Import tax on raw cashew to drop 3%

The import tax rate on raw cashews would be cut from 5 per cent to 3 per cent from the beginning of September, according to the Ministry of Finance.

The rate is being cut following a proposal by the Viet Nam Cashew Association in order to increase the domestic cashew industry’s competitiveness as well as to overcome challenges.

According to the association, the country needed to import about 450,000 tonnes of raw cashew from Africa, Indonesia and Cambodia to reach the target of reaching a cashew-based export revenue of US$1.5 billion this year.

However, the association said domestic cashew processors were facing many challenges due to high interest rates.

Furthermore, Brazil, the world’s leading cashew grower, had a poor crop this year, and had to buy raw material from Africa, forcing the price up, the association added.

A report from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development said that in the first half of this year, Viet Nam imported 126,000 tonnes of raw cashew.

During that time, the country exported 67,000 tonnes, worth nearly $500 million, down by 16.5 per cent in volume but up by 17 per cent in value year-on-year.

The export price in that time hit $7,500 per tonne, a year-on-year increase of 40 per cent.
The United States is the biggest customer of Vietnamese cashew processors, followed by the EU and other Asian countries.

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