According to the INC, global cashew production has declined slightly so far this year. The situation is different for EU imports, which are significantly higher than last year. Côte d'Ivoire once again breaks the 1 million mt mark The latest crop estimates from the International Nut and Dried Fruit Council (INC) clearly show that Côte d'Ivoire remains the world's most important cashew producer despite a decline of almost 10%. A total of 1.2 million mt of cashew nuts were harvested here, making Côte d'Ivoire once again the only country to break the 1 million mt mark. Cambodia was able to increase its production by an astonishing 27%, displacing India from second place among the largest producers; the latter suffered a 19.6% drop in production and is now only in third place with 615,000 mt. Tanzania (+63.5%) and Brazil (+25%), among others, recorded significantly higher production than in the previous year, while growing countries such as Nigeria (-12.7%) and Senegal (-30.8%) suffered considerable losses. According to the INC, global production in the 2024/25 season will be 1.5% lower than last year, totalling just over 5.288 million mt. Germany becomes the largest cashew importer in the EU While production is declining slightly, demand for cashews in the EU has increased. In the period from 1 January to 20 April 2024, 45,401 mt were imported, compared to 51,325 mt in the same period this year, an increase of 13%. Vietnam remains the most important supplier by a wide margin, supplying 36,746 mt of cashews to the EU, 13% more than in the same period last year. Côte d'Ivoire follows in second place with an impressive 39.5% increase to 8,437 mt and India in third place with 2,566 mt and an increase of 6.5%. The most important buyer in the EU so far this year is Germany with imports totalling 16,440 mt, an increase of almost 40% compared to the previous year. The Netherlands, which was still the largest importer last year, slipped to second place with 15,710 mt and a decline of 10.5%, followed by Italy, Spain and France. As the average import price has risen by 27.8% compared to 2024, the import value of EUR 342.17 million is also a whopping 44.4% higher than last year.