Workers prepare cashew nuts in Kampong Svay district in Kampong Thom province on February 9. CAC
The Cashew nut Association of Cambodia (CAC) and the Vietnam Cashew Association (Vinacas) have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) which will allow Cambodian farmers to sell directly to Vietnamese processing plants and bypass the traditional brokers.
As the Kingdom has limited processing infrastructure, the CAC expects raw cashew nuts sales to be stabilised by the deal. Currently, farmers say they are sometimes forced to accept low prices from brokers.
CAC president Uon Silot said that after attending the recent World Cashew Conference in the United Arab Emirates, he led a delegation to the 12th Annual Vietnam Cashew Festival – the Golden Cashew Rendezvous – in Ho Chi Minh City. The MoU was signed during the festival.
He added that after the signing of the MoU, the CAC met with two Vietnamese companies which agreed to purchase from Cambodian wholesalers.
“At present, the CAC has received enquiries from nine companies – seven Vietnamese and two Indian. We have urged socially responsible Cambodian raw cashew wholesalers to negotiate terms and conditions and enter into business contracts with these firms,” said Silot.
“As we have so few processing plants, what we really want is stable, long-term contracts for the purchase of our raw products,” he added.
He claimed that the price of cashews have been relatively stable over the past few months.
Silot said that at the recent World Cashew Conference, Indian traders were very interested in Cambodian cashew nuts because of their large size and good taste.
“India needs to study the process of importing raw cashew nuts from Cambodia – they are concerned about transportation costs and other factors. The Indian-owned Nagabura has actually purchased some of our product, but only in small quantities. Their demand is high, so I hope that we can facilitate an agreement with them soon,” he added.
While presiding over a February 27 graduation ceremony at the National Technical Training Institute, Prime Minister Hun Sen expressed his hopes that in the future, Cambodia would become a major player in the global cashew market.
“The Kingdom exports 1 million tonnes of unprocessed cashew nuts per year, while processing very little itself,” he said.
“The cashew policy we introduced a few months ago is aimed at attracting foreign investment for domestic processing. Vietnam and India both export processed nuts to many corners of the globe, but they also import the raw product. If they could see the value in processing them right here in the Kingdom, it would be a win-win,” he added.
A CAC report showed that Cambodian cashews generated more than $1 billion for the national economy in 2022, placing them second only to rice in the agricultural sector. This revenue represented a drop from $1.6 billion in 2021, however.
