Guinea Bissau cashew exports from 2012 crop disappointing so far

Jan 27 (Reuters) - Guinea Bissau's exports of cashew nuts, its top export earner, have fallen to 125,000 tonnes out of the 2012 harvest so far, far below its target due to a fall in prices and slowing demand, the government said on Sunday.

The West African nation, the world's seventh-biggest producer, had targeted exports of 170,000 tonnes from the harvest, which ended in July, after exporting 140,000 tonnes from the 2011 harvest.

"To date, Guinea Bissau has been able to export 125,000 tonnes of cashew nuts, or less than in 2011," Ibrahima Diallo, secretary of state for trade, told journalists.

Cashew production accounts for around 90 percent of Guinea Bissau's export revenues and employs some 80 percent of its population of 1.6 million.

Diallo blamed the drop in exports on a fall in world cashew prices and lagging demand, adding that more than 20,000 tonnes of nuts remained in warehouses awaiting export. Most of Guinea Bissau's exports go to India, a major processor.

Soldiers in April staged a military takeover in the notoriously unstable former Portuguese colony, raising fears that cashew exports could drop to as low as 100,000 tonnes.

Wedged between Guinea and Senegal on West Africa's coast, Guinea Bissau is among the world's poorest countries and is also struggling to contain growing drug trafficking. (Reporting by Alberto Dabo; Writing by Joe Bavier; editing by Jane Baird)

Source: Reuters