Vietnam exported a haul of 184,000 tonnes of cashew nuts with a value of US$1.24 billion during the opening five months of the year, representing a year-on-year increase of 17.8% in volume and 2.2% rise in value, according to the Import and Export Department under the Ministry of Industry and Trade.

Cashew exports make US$1.24 billion over five-month period 

May alone saw the country ship 45,000 tonnes of cashew nuts worth US$280 million abroad, marking a rise of 1.2% in volume, and a decrease of 3.9% in value in comparison with the April statistics.

However, the average export price of cashew nuts during May suffered a sharp decrease of 5% to US$6,222 per tonne, its lowest level when compared to previous years.

Indeed, the average export price of cashew nuts throughout the five-month period reached US$6,725 per tonne, a decline of 13.3% on-year.

Moreover, April saw cashew exports to some foreign markets such as the United States, the Netherlands, Australia, and Japan record a double-digit growth compared to the same period last year. Meanwhile, cashew exports to both the UK and Israeli markets experienced a downward trajectory.

In contrast, the first four months of the year saw cashew exports to the US and the Netherlands enjoy an upward trend, while exports to the Chinese market witnessed a downward trend.

According to the International Trade Commission, China's cashew imports throughout the first quarter of the year suffered a drop of 28.7% to US$22.06 million from the same period last year.

Most notably, the country’s cashew market share in relation to the Chinese market’s total import volume increased sharply from 58.1% during the first quarter of last year to 75.3% during the reviewed period of this year, according to the Import and Export Department.