Cashew Nut Producing Countries
Global Cashew Nuts Production
Africa is one of the top cashew nut producing countries. Its production and exports are relatively small, but this low price is hindering the development of processing. Lack of demand leaves local processors at the mercy of foreign counterparts, leaving their businesses barely profitable. AFCTA is slated to transform the sector, but its effects are years away. In the meantime, the following countries have made strides in their own development:
Ghana, Cote D’Ivoire, Burkina Faso, Nigeria etc
Challenges and Opportunities for Cashew Nuts Production in Africa
A key challenge for cashew nut producing countries is the limited processing capacity of the market. Although the demand for the nuts has increased significantly, the supply is still limited. Most cashews in Africa are exported to North America and Europe. The majority of the traded kernels are roasted, salted, and packaged. In the developing world, cashews are consumed as a snack or ingredient in other products. The low processing capacity of cashews in Africa is a major cause of economic stagnation, a problem which cannot be overlooked.
A major challenge to the supply of cashew nuts in Africa is the lack of processing capacity. Most African countries currently export their crop to India, Vietnam, and Cambodia. Other emerging developing countries, such as Ghana and Burkina Faso, have begun processing their own cashew nuts and selling them to a wide range of markets, including France. These producers can also access global markets, including Japan, China, and the UAE, where they can reap higher prices.
The United Kingdom imports most cashew nuts from Vietnam, where cashews account for 70% of the market. It also imports 2.4 thousand tonnes from France, Germany, and the Netherlands, and expects to import 628 tonnes from India. As a result, the market for cashew nuts in the United Kingdom is expected to expand in the next four years. But despite the poor harvest, the UK remains the top cashew nut producing country globally.
Despite the booming cashew nut industry, many African countries are missing out on valuable economic opportunities. The cashew nut is a key cashew nut source in the Cote d’Ivoire, where it is the biggest exporter in Africa. It is exported to over 100 countries, and is grown on small-scale rural farms. Consequently, the agronomic practices that are used for cashew cultivation and marketing are highly important for these countries.
The cashew nut is native to the countries of North and South America. It is native to the savannah regions of northeastern Brazil and southeastern Venezuela. It was spread around the world by Portuguese explorers during the 1500s. By the 1560s, the Portuguese colonists in Brazil began exporting the cashew nut to India. In the following decades, the cashew nut spread to other parts of Southeast Asia, and eventually to Africa.
Cashews are widely cultivated in tropical climates of 20 African countries. Today, 90% of the raw cashews traded in the international market come from these countries. Most of them are deshelled and exported to Asia. The remaining 85 per cent of cashews produced are processed. The major raw cashew producing countries are Tanzania, Benin, Guinea-Bissau, and Ghana.
The cashew nut producing countries include: Nigeria, South Africa, Madagascar, and Tanzania. The Ivory Coast is a leader in the Southern hemisphere. It is the largest cashew producing country in Africa and the second-largest cashew producer in the world. Both countries have a good climate for growing the nuts. The Ivory Coast and Tanzania have a long tradition of making cashew nuts.
The cashew nut is cultivated in many countries, and it is native to the savannah region in Cote d’Ivoire. More than half of the world’s cashew nut production occurs in the western hemisphere, with the Ivory Coast being the most common. In West Africa, the cashew groves are located in the western savannah region.
The Ivory Coast is the largest cashew nut producing country in Africa. However, India is not the only cashew-nut-producing country. In fact, the African continent is the second largest producer. The Ivory Coast, Tanzania, and Vietnam are the top five cashew nut-nut-producing countries in the world. These countries produce the majority of the world’s raw cashews
Cashew Nuts Production Countries
Cashew nuts are a popular nut. They are also the most expensive nut in the world. The cashew tree is native to South America, and today, it is grown in many countries including India, Vietnam and Nigeria.
The cashew plant is a tropical evergreen that can grow up to 30 meters tall and has an average lifespan of 50 years. The cashew tree has a unique shape with leaves on the top of its branches and short leaves on the trunk that provide shade for the lower branches.
Global Cashew Production
From 2010 to 2020, this statistic depicts the global production of cashew nuts (in shell). Globally, roughly 4.18 million metric tons of cashew nuts in shell were produced in 2020, an increase over 2019 output levels.
Africa produced more than half of the world’s raw cashew nut output between 2014 and 2018, with West Africa accounting for 42% and East Africa accounting for 10% of annual production, respectively. Asia accounted for 43% of total annual revenue on average, while Latin America and the Caribbean accounted for 5%. Africa accounted for 63 percent of worldwide raw cashew nut production growth between 2000 and 2018.
All 46 countries that produce cashew nuts on a large scale are developing countries, including 18 of the world’s least developed countries. However, not all cashew-producing countries participate equally in the global value chain. The majority of cashew nuts harvested in Africa are exported uncooked, before being shelled in primarily two countries: India and Vietnam. Two illustrations demonstrate this pattern: Africa exported 90% of worldwide raw cashew nut exports between 2014 and 2018, whereas India and Vietnam imported 98 percent of global raw cashew nut imports over the same time.
Cashew Consumption Data
Throughout the period 2012 to 2019, this statistic depicts the total volume of cashew nuts consumed around the world. In 2019, a total of approximately 830.47 thousand metric tons of kernel basis cashew nuts were consumed worldwide.
Vietnam Cashew Production Statistics
Vietnam shipped 50.7 thousand tons of cashews in November, valued at USD 329.86 million, according to the General Department of Customs. In the first 11 months of 2021, cashew nut exports were around 531.5 thousand tons, valued at USD 3.34 billion, up 14.4 percent in volume and 14.7 percent year on year.
In the first half of December, the cashew business exported approximately 24 thousand tons of cashew nuts worth USD 150 million. Cashew exports totaled 555 thousand tons between January and mid-December, valued at roughly USD 3.5 billion.
Cashew exports will reach a new record in 2021, according to the aforementioned export estimates. Previously, cashew exports peaked at 515 thousand tons in 2020. Additionally, cashew nut exports have exceeded 30,000 tons in 11 months, exceeding the 525,000-ton objective established by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development for the cashew industry in 2021.
According to the Agency of Foreign Trade (Ministry of Industry and Trade), cashew nut exports are projected to exceed the USD 3.6 billion target set for this year based on performance in the first 11 months of 2021.
The assessment is perfectly reasonable, given that cashew nut shipments exceeded USD 3.5 billion by mid-December. Cashew nut exports generated USD 150 million in the first half of December; in the second half of the month, the cashew industry is expected to generate export values of at least USD 100 million, bringing the total value of cashew nut exports to USD 3.6 billion, surpassing the USD 3,514 billion achieved in 2017.
Along with increased worldwide demand, the cashew business has benefited from a slight increase in the average export price of cashew nuts from mid-2021 to the present (compared to 2020). According to the General Department of Customs, the average export price of Vietnamese cashew nuts was USD 6,505/ton in November 2021, down 1.6 percent month on month but up 6.0 percent year on year. In the first 11 months of 2021, Vietnam’s average export price for cashew nuts was USD 6,288/ton, up 0.2 percent over the same time in 2020.
