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| Workers in a cashew processing factory. The cashew trading center doesn’t have enough cashews to operate - Photo: Ngoc Hung |
HCMC – The national cashew exchange center that opened in March has not started to operate as it was designed to, said Phan Vu Hung, director of Saigon Thuong Tin Commodity Exchange (Sacom-STE).
Cashew producers and traders are still using the OTC (over the counter) method, instead of switching to the matching system the center uses, Hung told the Daily.
“For the trade matching system, enterprises are required to deposit a certain amount of cashew. But they don’t have any more cashew to deposit, so the exchange center is virtually not operational,” Hung explained.
The center was established to create a venue for enterprises to determine standard cashew prices and help exporters avoid price squeezes by sharing information. However, both the Sacom-STE and Vietnam Cashew Association (Vinacas) have admitted the problem is that enterprises are not familiar with this trading mode.
To solve the problem, Vinacas general secretary Dang Hoang Giang said the association would work with enterprises to promote the benefits of the trading method.
“If the center starts to operate effectively, it would bring about positive signs for the cashew market. This is a helpful information channel for enterprises and farmers to learn about market prices,” Giang said.
The center was established at the Golden Cashew Festival in the southern province of Binh Phuoc in March.
