<p></p><p>Trade in raw and processed cashew nuts for the six months leading up to July of 2015 has risen sharply in both volume and value, according to the most recent statistics of the General Department of Vietnam Customs. <br></p> <p>Vietnam Customs has forecast 2015 exports could outperform last year which saw the overall value of cashew exports reach the US$2 billion benchmark for the first time ever, making the industry the fourth largest in agriculture.Last year, businesses principally purchased raw product from African countries but due to shrinking supplies and higher prices have shifted to suppliers in Indonesia and Cambodia this year.“Unfavourable weather has reduced supplies across the African continent and driven up the prices of raw cashew nuts,” said Nguyen Duc Thanh, chairman of the Vietnam Cashew Association (Vinacas).This in turn has forced buyers in the industry to turn to alternative sources of supply as the nation’s domestic growers cannot keep up with demand needed to fill overseas orders, Thanh underscored. <br></p> <p>Sales in the top three markets – the US, China and the Netherlands – were solid during the six-month period Thanh stressed, and sales in Australia, another strong market for the industry, also saw positive growth.Thanh said businesses in the industry are upbeat having reported higher than last year’s orders for the remainder of the year and expect the upcoming Mid-Autumn Festival and Lunar New Year to bump sales up even further.However, Thanh cautioned the cashew industry as a whole is still dogged by issues related to quality and businesses must heed more attention to improving it for the industry to develop sustainably over the long term.Much of the problem with quality and safety issues relate to the large proportion of smallholders within the industry who lack the finances and ability to invest in modern technologies and innovate.As of the end of last year, there were 456 cashew processing businesses with a capacity to produce 1.2 million metric tons of cashews a year, but nearly 70% of them were smallholders.The government should carefully evaluate reducing the number of small businesses by shutting down those that are unable to ensure compliance with Vietnamese Good Agricultural Practices (VietGap) requirements, Thanh concluded.<br></p><p></p>