T&T Group signed the largest contract in the history of the world cashew industry

On July 30, 2019 in Tanzania, under the witness of many senior officials in the Tanzanian Government, representatives of T&T Group officially signed a contract to purchase 176,000 tons of Tanzanian raw cashews in the 2018 crop with representatives of the Tanzanian Government. This is the largest raw cashew purchase contract in the history of the world cashew industry to date, bringing abundant cashew output to the domestic cashew industry, and creating a buzz in the world cashew market.

This cashew purchase contract was signed between T&T Group and The Cereals and Other Produce Board of Tanzania (CPB). Accordingly, T&T Group agreed to buy 176,000 tons of raw cashews in the 2018 crop out of the total 210,000 tons of raw cashews that the Tanzanian Government had purchased in reserve from farmers.

Representatives of the Tanzanian Government and T&T Group shared their joy after the contract was signed.

Assessing the importance of this raw cashew purchase contract, the President of Tanzania has directly directed and requested the Tanzanian Ministry of Justice to strictly review and approve it, because this is a contract that has a great impact on Tanzania’s agricultural sector. The contract to sell raw cashews to Tanzania’s T&T Group not only affects Tanzania’s export revenue but also affects most cashew nut importers worldwide.

Previously, the Tanzanian Government had made great efforts to find partners to buy the above batch of raw cashew nuts from countries such as India, Singapore, China, Kenya… but failed due to not being able to agree on a selling price. Finding a reputable and capable partner like T&T Group after more than 6 months of searching is an unexpected success for the Tanzanian Government.

Representatives of T&T Group and representatives of the Tanzanian Government

To reach this historic agreement to purchase raw cashew nuts, T&T Group sent experienced experts in the cashew field to directly take samples and inspect all 11 cashew warehouses of the Tanzanian Government. The test results showed that all the cashew nuts were very well preserved, ensuring both quality and quantity. It is expected that the first batches of raw cashew nuts imported from Tanzania will arrive in Vietnam in September this year.

T&T Group experts check the quality of raw cashews at a warehouse in Tanzania

As the world’s largest importer and exporter of raw cashew nuts, Vietnam plays a coordinating role, bridging the gap between raw cashew nut suppliers (Ivory Coast, Nigeria, Mozambique, Benin, etc.), processing countries (Vietnam, India) and consumer markets. Recent market survey data for the cashew industry shows that Vietnam produces and imports about 1.6 million tons of raw cashews each year, of which domestic supply cannot meet 25% of actual capacity, resulting in a serious shortage of raw materials for Vietnamese cashew businesses. The source of raw materials still largely depends on imports from African countries. The contract signed to purchase raw cashew nuts this time by T&T Group not only brings abundant raw materials to the domestic cashew industry but also continues to consolidate Vietnam’s position as the world’s largest importer of raw cashews and exporter of cashew nuts, accounting for 60% of global output (according to the announcement of the Vietnam Cashew Association – Vinacas).

Cashew warehouse managed by the Tanzanian Government is about to be exported to T&T Group.

Tanzania is an East African country, located in the Southern Hemisphere, supplying 75% of raw cashew production in East Africa, estimated at about 250,000 tons of raw cashews annually. The contract signed to purchase raw cashews in Tanzania this time is within the framework of the long-term cashew production and business project of T&T Group, after two traditional markets in West Africa, Ivory Coast and Guinea Bissau.

Previously, on March 20, 2019, in Abidjan, T&T Group officially signed the first contract to purchase 50,000 tons of cashew nuts with a group of cashew exporters in Ivory Coast and the Ivory Coast Cotton and Cashew Council (CCA). Accordingly, in 2019, T&T Group will purchase at least 200,000 tons of raw cashew nuts from Ivory Coast. Output will increase gradually over the years, reaching 300,000 tons in 2020 and after 2020 this figure is estimated to increase to 400,000 tons. T&T Group committed to investing in a cashew processing factory in Ivory Coast with a capacity of 15,000 tons in phase 1 and up to 50,000 tons in phase 2.

On August 6, 2018, Chairman of the Board of Directors and General Director of T&T Group Do Quang Hien also signed a memorandum of understanding on cooperation between T&T Group and the representative of the Government of Guinea Bissau, the Minister of Trade, Tourism and Handicrafts in the field of agricultural products. Accordingly, T&T Group committed to importing raw cashew nuts from Guinea Bissau with a volume of about 150,000 – 200,000 tons/year.

As of August 2019, T&T Group has supplied the Vietnamese market with 20,000 tons of raw cashew nuts from Ivory Coast and 24,000 tons of raw cashew nuts from Guinea Bissau. In total, 176,000 tons of raw cashew nuts from Tanzania will bring the total supply to 220,000 tons, estimated to account for 15% of Vietnam’s raw cashew nuts imported from abroad, mainly from Africa.

Source: Tien Phong Newspaper