KOCHI: Cashew kernel exports have fallen this fiscal for two months ended May as import of raw nuts from West Africa shrunk with prices going through the roof. As per the estimates of The Cashew Export Promotion Council of India ( CEPCI ), the cashew kernel shipments touched 11,044 tonnes valued at Rs 607 crore for the period. While the value dropped by 19%, the quantity plunged by 28% from a year ago. For the month of May alone the decline in volumes is as much as 35%.
The exporters attribute this to the mounting cost of raw nuts imported from West Africa. India imports over 60% of its raw cashew requirement for processing. “The raw nut prices are currently moving in the range of $1700 to $1750 per tonne. At this rate, we should get a price of $4.15 per pound for the cashew kernel but we are getting only $3.80 per pound,” said CEPCI chairman P Sundaran .
The costly raw nuts have led to the closure of almost 90% of the cashew factories in Kerala, which are more dependent on exports. As a result the raw nut imports for two months of April-May plummeted by over 50% to 85,140 tonnes from a year ago.
In 2015-16, mounting prices and shortage of raw nuts led to decline in cashew exports by 21% in quantity and 11 % in value at 94,150 tonnes valued at Rs 4850 crore as compared with the previous year. The exports had peaked to Rs 5431 crore in 2014-15.
