Ivory Coast raises projected cashew output as threatened tariffs hit exports
Ivory Coast, the world's biggest cashew grower, has raised its projected output to 1.3-million metric tons from 1.15-million tons even as potential US tariffs and a falling dollar drag down exports, the head of the sector regulator told Reuters.
The production increase stems in part from curbs on the smuggling of raw cashews to neighbouring Ghana and Burkina Faso, Mamadou Berte of the Cotton and Cashew Council (CCA) said.
At the same time, Vietnamese buyers have drastically cut purchases of Ivorian raw cashews for processing in response to US tariffs, Berte said.
Vietnam usually buys 80% of Ivory Coast's cashew production, of which 60% is re-exported to the US. But Vietnamese buyers have only purchased 200,000 tons of raw cashews for this year, compared with 700,000 to 800,000 tons for last year, Berte said.
Last month US President Donald Trump's administration announced sweeping tariffs on dozens of countries, including Ivory Coast, which faced a tariff of 21%, the highest in West Africa. Trump then paused the tariffs for 90 days for negotiations, while retaining an across-the-board levy of 10%.
Vietnam is facing a 46% tariff if a reduction cannot be agreed before a US moratorium expires in July.
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