HANOI, Jan. 19 (Xinhua) -- Vietnam set a targeted to export 360,000 tons of cashew nuts to pocket some 3 billion U.S. dollars in 2017, an increase of 3.4 percent in volume and 5.6 percent in value year-on-year, according to the Vietnam Cashew Association (Vinacas) on Thursday.
Statistics by the Ministry of Industry and Trade showed that in 2016, Vietnam sold 348,000 tons of cashew nuts to world markets, earning 2.84 billion U.S. dollars, up 5.6 percent in value and 18.4 percent in volume year-on-year, reported the Vietnamese government's e-Portal (VGP).
Vietnamese cashew nuts have been exported to some 90 markets, with the biggest ones including the United States (making up 35 percent of the market share), European countries and Britain (25 percent) as well as China (18 percent).
Since 2006, in the past consecutive 11 years, Vietnam has maintained the world's biggest cashew exporter, accounting for 42 percent of the global exported cashew nuts.
Last year, Vietnamese enterprises imported the largest-ever amount of raw cashew nuts at some 1.06 million tons, up 14 percent year-on-year, mainly from Africa.
About 1.1 million tons of raw nuts are expected to be imported this year while the domestic raw cashew nut output hits around 400,000 tons, said VGP.
