Cashews: Vietnam's imports down significantly

June 22, 2022 at 4:13 PM , Der AUDITOR
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HANOI. As Vinacas announced, Vietnamese imports declined noticeably year-on-year in the first four months of 2022. The country's exports are also lower than last previous year, although the decline here is more moderate.

Imports decline in volume and value

Vietnam imported a total of 255,285 mt of cashew nuts worth nearly USD 373.4 million in April 2022, according to the Vietnam Customs Office. This represents a year-on-year decline of 22.6% in volume and 26% in value - the average export price was USD 1,462.50/mt. In total, the country imported 728,731 mt worth USD 1.1 billion in the first four months of the year, according to the Vietnam Cashew Association (Vinacas). This is a noticeable decrease compared to last year, amounting to 38.6% in volume and 41.8% in value.

Freight costs weigh on exports

There were also year-on-year declines in exports, although not quite as drastic. Here Vinacas already refers to the May data. In the first five months of 2022, Vietnam shipped 208,000 mt of cashews worth USD 1.24 billion overseas, compared to 3.2% more in volume and 3% more in value in the corresponding period of 2021. As a reason for the decline, the experts state that many overseas suppliers still have high stocks and therefore need to restock less. In addition, there is the problem of high freight costs, so importers only stock up on the bare necessities.

More independence

Another important factor, however, is that most buyers are currently trying to diversify their sources of supply and want to be less dependent on individual countries or even suppliers. Producers in the classic cashew supplying countries Vietnam and India are noticing this in particular; some of the purchases that are primarily made here are now taking place in countries such as Cambodia, the Côte D'Ivoire or Myanmar, as Vinacas reports.

The prices for cashews have risen in the course of the last weeks in India, while goods from Vietnam have weakened on the European spot market. Here, for example, Vietnamese cashews, WW320 now cost EUR 6.60/kg FCA Spain.

Cashew kernels

Type, origin

EUR/kg

USD/kg

WW320, Vietnam, FCA Spain

6.60

6.92

WW240, Vietnam, FCA Spain

7.00

7.34

W320, FOB India

8.15

8.55

W240, FOB India

8.80

9.23

Trade sources

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