Cashew market may turn buoyant on supply woes

KOCHI, AUG. 13: 

The domestic cashew market witnessed sporadic activities in recent days while the availability of large wholes is tight and at the same time demand for good quality broken is good, according to trade sources.

Prices have been steady with some upward movement for some origins and grades. There is a wide range of prices with the difference of 10 to 12 per cent between the highest and lowest traded price for the same grade on the same day.

“This shows that people are willing to pay the value for the right product,” Pankaj N. Sampat, a Mumbai- based dealer told Business Line.

“There has been a fair amount of activity in the kernel market during June/July without any change in the price range,” he said.

Range of cashew prices an lb were: W240 $3.75-3.90, W320$3.20-3.40, W450 $2.95-3.10, SW320 $3-3.10, splits $2.25-2.30 and pieces $1.50-1.55.

In the last couple of weeks, some processors have sold W320 at lower end of the range for nearbys but prices for other grades, and W320 for forward positions have been very steady.

ACTIVE RCN MARKET

Raw Cashew Nut (RCN) market has been reasonably active. Vietnam processors have been buying regularly. Availability is adequate but it is mainly low yielding product.

Availability of good quality RCN is limited and prices for that have moved up a bit in the last two weeks. Current price range is from $700- 1,000 a tonne (c&f) depending on origin, quality, destination, terms.

On the supply side, there are some indications that 2013 crop in Brazil should be close to normal and in any case, better than the disaster of 2012.

The trader feels that “downside on RCN prices is limited because there is not much available for India and Vietnam till the 2014 crops. East Africa and Indonesia are less than 15 per cent of the global production. Any further decline in prices could adversely affect collections in 2014,” he said.

“Aug-Oct will tell us whether prices will break the $3.50/lb barrier in 2013 or remain in the current range”.

If Asian, especially Indian, demand picks up in the next 4-6 weeks, it would keep many Indian processors away from the international market.

That might mean some increase in kernel prices when the US and EU come in to buy for last quarter 2013 and first quarter 2014 shipments.

But if the Indian demand continues to be sporadic, the trade said, “we will see the prices moving sideways in the current range. A decline is possible only if Indian demand is soft which is unlikely considering that all other nut prices are substantially higher, at least in India, than 2012,” they said.

Source: The Hindu