Côte d’Ivoire Cashew Production Revised Upward but Purchasing from Vietnam Slows

The Côte d’Ivoire has revised its cashew crop projection for the current campaign to 1.3m tonnes, from 1.15m tonnes previously, the head of the sector regulator, Mamadou Berte of the Cotton and Cashew Council (CCA) told Reuters in the second week of May. This provides some clarity on the crop situation in Côte d’Ivoire, the largest global cashew producer, after some recent rumors of smaller than expected output due to poor weather conditions and deteriorating quality.

Mamadou Berte also highlighted to Reuters a decline in Vietnam’s raw cashew nut (RCN) procurement from the Côte d’Ivoire this year. Vietnam has so far reportedly purchased 200,000 tonnes of RCN versus 700,000-800,000 tonnes last year.

This confirms the broader market sentiment. “Vietnamese processors have not been too aggressive with RCN purchases this year, and I think the tax news from the US came at the right time for them; it will help exert more pressure on RCN sellers. It happened when most of the West African raw seed was still in sellers’ hands at the origins. If the tax news came out in June/July when the RCN would have already been with Vietnamese processors, it would be a big problem for Vietnam,” a Vietnamese processor told Expana in the last week of April.

“Vietnam is not actively purchasing RCN from West Africa. If processors buy goods now, they will only come to Vietnam at the end of June/beginning of July and until there is more clarity on the tariff situation, processors in Vietnam do not want to take a big position on RCN,” a broker commented recently.

Côte d’Ivoire processors have reportedly purchased more than 650,000 tonnes of RCN so far this year compared with 300,000 tonnes last year, Berte also told Reuters.