Producing countries in Africa strive to increase cashew nut production and export

The complicated development of the Covid-19 pandemic in the past year has not hindered the export of agricultural products of countries around the world. In 2021 and the first 2 months of 2022, many countries recorded significant growth in agricultural exports such as India, Japan, Cambodia and Vietnam. India's exports of agricultural products have grown strongly in the past year. For the first time, Japan's agricultural exports surpassed 1 trillion yen. In the first two months of 2022, Cambodia's agricultural exports reached the highest 2 million tons. Vietnam's agricultural exports reached 8 billion USD.

The continuous increase in coffee prices in 2021 has pushed up coffee export turnover of many countries, including Vietnam. Thanks to rising prices, in 2022, Vietnamese coffee has many prospects to export. In the first month of 2022, Vietnam's coffee exports increased compared to the same period last year. Some major coffee consuming markets are Germany, followed by Belgium and Japan. In addition, the Algerian market emerges with many opportunities for Vietnamese coffee. In the United States, although Vietnam's coffee market share has decreased in 2021, there is still a lot of potential.

As the leading cashew nut producing region in the world, Africa is making efforts to increase production of processed cashew nuts. However, Africa’s cashew industry is challenged by low-value addition. In Tanzania, lack of cashew processing leads to huge losses. In that situation, a US backed project plans to help invest about $60 million in West Africa’s cashew nut industry as part of a goal to boost local processing. Ivory Coast also announces a 20 million USD aid plan. Thanks to good weather, cashew output in Nigerias has seen rising 20%.

Looking back at 2021, the shipping industry crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic has seriously unbalanced the shipping market, pushing container shipping rates to record highs. After changing forecasts, experts said that the global shipping crisis will last at least until 2023. Currently, many container ships are still stuck in the Red Sea. The shipping crisis has a global impact, including Vietnam and Malaysia. The two countries have come up with solutions to limit this impact.

Despite many difficulties in international trade in 2021, Vietnam still has achieved many accomplishments. Bilateral trade between Vietnam and India exceeded 13 billion USD for the first time. At the same time, thanks to UKVFTA, Vietnam's exports to the UK increase. With positive growth in 2021, Japan and the UAE become potential markets for Vietnamese agricultural products. Taking advantage of those opportunities, Vietnam is making efforts to increase agricultural exports in 2022.

Agriculture is one of the main economic sectors in many countries around the world, especially in the Americas. In the US, agricultural exports set a record in 2021. To maintain achievements as well as improve climate change, the US and UAE pushes for another $4 billion in farming climate change investment. Besides the US, Brazil's agricultural exports also hit a record in January 2022. With coffee and pepper products, Brazil has also recorded positive growth.

The complicated developments of the Covid-19 epidemic around the world in recent times have greatly changed the needs of consumers. Consumers are more concerned about health, making the global demand for cashew nuts increase. Based on that, Vietnam expects cashew nut exports to set a new record in 2022. Rising coffee demand makes Asia become the coffee center of the world. Vietnamese coffee exports to Germany will increase thanks to EVFTA.

Pepper is one of the commodities with strong price increases in 2021. In 2022, pepper prices are forecast to continue to increase. Like in Vietnam and around the world, pepper prices in the Indian market also increased sharply. With rising prices and market advantages, Vietnam pepper exports target 1.05 billion USD. In the French and American markets, Vietnam's pepper market shares both increased compared to the previous year.

2022 is forecasted to be a year with many opportunities for countries around the world to promote international trade. In the first month, Vietnam recorded strong growth, especially for agricultural products. Vietnamese cashew nuts are increasingly popular in the market.  With coffee products, global coffee reserves fall to their lowest level in more than two decades. Vietnam's coffee exports in 2022 are forecasted to continue to be positive, including exports to Greece.