On November 23, in Ho Chi Minh City, the Vietnam Cashew Association (Vinacas) held a seminar on cashew production and business in 2020 on the occasion of summarizing 30 years of establishment. According to Vinacass data, as of the end of October 2020, although heavily affected by the COVID-19 epidemic, cashew kernel exports still reached more than 422,000 tons, an increase of 12% over the same period in 2019, reaching 94%. with the plan for 2020. Export turnover in 10 months reached more than US $ 2.6 billion, down 3% over the same period in 2019, reaching 82.3% of the plan. The reason is that the average price of imported raw cashew nuts in the first 10 months of 2020 has decreased by nearly 11% over the same period last year, at 1,187 USD. Expected for the whole year 2020, cashew kernel exports will reach 450,000 tons, worth $ 3.3 billion. Accordingly, from 1990 to the end of 2020, the export cashew industry is estimated at over 4.6 million tons of cashew kernel, with a total value estimated at more than 31 billion USD. Currently, cashew nut products exported from Vietnam are present in more than 90 countries and territories, accounting for over 80% of cashew kernel exports in the world. In which, there are 3 main markets: the US with 30%, China with 11%, the EU and other countries with 59% of the market share. Overview of the seminar on cashew production and business in 2020 on November 23. Cashew industry is still full of difficulties and turbulence Despite being at the top of the world, however, many businesses in the cashew industry recognize that Vietnam is only famous for its No. 1 position in cashew kernel processing and export, but most export processing enterprises have small and super small scale. In the global value chain, Vietnam mainly exports semi-processed cashews for 10 USD / kg, while the finished cashew kernels sold in supermarkets in other countries cost about 30 USD / kg. Thus, Vietnam only accounts for 30% of the cashew industry value chain, the remaining value belongs to international fried roasters and distributors. Besides, Vietnam has not been proactive in the source of raw materials, and has to import most of the raw cashew for processing, especially from Africa. Meanwhile, all import and export transactions must go through intermediaries, so they are always passive in cost. Mr. Nguyen Minh Minh, Vice Chairman of Vinacas said that currently, the cashew processing industry for export in Vietnam is under great pressure from the new policy of cashew producing and processing countries. If African countries started to develop domestic processing instead of exporting raw, India, one of the largest cashew nut markets in the world, which was a counterbalance to Vietnam, is applying a tax policy to limit cashew imported, mainly from Vietnam. With the Chinese market, which is considered "easy", but currently tightening the quality of agricultural products through quota, if not improving the quality, it is very difficult for Vietnam to enter this large market. Meanwhile, European countries and America are also raising food safety standards for cashews imported from Vietnam. The barometer wants to be high in the value chain Mr. Nguyen Minh Minh, Vice President of Vinacas. From a business perspective, Mr. Truong Sy Ba, Chairman and CEO of Tan Long Group also said that currently, Vietnam's raw cashew market still depends heavily on imported raw materials, so if Vietnam owns Having a supply of raw materials will help the business plan for production and business easier. However, Mr. Ba said: "If businesses decide to sell cashew kernels in the distant future without having raw materials in hand, they buy at risk for themselves, which is a very dangerous way, while most businesses do so. is a small and medium enterprise with limited financial potential. Therefore, selling and delivering within 60 days will reduce the risk for the business ". Meanwhile, Mr. Tran Hiep, Vice Chairman of Vinacas said that, for the issue of "selling far or near", most businesses with a large output of raw cashew will have to sell far, if they do not agree to sell far. then the customer will not buy. Usually businesses sell away at least three months, 6 months even 12 months or 15 months. In recent years, especially in the last two years, the cashew market has many fluctuations, the market demand is weak, the price is not good, so few customers want to buy far away. "When the prices tend to weaken, the buyers do not want to buy far, if they can sell far this year, the sellers will benefit more because the price of raw cashew is often in a downward trend," Hiep said. The barometer wants to be high in the value chain Mr. Truong Sy Ba, Chairman and CEO of Tan Long Group. (Photo: Nhu Huynh). Cashew industry development strategy in a new situation Mr. Pham Van Cong, President of Vinacas also acknowledged that, despite having a great reputation and a large market, Vietnamese cashew nuts are still raw materials for a very large market, which are deeply processed, valuable products. Vietnam's cashew industry has only just begun to approach, still full of difficulties and storms. This puts the cashew industry in Vietnam before the great choice of continuing to invest in technology, innovating equipment to maintain the position of cashew export or both invest in cashew cashew while concentrating resources for institutional development. deepening, enhancing Vietnam's position in the global value chain. Besides, Vietnamese cashew nuts, despite having good quality in the top of the world, but only meeting a very small part for processing, the life of cashew farmers is still difficult. In order to contribute to the cashew industry in taking advantage of opportunities, advantages and overcoming difficulties, VINACAS is promoting construction to propose to the Government the "Development strategy of Vietnam's cashew industry in a new situation". In particular, proposing state mechanisms and policies to strongly develop deep processing, meeting the diverse needs of the world market and gaining a worthy position in the global treatment value chain. Along with that is to strongly develop material areas in the direction of quality and efficiency, creating an initiative in quality raw materials for processing. At the seminar, cashew exporters have shared the same perception that in 2020, although heavily affected by the COVID-19 epidemic, the export results are very positive. And it is forecasted that 2021 will be much better than 2020, because thanks to information about the availability of vaccines, the COVID-19 epidemic will be more stable, helping to boost the demand for cashew kernels to increase. Export volume will increase and selling price is also expected to be better in 2020.