The cashew industry reviews its performance this year and discusses measures to overcome difficulties at a conference in HCM City

Pham Van Cong, chairman of Vinacas, said theindustry has been facing a lot of difficulties since last year.

This year, it exported nearly 245,000 tonnes, anincrease of 10.8 percent year-on-year, but with global prices down by anaverage of nearly 22 percent, revenues were down 14 percent at 1.8 billion USD,he said.

Truong Sy Ba, CEO of Tan Long Group, a largeagricultural enterprise, said domestic supply only meets 20 percent of theindustry’s raw cashew demand and the rest has to be imported.

Last month, Tan Long Group bought 215,000 tonnesfrom three African countries, including 176,000 tonnes from Tanzania, and thisis expected to ease the concern about a shortage of raw materials this year, hesaid.

According to Vinacas experts, raw cashew pricesand demand are expected to increase in the fourth quarter of this year,especially in the US.

Vinacas sought the Ministry of Trade andIndustry’s support for companies to acquire machinery, equipment, technologiesand facilities to improve productivity and ensure food safety and quality.

It also urged the ministry to continue with itsCashew of Vietnam programme to provide market information and packaging design.

Vinacas wanted the Ministry of Agriculture andRural Development to support a programme to review and develop cashew-growingareas in neighbouring countries such as Cambodia and Laos to take advantage oftheir land resources to create a sustainable source of raw materials for theindustry.-VNA