VietNamNet Bridge - Though having received orders big enough to ensure jobs until mid-2016, Vietnamese export companies still are not satisfied.


Ta Quang Huyen, director of Hoang Son 1 Company in Binh Phuoc province, said the company has signed contracts on exporting cashew nuts until May 2016.

“The world market has high demand for Vietnamese cashew nuts with the export price increasing to $3.5 per kilo from $3.2,” he said.

Vietnam’s cashew nuts have been selling better, entering the most difficult markets such as the US and Japan. However, when huge orders come, Vietnamese enterprises are worried.

“Our company did not dare sign big contracts because we fear we cannot collect enough materials to fulfill the contracts,” Huyen said.

The director has every reason to worry. A report says the domestic raw cashew supply is just high enough to satisfy 30 percent of the export demand.

The world market has high demand for Vietnamese cashew nuts with the export price increasing to $3.5 per kilo from $3.2

Nguyen Duc Thanh, chair of the Vietnam Cashew Association, admitted that Vietnam processes 1.3 million tons of cashew nuts a year, but only 500,000 tons are from domestic sources, while the remaining must be fed by imports from Africa and Cambodia.

“It is now more difficult to import raw cashew nuts because Vietnam now has to compete with many rivals, including India,” he said.

“Some African countries which exported raw products in the past, now also try to process cashew nuts themselves,” he explained. 

Tran Ngoc Hiep, director of Hoang Hau Dragon Fruit Company, said the company’s business has been going smoothly. Hoang Hau exports products not only to China, but also to the US, Japan, Europe and other South East Asian countries. It sells dragon fruit to China at $1 per kilo.

Though it is now the high harvest season, Hiep still feels worried about the short supply of materials.

“The unhealthy competition among dragon fruit collectors may result in a problem that export companies cannot gather enough materials to fulfill the export contracts,” he said.

According to Huynh The Nang, chair of the Vietnam Rice Association, Vietnam has cleared stocks thanks to the two government-to-government contracts signed with the Philippines and Indonesia. 

It is expected that 1.2 million tons of rice would be exported in the first quarter of 2016, or 300,000 tons more than the same period of last year.

However, worries still exist. Vietnamese exporters have been warned they will have to compete fiercely with Thailand and India which have record high inventory level of 12-13 million tons.

“If Thailand tries to clear the stocks, Vietnam would meet difficulties. Meanwhile, China now tries to import more from Myanmar, Cambodia and Thailand,” an exporter said.

Many garment companies have confirmed they have enough orders for all quarters of the year.

PL TPHCM