As the world's largest cashew processing and exporting country, for many years, Vietnam's cashew industry has relied largely on imported raw cashews. In 2024, the amount of imported raw cashews will be 2.5 million tons, worth 3.1 billion USD. With the above import volume, Vietnam continues to be the leading country in importing raw cashew nuts worldwide. In 2024, Cambodia will become the largest source of raw cashew nuts for Vietnam with 783 thousand tons, Ivory Coast will fall to second place with 621 thousand tons due to a decrease in output and priority to sell raw cashew nuts to domestic processors. In addition, Vietnam imports a lot from African countries such as Ghana, Nigeria, Tanzania, Guinea-Bissau, etc. Due to heavy dependence on imported raw cashews, Vietnamese cashew businesses have faced many difficulties and major challenges when the raw cashew market has unusual developments, especially African raw cashews. According to the Vietnam Cashew Association (VINACAS), in 2024, the raw cashew market will have unpredictable fluctuations, causing great disadvantages for businesses. If in the first quarter, the price of raw cashews was at 1,000-1,100 USD/ton, then by June and July it had increased to 1,600-1,700 USD/ton. In particular, on May 7, 2024, Ivory Coast suddenly issued a temporary suspension of raw cashew exports so that processors in this country could buy enough raw cashews. Ivory Coast is the world's largest producer and exporter of raw cashews, and most of its output is exported to Vietnam (the leading processing country and accounts for 80% of global cashew exports). Therefore, Ivory Coast's temporary suspension of raw cashew exports for nearly 3 months has disrupted the global cashew supply chain, causing price fluctuations and financial risks throughout the cashew supply chain, greatly affecting the business performance of Vietnamese enterprises. Therefore, the favorable cashew season in Vietnam and Cambodia (most of Cambodia's cashew output is purchased by Vietnamese companies) will help the Vietnamese cashew industry feel more secure by significantly reducing the pressure on importing raw cashews from Africa. Records in Binh Phuoc (a province that accounts for half of Vietnam's cashew growing area) show that the cashew crop in Vietnam is proceeding normally as the weather conditions have not shown any unfavorable developments for the growth of cashew trees. Mr. Mong Van Lung, a farmer in Duc Lieu commune, Bu Dang district, Binh Phuoc, commented: "Cashew trees depend a lot on the weather, so we cannot predict the yield this year, but it is likely to be a better crop than the 2024 cashew crop." Mr. Ta Quang Huyen, General Director of Hoang Son 1 Joint Stock Company (Binh Phuoc), forecasts that this year, cashew output in Binh Phuoc could increase by 25% compared to 2024. Processing cashew nuts at Hoang Son 1 Joint Stock Company, Binh Phuoc. Photo: Son Trang. Raw cashew production in Cambodia is also forecast to continue to increase. According to Mr. Huyen, in 2024, cashew productivity in Cambodia will not increase, but the amount of raw cashew imported into Vietnam from Cambodia will increase because many cashew gardens planted a few years ago have now begun to be harvested. Therefore, Cambodia's cashew output this year will be around 1 to 1.1 million tons. In addition, Vietnam's raw cashew output can reach 450 to 500 thousand tons. Thus, the total raw cashew output of Cambodia and Vietnam is forecast to be around 1.5 million tons. Mr. Cao Thuc Uy, Director of Cao Phat Company Limited (Ba Ria - Vung Tau) said that every year he travels to all the cashew growing provinces in Cambodia to survey the cashew crop in this country. In early March this year, he also went to Cambodia to survey the 2025 cashew crop. Mr. Uy shared: "Cambodia has many cashew areas that were planted 3-4 years ago, and have now entered the business cycle. The 2025 cashew crop in Cambodia is generally going very smoothly. Therefore, in my personal opinion, this year, the Cambodian cashew crop will be a good crop." According to Mr. Uy, Cambodia currently has many cashew farms with very large areas of up to 500 hectares, 600 hectares, and even farms of up to 1,000 hectares. Because the farm owners are people with great financial potential, these farms all invest in cashew cultivation in a very methodical way, applying many types of machinery and technology. Therefore, not only is the productivity good, the quality of Cambodian cashews is also good. Cao Phat Company has just produced several batches of newly harvested Cambodian cashew nuts in the 2025 crop, with a recovery rate of up to 30%.