Vietnam to beat India in cashew exports again

Vietnam, which beat India last year in cashew kernel exports, is set to repeat the feat this year, going by some published figures. India, which was the top exporter till 2006, exported only 117,000 tonnes last year, whereas Vietnam notched up 127,000 tonnes of exports.

Vietnam has exported 92,000 tonnes of cashew kernels in the first eight months of this calendar year, according to Vietnam News Agency. According to VINACAS, the cashew association of Vietnam, this is almost 66 per cent of the year's target in volume terms.

Vietnam, whose domestic production of 260,000 tonnes is almost half of India's, earned $375 million for its export of 92,000 tonnes in the first eight months of 2007, whereas India exported 78,000 tonnes valued at Rs 1,536 crore during the same period.

The US remained the biggest market for Vietnamese cashew kernels, importing almost 21,000 tonnes, worth more than $86 million, or about 33 per cent of the total export. It was followed by Europe, which accounted for 20 per cent. China Made up 12.6 per cent of the exports, followed by Russia, Japan and West Asia, jointly accounting for 20 per cent.

However, the Cashew Export Promotion Council of India (CEPCI) disputes these figures. "Vietnam's claims are confusing. When the US accounts for 33 per cent, with 21,000 tonnes exports, its total exports would be a little over 63,000 tonnes. When China's share is 20 per cent at 11,630 tonnes, its total exports would be about 58,000 tonnes. So what is the correct export tonnage," asks Walter D'Souza, chairman, CEPCI. Vietnam plans to produce 5 lakh tonnes of raw cashewnuts by 2010, whereas India's production as of now is about 6 lakh tonnes. Till 2005, India was the largest producer, processor, exporter, importer and consumer of cashew in the world, with Vietnam in the second place, followed by Brazil.

"Our imports are normally very high. We can still hope to make up for the loss in our exports in the initial months by exporting more in the remaining four months of the year. Moreover, India is no longer an export-oriented country," said Giridhar Prabhu, convenor, India Cashew Federation and Mangalore-based exporter.