The assessment was made by businesses in the cashew sector at a conference held on March 13 in Ho Chi Minh City.

According to enterprises, most raw cashew nuts must be imported, mainly from African countries, which entails considerable risks.

Several African nations impose temporary bans on the export of raw cashew nuts at the beginning of the harvest season in order to prioritise the supply of the best-quality raw nuts to domestic processors.

They also set minimum export prices and increase taxes and fees on raw cashew exports.

As a consequence, importing raw cashew nuts from Africa is expected to become more difficult and costly, reducing the production and business efficiency of Vietnamese enterprises.

In addition, geopolitical tensions in many parts of the world, particularly the conflict in the Middle East, are making logistics operations more challenging while fuel prices and freight costs continue to rise.

At the same time, amid economic difficulties, demand for cashew kernels in major markets such as the United States, Europe and the Middle East is showing a downward trend.

Against this backdrop, Vinacas has set a target of exporting around 800,000 tonnes of cashew kernels, with a value of 5 billion USD in 2026.

The association is also encouraging and supporting Vietnamese enterprises to focus investment on processing products with higher added value, meeting the diverse demands of different markets around the world as well as the domestic market.

Vinacas regards this as a strategic direction, representing not only the inevitable development path for enterprises but also an urgent requirement for repositioning Viet Nam’s cashew industry within the global cashew value chain.

According to Vinacas, Viet Nam is currently the world’s largest importer of raw cashew nuts and supplies up to 80% of globally exported cashew kernels.

In 2025, Vietnamese enterprises imported more than 3.122 million tonnes of raw cashew nuts, worth over 4.667 billion USD.

African countries, including Côte d’Ivoire, Nigeria, Ghana, Tanzania, Guinea and Burkina Faso, are the main suppliers of raw cashew nuts.

Meanwhile, Viet Nam’s total export turnover of cashew kernels in 2025 exceeded 5.43 billion USD, with nearly 798,000 tonnes, up more than 18% in value and 4.23% in volume compared with 2024.

This represents a new record for Viet Nam’s cashew industry.