Cashews: better prospects than last year
January 21, 2026 at 12:26 PM ,
Der AUDITOR
Tanzania and Mozambique expect larger crops
The cashew season in the southern hemisphere has begun and crop prospects are significantly better than last year. In Tanzania, last year's crop was around 420,000 mt; for the 2026 marketing year, more than 500,000 mt are now expected. Higher production is also expected in Mozambique, with a forecast increase of around 15% compared to last year, as reported by experts from ofi.
Now that the northern hemisphere crops have been shipped to their destination markets and largely consumed, demand for raw cashew nuts (RCN) remains robust. This sustained demand is supported by rising cashew kernel exports from Vietnam and higher consumption in India compared to last year.
Prices in India rise slightly
Processing volumes in Asia and Africa remain stable, as reported by ofi. The lifting of US tariffs on raw cashew kernels has noticeably improved overall demand and is driving up spot prices. Meanwhile, Vietnamese exports have been significantly higher than last year's levels since the beginning of the year, driven mainly by demand from China, the Middle East and the EU.
In the US, stocks have been deliberately kept low over the past two quarters due to high import costs resulting from tariffs. With the abolition of counter-tariffs, US buyers are now actively returning to the market in anticipation of growth in domestic consumption due to the tariff exemption. In India, demand for cashew kernels for the domestic market was strong during the festival season, leading to low RCN stocks and increasing Indian buyers' interest in Tanzanian auctions.
|
Cashews, India |
|
|
Type |
USD/mt |
|
LWP |
6,825 |
|
SWP |
6,160 |
|
W320 |
8,170 |
|
W450 |
7,455 |
|
FOB India |
|
Record exports for Vietnam
At the end of 2025, Vietnamese cashew exports reached a new record level. In December alone, exports were worth around USD 466 million, representing a significant increase of 29% compared with the same month of the previous year. This means that Vietnam's total cashew exports exceeded the USD 5 billion mark for the first time in 2025, amounting to a total of around USD 5.23 billion, as reported by the Vietnam Cashew Association (Vinacas). The industry had already reached a historic high in 2024 with export revenues of over USD 4.3 billion. This means that the Vietnamese cashew industry has set new records in export value for two consecutive years. In addition to value, a new high was also achieved in terms of volume. The export volume rose to around 766,600 mt in 2025, representing an increase of 5.7% over the previous year.
China becomes Vietnam's most important customer
In order to keep its processing industry running, Vietnam imported more than 2.9 million mt of raw cashew nuts worth around USD 4.5 billion in 2025. There was a shift on the sales side: for the first time, China became the most important sales market for Vietnamese cashews, overtaking the USA. Exports to China reached a value of around USD 1.12 billion, while the USA fell back to second place with around USD 975 million. The Netherlands followed in third place with exports worth around USD 495 million.
EU imports up
EU cashew imports in 2025 were 4.6% above the previous year's level. The most important supplier by far was Vietnam, which increased its exports to the EU by 4.7% to 138,287 mt, followed by Côte d'Ivoire, which supplied almost 35% more cashews to EU countries, at 32,153 mt. India, in third place, suffered a decline of almost 14%. The value of EU imports in 2025 amounted to just over EUR 1.24 billion, which was almost 21% higher than the import value in 2024. In addition to the higher import volume, this was mainly due to the increase in the average import price to EUR 6.41/kg.
|
EU cashew imports, in mt |
|||
|
Partner |
2024 |
2025 |
Diff. |
|
Vietnam |
132,118 |
138,287 |
4.7% |
|
Côte d'Ivoire |
23,881 |
32,153 |
34.6% |
|
India |
10,190 |
8,774 |
-13.9% |
|
Nigeria |
2,709 |
3,035 |
12.0% |
|
Brazil |
2,016 |
2,300 |
14.1% |
|
Tanzania |
1,874 |
1,772 |
-5.4% |
|
Burkina Faso |
1,978 |
1,536 |
-22.3% |
|
Benin |
3,802 |
1,491 |
-60.8% |
|
Ghana |
1,147 |
869 |
-24.2% |
|
Mozambique |
1,131 |
771 |
-31.8% |
|
Others |
4,343 |
2,784 |
-35.9% |
|
Total |
185,189 |
193,772 |
4.6% |
|
DG AGRI TAXUD Customs Surveillance System, 01/01-31/12 |
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