Exporters have attributed such a paradox to their customers’ greater attention to quality and requirements on origin while some customers have asked for price reductions due to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.
As a result of such difficulties, the Vietnam Cashew Association decided to revise its export revenue target for 2020 to US$3.2 billion from the US$4 billion set in late 2019.
It is forecast that Vietnam’s cashew nut exports in the third quarter will fall sharply before rebounding in the final three months of 2020 when markets such as the United States, India, the EU and China will increase their imports for the year-end festivities. As such, the cashew sector needs to take concrete and appropriate measures.
Domestic processing companies should heed the advice of the authorities by delivering quality products to their customers in order to protect the brand and enhance the value of exports. Transparency is needed from production to processing and storage to meet the strict requirements of demanding markets.
At the same time, enterprises and local authorities should work with farmers to develop cashew growing regions with high yields, good quality and traceability for exports while the processing technology should be renovated to enhance quality and diversify products.
As the coronavirus pandemic will continue to affect exports, Vietnamese exporters need to change the form of trade promotion from in-person to virtual meetings so that they can maintain current markets and develop new ones, helping exports activities recover when the pandemic is contained.
Besides promoting exports, it is also necessary to bolster domestic consumption which has yet to be given adequate attention. Boosting domestic consumption can help farmers sell their products and relieve the pressure when exports are faced with difficulties. In order to realise such goals, government agencies need to introduce measures to stimulate domestic consumption and expand the distribution network.
