Cashew nut exports in the first half of this year posted stronggrowth, reaching 150,000 tonnes in volume and 1.08 billion USD in value,according to a conference on promoting the production and consumptionof cashews in 2015.

The figures released at theconference, held by the Department for Processing and Trade forAgro-forestry-fisheries products and salt production in Ho Chi MinhCity on July 2, showed a 14 percent increase in volume and a 28.2percent surge in value compared with the same period last year.

The average cost of each tonne of cashews was 7,080 USD, up 11.64 percent year-on-year.

Vietnamese cashew products have been exported to more than 50countries with the United States, China and the Netherlands asthe largest importers accounting for 39.98 percent, 13.12 percent and10.89 percent, respectively.

In addition to thepositive results, the delegates at the conference also pointed outchallenges the sector will need to face to maintain the growth trend inthe second half of the year.

The biggestchallenge facing cashew processors is their dependence on imported rawcashews, which account for 70 percent of the cashew input.

This dependence also led to instability in price and quality of nuts,which eventually affects the quality of finished products for exports.

According to statistics from the Vietnam CashewAssociation (VINACAS), Vietnam imported 197.5 tonnes of raw cashewnuts in the first four months of this year, an annual surge of 175.7percent.

In addition, most cashews processorslack the financial capability to invest in advanced technology to addmore values to their products because of their relatively small size.-VNA