HCM City (VNA) – The third International Cashew Processing Equipment Exhibition opened on November 22 in the southern province of Long An, according to the Vietnam Cashew Association (Vinacas).
The event saw participation from 100 cashew manufacturers from 40 countries worldwide.
According to Chairman of Vinacas Nguyen Duc Thanh, most members of the association have used processing machines to manufacture quality products, meeting requirements of international customers such as the EU, the US and Japan.
Domestically made machines help cut processing costs and time from 16 days to 10 days, with the rate of broken nuts at only 10 percent, he added.
Vietnam has several cashew processing machine brands, including Khuong May Viet, Hong Hai, Phuc Thang, Cao Phat, My An An and Mekong. The machines have been exported to many countries such as India, China, Indonesia and Africa.
In the first 10 months of 2015, Vietnam exported 272,000 tonnes of cashew nuts for a turnover of 1.9 billion USD, up 6 percent in volume and over 18 percent in value compared with the same period last year.
The cashew sector is expected to bring home 2.5 billion USD in 2015, of which 2.3 billion USD is from cashew nuts.
Vietnam continued accounting for over 50 percent of the globe’s cashew nut trade value of about 5 billion USD, and maintained its title as the world’s leading cashew nut exporter for the 10th consecutive year.-VNA