Hanoi (VNA) – Vietnamese cashew nut processing firms plan to import 450,000 tonnes of raw materials worth over 600 million USD this year, according to the Vietnam Cashew Association.
Domestic cashew processors have recently not had enough materials to process nuts for export.
Raw cashew ouput this year is likely to drop 20 percent and hit only 400,000 tonnes.
The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has asked localities to take measures to create stable cashew production areas.
Vietnam is expected to have 300,000 hectares of cashew growing area by 2020, up 5,000 hectares against this year.
It is expected that the amount of processed cashew exports this year will reach 350,000 tonnes with a value of 2.5 billion USD.
In the first two months of this year, enterprises exported 37,000 tonnes of cashew nuts worth 278 million USD, a year-on-year rise of 5.3 percent in volume and 11 percent in value.-VNA