Recently, the General Department of Customs said that in the first 5 months of the year, cashew imports reached more than 1.4 million tons, equivalent to a value of more than $2.2 billion, up more than 247% in volume and 281% in export turnover. compared to the same period in 2020. In which, cashew imports from Cambodia reached more than 939 thousand tons, equivalent to nearly 1.6 billion USD, an increase of 395% in volume, an increase of 550% in value over the same period in 2020. This is also a large supply of cashew. of Vietnam, accounting for 66%. Cashew alone accounts for 60% of Cambodia's total export turnover to Vietnam. why is the relationship between Cambodia and Cambodia so bad? Cashew imports from Cambodia accounted for 66% (Data: General Department of Customs, Chart: Hoang Anh) Talking to the writer at the beginning of May, Mr. Pham Van Cong, Chairman of the Vietnam Cashew Association (VINACAS) said: "It is not feasible for import turnover in the first 4 months of the year to equal the whole year target. Because, import turnover for the whole year 2020 is 1.8 billion USD. Meanwhile, cashew import turnover in the first 4 months of the year reached more than 1.8 billion USD. Sharing with Customs Magazine , Mr. Dang Hoang Giang, Vice President, General Secretary of VINACAS said that the Association was also surprised by the unusual growth from Cambodia's cashew imports and is reviewing the association's businesses. pellets. In fact, apart from Cambodia, member enterprises still import cashew mainly from traditional markets in Africa and initially recorded no unit with an abnormal increase in import volume. In addition, some theories suggest that there is a possibility that this item originated from another country that borrowed Cambodian sugar to enter Vietnam. An industry expert said that the reason why businesses have to borrow sugar from other countries to export goods to Vietnam is tax evasion. However, for cashew products, this possibility can be eliminated because the import tax on raw cashew is 0%. "There is no business borrowing Cambodian sugar to export cashews to Vietnam because the import tax on raw cashews is 0%, businesses do not need to evade tax," he said. why is the relationship between Cambodia and Cambodia so bad? Cashew import tax into Vietnam is 0% (Photo: Nhan Dan Newspaper) Importing cashews to Cat Lai port (HCMC) is quite easy, then transporting to factories is also close. While, importing to Xihanucvin (Cambodia) is a long distance and has to go through two procedures. On the other hand, if the quality of Cambodian cashew is good, if you want to fake Cambodian goods into Vietnam to sell at a high price, this is unlikely to happen. Because Vietnamese businesses are quite knowledgeable about cashews, just by looking at the shape and size, you can tell which country the cashew nut comes from. According to experts, the sudden increase in cashew imports in the first 5 months of the year may be because in the last 2 years, some large enterprises have gathered cashew nuts in Africa, hoarding waiting for prices to increase. Besides, the first 5 months of the year is the period of cashew harvest, processing and export output is not much, especially in the first quarter. Cashew nuts exported in the first quarter are mainly stored from the previous year, therefore. the export balance is tilted towards the trade deficit. The storage of raw materials causes the domestic cashew price to decrease. However, the biggest cause is due to a lot of rain, the cashew nuts are deep and the quality is too high. Most of the cashews are wet, the factory does not have a yard to dry. Expanding the area is impossible điều In the face of a sharp increase in cashew imports, the Ministry of Industry and Trade proposed the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development to study to expand the cashew growing area in areas with suitable soil and climate conditions. However, the cashew industry expert said: "Expanding the cashew area is impossible". He analyzed that the current cashew tree grown in Vietnam gives a maximum yield of 2 tons/ha. Therefore, to have 1 million tons of cashew, it is necessary to expand about 500,000 hectares. However, the land fund is too small and the land must be used efficiently. On the other hand, the highest domestic price of cashew is only 35,000 - 40,000 VND/kg, each year people only earn 80 million VND/ha. While, planting other crops, people can collect several hundred million to billions on an area of 1 hectare per year. Meanwhile, African cashew nuts, even though they have to be transported for a whole month at sea, cost only about 1,200 USD/ton, equivalent to 27,000 VND/kg. why is the relationship between Cambodia and Cambodia so bad? Cashew prices in the country fell sharply due to the rainy season, poor quality (Photo: People's Daily) Although the quality of cashews in Vietnam and Cambodia is superior to that of Africa, the profit earned from 1 hectare is still too low, unable to compete with other crops. Especially when large cashew areas like Binh Phuoc are gradually being replaced by industrial parks and urban areas. Therefore, this expert emphasized that it is impossible to expand the cashew area, only improving the quality and increasing the yield of cashew nuts in the country. The cashew industry expert said that before, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development made a point of not increasing the cashew acreage but introducing new varieties and changing farming processes to increase productivity. Thus, the cashew area in the country in the past 30-40 years has always been stable at 300,000 ha. From just exporting raw cashew nuts, after 15 years, Vietnam's cashew industry has risen to become the world's leading country in exporting cashew kernels and holds the throne until now. In parallel with the development of the domestic raw material area, the cashew industry also actively explores the source of raw materials in Africa, Cambodia ... However, experts also said that in the situation where exporting countries increase processing, supply shortage, and import prices increase, it is possible that Vietnam's cashew industry will be wiped out.