<p></p><p>According to Mr. Nguyen Duc Thanh, chairman of the Vietnam Cashew Association, in the first five months of this year, cashew industry exported more than 118,000 tons of cashew nuts, bringing in about US$1.1 billion, exceeding export plan in both volume and value. <br></p> <p>The US was the biggest cashew importer of Vietnam. The association said that this year’s plan to process and export 350,000 tons of cashew nuts was feasible and might bring in $2.5 billion.The two current main issues of cashew industry are the chaotic competition in exporting cashew to African countries, especially to Ivory Coast, and food safety when processing cashew nuts.The current price of raw cashew is fairly high, above VND30,000 per kilogram, due to prolonged drought in countries with large area of cashew trees, including Brazil. However, local farmers’ income is not as high as expected because of low productivity. According to the association, production of raw cashew has fallen by 20 percent compared to the same period last year.<br></p><p></p>