Exports for the whole year were expected to be $700 million, almost 39 percent higher than 2006, the Vietnam Cashew Association said Tuesday.

Last year cashew was shipped mainly to China, the US, Netherlands, Australia, Canada, Britain, and Russia. 

Vietnam and India, two of the world's three biggest cashew exporters, have established an alliance to beef up indirect global consumption of the nuts through use in candies, confectionary, and other foodstuffs.

The Vietnam Cashew Association and the Cashew Export Promotion Council of India recently invited the Association of the Cashew Producers of Brazil to join their alliance.