According to statistics of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, in the first 6 months of the year, cashew export turnover reached 1.5 billion USD with more than 249,000 tons, down 9.1% in volume, down 9.2% in value. prices compared to the same period in 2021. Explaining this, the Vietnam Cashew Association (VINACAS) shared, many factors affect cashew export turnover; in which, the strongest is the COVID-19 epidemic, then the freight rate increased by more than 10 times compared to the first period of 2020. These two factors cause many orders signed in 2021 but still cannot be delivered, having to be backlogged until 2022. Although the business still runs orders in 2022, they are old orders of 2021. Mr. Tran Van Hiep - Vice President of VINACAS informed that the average export price was about 5,792 USD/ton, up 1.45% over the same period in 2021. However, the price of raw cashew imports from Africa from the beginning of the season to the end of the season. now has increased 15-20% over the same period. Export prices increased but did not catch up with the increase in import prices of raw materials. This shows that importers and processors are tending to be slow to buy raw materials due to many reasons, mainly due to the lack of correlation between the price of imported raw cashew nuts and the price of export kernels. The price of raw cashew nuts is at a very high level compared to the selling price, the export processing cost is high while the selling price is low. Processing plants are difficult to balance to break even, not to mention profit. Not only that, the cashew orchards in the country also did not achieve the expected yield because of the changing weather, affecting the flowering and fruiting in the second phase. India's cashew crop also suffered a similar decrease in yield due to the time. disadvantage. These difficulties have been gradually overcome by cashew nut processing and exporting enterprises, because many of Vietnam's leading cashew processing enterprises have used previous reserves of raw materials to fill the gap this year. The most difficult thing is the increasingly tense inflation situation of countries around the world. The US Department of Agriculture also announced that the US fell into the highest inflation in 40 years. People have to spend more money on essential needs, which leads to slow consumption of non-essential goods such as cashews and the price of cashew nuts is also difficult to increase at this time. At the same time, Russia-Ukraine tensions continued and Russia was excluded from the SWIFT payment system. The export of Vietnamese cashew nuts to Russia faces payment difficulties, greatly affecting the export of cashew kernels to this market. These developments have affected the entire cashew industry. The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development had to adjust the cashew nut export target in 2022 to $3.2 billion, down $600 million compared to the target set at the beginning of 2022. * Aiming at quality and market focal school What's next? The fruit ripens to the time of harvest. Photo: K CAI H - VNA Cashew exports faced difficulties and were forced to reduce export targets to make it easier for processing enterprises to meet orders in the last months of the year. Cashew processing enterprises also flexibly adjust production plans and market access to achieve the desired effect. Mr. Pham Van Cong - President of VINACAS emphasized that, despite high inflation, consumers pay more for selected products, but not because of that, neglecting the quality of goods. In order to meet the standards of the export market, VINACAS requests the authorities to support updating and guiding the implementation of new regulations on food safety control of foreign markets, especially the foreign market. China, Europe, the US... At the same time, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development also has a plan to support the research and development of specialized standards and technical regulations for cashew nuts and cashew by-products. for quality assessment. In addition to focusing on the quality of raw materials and the quality of cashew exports, the cashew industry also focuses on a number of key markets, strongly importing cashew nuts from Vietnam such as the US and Europe, especially the markets of Vietnam. The market has signed free trade agreements (FTAs) to make the most of the preferential import tax. Accordingly, Europe is currently Vietnam's second largest cashew nut export market, accounting for 23% of the total volume and 22% of the total value of the industry. The growth of cashew nut exports to Europe contributed significantly to the overall growth of the industry. The tax rate for cashew nut processing products imported into Europe from Vietnam will be reduced to 0% right after the EVFTA (Vietnam - Europe Free Trade Agreement) takes effect from August 1, 2018. 2020. This reduction is very important because before the EVFTA came into effect, the tariff on cashew nuts imported into Europe from Vietnam ranged from 7 to 12%. The implementation of EVFTA is expected to bring great opportunities for the cashew industry. In the European region, Vietnamese cashew nuts are exported to many Western and Eastern European countries. In Western Europe, Vietnam's cashew nuts are exported to Germany, the Netherlands, France, Belgium...; in which, the cashew industry has well exploited the Dutch and German markets. Currently, these are important commercial hubs for imported cashew nuts for re-export. Mr. Tran Huu Hau, Deputy General Secretary of VINACAS shared that the current food consumption trend of the European market focuses on factors such as: health, convenience and technology; alternative proteins (vegetable origin); sustainability and waste reduction; Looking for new flavors and experiences. Meanwhile, cashews are one of the products with high nutritional content, low glycemic index beneficial to health, and at the same time, this is also a product with many flavors, suitable for preferences, popular with consumers. European consumers prefer. Therefore, Vietnamese cashew processing enterprises must also pay attention to the problem of residues of preservatives or anti-worm agents; overcome residues, avoid being returned goods because that not only causes economic losses but also negatively affects the image and reputation of exporters./.