India: Exports slip on higher cashew prices

KOCHI, JULY 22: 

Cashew kernel prices continued to rise in June at all origins and markets. As a result, shipments of the commodity declined compared with the same month a year ago.

During June, shipments stood at 9,590 tonnes valued at ₹422.82 crore at an unit value of ₹440.88 a kg against 10,380 tonnes valued at ₹422.75 crore at an unit value of ₹407.27 a year ago, according to Cashew Export Promotion Council of India (CEPCI) sources.

Exports during April-June this year totalled 25,305 tonnes valued at ₹1,106.21 crore with the unit value being ₹437.12 a kg, while they were 29,802 tonnes valued at ₹1,177.09 crore (unit value of ₹394.94 a kg) in the year-ago period.

Competition
Sasi Varma, Executive Director and Secretary of CEPCI, attributed the decline to the rise in prices and competition from other tree nuts.

Exports of roasted and salted cashew also slipped by around 5 per cent during the first quarter to 216 tonnes valued at ₹8.97 crore against 439 tonnes valued at ₹15.10 crore in the same period a year ago.

In this case also, the rise in prices is mainly attributed to the decline. Similarly, shipments of cashew nut shell liquid fell to 1,478 tonnes valued at ₹7.02 crore from 1,717 tonnes valued at ₹6.56 crore, he said.

Rising imports
Imports of raw cashew during the first quarter of the current fiscal are up substantially at 2,78,365 tonnes valued at ₹1,825.53 crore (unit value of ₹65.58) against 2,17,898 tonnes valued at ₹1,194.31 crore (unit value of ₹54.81) in the year-ago period.

Industry sources at Kollam said the rise in raw cashew prices has pushed the kernel prices up and the trade is not able to get the parity price from exports.

Imports have to be made to keep the factories running and meet the commitments, they said.

According to Pankaj, a Mumbai-based dealer, as the prices paid for RCN in the current season are substantially higher than 2013, processors may not be able to continue selling kernels at the lower end of the range.

“At the same time, the need for small processors to keep selling regularly will prevent prices from going up too much,” he said.

- The Hidu