Vietnamese cashew exporting Enterprises are at risk of losing hundreds of millions of USD

According to information from Mr. Bach Khanh Nhut, Standing Vice Chairman of Vietnam Cashew Association (VINACAS) and General Director of Vinacontrol Ho Chi Minh City, 05 domestic cashew nut enterprises are in danger of losing 36 cashew nut containers with a value of USD 7,025 million, equivalent to about VND 162 billion.

Initial, up to 17 Vietnamese enterprises signed contracts to export cashews to Italy by Documents against Payment (DP) with nearly 100 containers for many customers through the brokerage company Kim Hanh Viet. However, detecting many unusual signs, the Vietnamese enterprises tried to prevent it, so only 36 containers of goods lost control.

Following the buyer's instructions, Vietnamese enterprises submit the original documents including the original bill of lading to the Vietnamese Bank. After that, the Vietnamese bank sent the original documents to the buyer's Turkish and Italian banks via DHL express service.

With the documents sent to the Turkish bank, in the process of sending from the Vietnamese bank to the buyer's banks, there is a change in the SWIFT number (bank identifier). When the buyer's bank receives the documents, they inform the buyer is not their customer and have returned the documents but do not provide which form of return and the bill of lading number. Meanwhile, with the documents sent to the bank in Italy, the bank announced that they had received a copy, not the original documents.

The case is extremely urgent because the goods have been arriving at Italian ports, but Vietnamese enterprises and banks do not know where the original documents of the shipments are, while anyone bringing the original documents can receive goods. This makes Vietnamese enterprises standstill at the risk of losing goods.

Immediately upon receiving the notice of the case, the Vietnam Cashew Association (VINACAS) met with exporting enterprises and sent a report No. 23/2022/TM-HHD dated March 10, 2022, to the Prime Minister and functional ministries. In addition, VINACAS has also sent an express document to the Vietnamese Embassy and the Vietnam Trade Office in Italy, the head office of shipping lines, to request urgent preventive measures and temporarily retain the shipments at the port.

Implementing Official Dispatch No. 1583/CD-VPCP conveying the direction of Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh on exporting cashew nuts to the European market, the ministries of Industry and Trade, Agriculture and Rural Development, Police, Transport and the State Bank of Vietnam are urgently coordinating with the Vietnam Cashew Association (VINACAS) and relevant agencies and units to check and clarify the cause to take measures and support.