Over recent days, the price of fresh cashew nutshas stood at just 28,000-30,000 VND per kilo at farms in Binh Phuoc provinceand 30,000-32,000 VND for nuts delivered to factories. The price of driedcashews was about 36,000 VND per kilo.
In the same period last year, the price was 40,000-42,000VND per kilo for fresh cashews and 50,000 VND per kilo for dried cashews.
According to traders, the prices are still goingdown and there is no sign of an imminent recovery.
Tran Huu Hau from Vinacas said prices haveincreased slightly from the record low in late February of 20,000-24,000 VND perkilo for fresh cashews because processing facilities temporarily stoppedproducing cashews during the Tet holidays.
Nguyen Van Tuan, the owner of a cashew farm in BaRia-Vung Tau province, said the price of cashews in his province is higher thanin other areas due to their better quality and convenient location. However,the price of fresh cashews at the farm dropped to 29,500 VND per kilo from 32,000-33,000VND at the beginning of last week.
Now that it is the harvest season, many farmersare worried they will face pressure from traders to reduce prices even further,he said.
According to the association, domestic cashewoutput is only about 400,000 tonnes while the annual demand of domesticenterprises is about 1.5 million tonnes. The cashew processing industry hasdepended on imported materials to meet demand.
Ho Ngoc Cam, Director of Phuong Minh Agro-ForestryProduct Import and Export Co. Ltd, said enterprises have imported a smallvolume of raw cashews while prices of domestic cashews have droppeddramatically.
If factories import large quantities, the price isexpected to reduce further on the domestic market, Cam said.
According to Cam, raw cashew prices in Africa arecurrently about 1,300-1,400 USD per tonne, 600-700 USD lower than the sameperiod last year.
Global price reductions are due to oversupply,with many cashew-producing countries in the middle of their harvest seasonsincluding Vietnam, Ivory Coast, Nigeria, Benin, Mozambique and Ghana, accordingto the Ministry of Industry and Trade’s Export Import Department.
The average export price of Vietnamese cashews inthe first two months of the year was 8,197 USD per tonne, 20.1 percent lowerthan the same period last year, according to the General Department of Customs.
Vietnam exported 47,700 tonnes of cashews in thefirst two months of this year, earning 390.9 million USD. Exports increased by4.2 percent in volume but reduced by 16.7 percent in value year on year.
The Export Import Department expected prices torecover in the long term. In the second quarter of 2019, global prices arelikely to recover due to increased demand in China and some other countries.
The department also expects prices this year to behigher than in 2017 and 2018.
According to the International Nut and Dried FruitCouncil, the demand for cashew nuts this year is expected to increase fromApril 2019 and be stable until the end of the year.-VNS/VNA