa, causing Vietnam’s cashew market share in the global market to decrease.

The director of a cashew kernel processing enterprise in our country admitted that countries in Africa do not only export raw cashew nuts like before. They invest in machinery to promote cashew kernel processing. The advantage in this area is the availability of raw materials and cheap labor, so when processing cashew products, the quality is good and the price is more competitive than Vietnamese products.

In order for the cashew industry to develop sustainably, businesses have asked the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development to continue researching and finding solutions to develop our country’s cashew growing industry in terms of varieties, techniques, planning and development of production areas. Focused, associated with processing industry, developing regional agricultural product brands.

Mr. Pham Van Cong, Chairman of the Vietnam Cashew Association, pointed out the paradox that Vietnam is a cashew processing center but does not have a large enough raw material area to serve production. The cashew growing area in the country is increasingly narrowing, with output being quite modest. Therefore, businesses have to buy raw cashew nuts from other countries.

Leaders of the Vietnam Cashew Association emphasized that in difficult conditions to increase the area, they proposed solutions to cooperate, exploit and develop cashew raw material areas in Cambodia and Southern Laos, including cooperation in research and transfer. Deliver seeds and cultivation techniques to your country. Then, businesses will import this raw cashew resource to Vietnam for processing.