Japanese firm Top Planning Japan Co Ltd’s (TPJ) apparent interest in investing in facilities in Battambang province to convert cashew nut shells into fuel and process the fibre-rich seeds for export has been greeted with much enthusiasm among local authorities
Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Dith Tina on February 7 asked Japanese firm Top Planning Japan Co Ltd (TPJ), an exporter of local cashew nuts, to look into converting the shells into fuel, and processing the crop into different food products, as well as much-needed agricultural fertilisers.
Cambodia has resumed the formal export of processed cashew nuts to Japan following a nearly half-year hiatus due to regulatory issues on the Japanese side, according to the owner of the Kingdom’s sole exporter of the edible seeds to the East Asian market.
Cambodia's sole exporter of cashew nuts to Japan is set to resume shipments in mid-September, after it sent its last consignment in March, before Tokyo began requesting an additional certificate, a requirement it had waived in light of Covid-19, according to the enterprise’s owner.
The decline in the quantity, price and quality of cashew nuts this year has prompted farmers across Cambodia to cut down or abandon more than 100,000ha of trees, according to latest Cashew Nut Association of Cambodia (CAC) estimates, raising questions of international demand overestimations.