Cashew Price Jump Sparks Call for Investment

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Khmer Times/Sok Chan

The price of cashew nuts has jumped about 15 percent this year prompting processers and exporters to call for the government to help funnel more investment into growing the crop.

Oum Uon, president of a cashew nut association in Kampong Thom province, said the 30 members of his association planned to buy 200 tons of cashew nuts this year for sale domestically and for export, but had only bought about 2 tons so far this year. Mr. Uon said prices for raw cashew nut had risen from 5,500 riel (about $1.30) per kilogram to 6,500 riel per kilogram. Processed cashew nuts are selling from $12 to $15 per kilogram, with prices higher price in Cambodia than in export markets. He said current export markets for his association included China and South Korea and that it planned to expand exports to Thailand and Vietnam.

Mr. Uon said that his association is hoping to expand the amount of land used to grow cashew nuts and to encourage farmers to use more productive techniques and better seeds. “There is far more demand than supply, so the association will increase purchasing and plant more cashew this year,” he explained. Say Meng Ly, director of Solar Phum Yeung and Cashew Plant at Kampong Thom province, described prices as “acceptable” and “stable,” after rising from about 4,000 riel per kilogram last year. “Farmers are happy with the higher price,” he said. Processed cashew nut is selling for about $15 per kilogram in Cambodia and about $12 per kilogram in export markets.

He said his plant was paying about 6,300 riel per kilogram for raw cashew nut and that it had 300 suppliers. Mr. Meng Ly said his plant would expand purchasing to eight districts of the province after this year’s harvest. In the first four months of this year his factory produced about three tons of cashew but demand is so robust it is aiming to purchase 30 more tons. All output would be sold in the domestic market, he said.

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