VINAGRI News - Vietnam has surpassed the USD 5 billion mark in cashew exports for the first time, reaffirming its position as the world’s leading exporter. However, behind the impressive figures lies a pressing challenge: ensuring economic efficiency and sustainable development for the industry and its enterprises.
Summary:
> Vietnam’s cashew exports surpassed USD 5.2 billion in 2025, setting a new record.
> China became the largest export market, overtaking the United States for the first time.
> Despite strong export growth, many enterprises face losses due to high raw material costs.
> Heavy reliance on imported raw cashews remains a major structural challenge.
> The industry is focusing on domestic raw material development and higher value-added processing for sustainable growth.
Vietnam’s cashew sector has reached a historic milestone, with export revenue exceeding USD 5 billion for the first time. While this achievement underscores the country’s dominant role in the global cashew market, it has yet to translate into commensurate economic efficiency for exporters. This gap remains a central challenge as the industry seeks to ensure that its world-leading position delivers sustainable and meaningful value.
According to data from the General Department of Customs, Vietnam’s cashew exports in 2025 are estimated at 766,600 tonnes, generating more than USD 5.2 billion in revenue. Export volume rose by just 5.7% year on year, but export value surged by 20.4%, setting a new record and reinforcing cashews’ growing importance in Vietnam’s agricultural export portfolio.
A notable shift in market structure also emerged in 2025. For the first time, China overtook the United States to become Vietnam’s largest cashew export destination, with export value reaching USD 1.115 billion. The United States ranked second with USD 975 million, followed by the Netherlands at USD 495 million. This change reflects rising consumption across Asia and highlights Vietnamese enterprises’ ability to adapt to global market fluctuations.
The Vietnam Cashew Association (Vinacas) noted that export performance in 2025 significantly exceeded expectations. The initial target for the year was USD 4.7 billion, yet actual revenue surpassed this by around USD 500 million, demonstrating strong resilience among exporters amid ongoing global trade uncertainties.
Beyond the headline figures, the results point to positive prospects for 2026, as the cashew industry increasingly focuses on enhancing value-added production, reducing reliance on imported raw materials, and pursuing sustainable growth. These achievements stem from a combination of flexible policy management, production process improvements, greater technological investment, and enterprises’ ability to respond swiftly to market volatility.
Pham Van Cong, Chairman of Vinacas, emphasized that export growth in 2025 reflects the sector’s transformation from a socially driven, poverty-alleviation crop into a multi-billion-dollar industry supplying more than 100 countries and territories worldwide. He highlighted science and technology as the key driver of this shift. Prior to 2010, cashew processing in Vietnam relied heavily on manual labor, resulting in low productivity and high costs. Since the introduction of automated shelling and peeling technologies around 2010 - 2011, the industry has entered a new phase marked by higher efficiency, more consistent quality, and stronger compliance with international standards. Mechanization and automation have significantly enhanced the competitiveness of Vietnamese cashews, particularly in demanding markets such as the United States, the European Union, China, and Japan.
Despite record export values, the industry continues to face a major structural challenge: raw material supply. Vietnamese processing facilities require more than 3 million tonnes of raw cashew nuts annually, while domestic supply meets only about 10% of this demand. In 2025 alone, Vietnam imported more than 2.9 million tonnes of raw cashews worth approximately USD 4.5 billion. Heavy dependence on imported raw materials leaves the industry vulnerable to policy changes and market volatility in supplier countries.
Vu Thai Son, Chairman of Long Son Joint Stock Company and Chairman of the Dong Nai Cashew Association, pointed out a paradox: despite exceeding export targets in 2025, many cashew exporters - especially small and medium-sized enterprises - reported losses and were forced to shut down. He attributed this largely to raw material issues. Most Vietnamese processors source raw cashews from Africa and Cambodia, where recent policy changes, including the introduction of export floor prices to support local farmers, have driven up raw material costs.
At the same time, Vietnamese enterprises often rush to purchase raw cashews early in the season, further inflating prices despite forecasts of ample supply. When shipments arrive in Vietnam, raw material prices may have already declined, along with kernel prices, leaving exporters in a situation where higher export volumes result in greater losses.
Looking ahead, Son noted that cashew consumption is expected to continue rising in 2026 and beyond, particularly in markets such as China, Japan, South Korea, Russia, the Nordic countries, and ASEAN. Younger consumers are not only increasing their consumption of cashew nuts but also showing growing interest in value-added products such as cashew butter and cashew milk.
With its advanced processing technology, Vietnam has the potential to play a stronger role in regulating the global cashew market if it adopts a more strategic production and export approach. Avoiding aggressive raw material purchasing and excessive volume-driven exports could help ensure that processing and export activities generate real economic value, including sustainable profits and business growth.
To secure long-term development, Vinacas has identified domestic raw material development as a strategic priority. Cashew cultivation areas have been shrinking due to competition from other, more profitable crops. The association has proposed that the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment implement programs to restore and expand cashew-growing areas, particularly in the Central Highlands and Southeast regions, while developing high-yield, high-quality varieties to replace aging orchards. Replanting efforts should be supported by appropriate financial, technical, and policy incentives, similar to replanting programs in the coffee sector.
In parallel, the association is encouraging enterprises to expand the production of deeply processed, high-value cashew products to strengthen Vietnam’s position within the global cashew value chain.
With supportive policies, continuous innovation by businesses, and technology applied throughout the value chain, Vietnam’s cashew industry is expected not only to maintain its global leadership in processing but also to achieve breakthroughs in value creation and branding, making an increasingly significant contribution to the national agricultural economy.
NPK/ Vinagri News (VNA)
No comments:
Post a Comment