PHNOM PENH — Vietnam purchased a total of 424,000 tons of raw cashew nuts, which was nearly all of Cambodia’s production and amounted to $543 million, in the first quarter of 2024, according to the Cashew Nut Association of Cambodia (CAC).
This represented a 13-percent increase compared to the same period in 2023, the CAC said in its report.
CAC President Uon Silot said on April 19 that, from January through March, the country produced 474,000 tons of raw cashew nuts of which 424,000 tons were exported to Vietnam, which is Cambodia’s largest cashew-nut buyer. The sales to that country amounted to $543 million, he said.
The increase in exports was the result of the association members drying their cashew nuts at the CAC’s request when the price went down in February and early March, Silot said. It was not until mid-March that cashew nuts prices rebounded, he said.
According to Silot, the price of Cambodian cashew nut is forecasted to rise since bigger cashew-producing countries in Africa, especially the Ivory Coast and Ghana, are currently suffering from the effects of the climate crisis, and some countries are doing extensive farming and selling their nuts at lower prices.
Providing such context of declining cashew production in Africa, Silot expects prices in Cambodia to recover and farmers who dried their nuts earlier this year to sell well.
During this month of April, wet cashew nuts have been 5,000 riel (around $1.24) per kilogram, which was the highest price in the last 15 years. The average price of raw nuts is $1,200 per ton.