Processors resort to high-cost cashew imports

Delayed harvest of raw cashew nut (RCN) in the country this year has impacted the margins of domestic processors, as they are forced to import at record high prices. The processing units are importing RCN at $1,450-$1,750 a tonne, a 40 per cent rise as compared to the last year.

Processors are likely to have low margins if domestic prices of RCN rule above Rs 70 a kg. For the current crop year, the harvest has been delayed by over a month in both India and Vietnam, mainly due to unseasonal rain in November last year. Cashew crop in India is spread over seven states — Kerala, Karnataka, Goa, Maharashtra on the west coast and Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Orissa on the east coast. The trend and progress starts from lower latitudes. Cashew takes over 60 days for harvest from the first completed fruiting.

Towards mid-February, only small arrivals started and prices were at peak. Price was Rs 85 a kg, as against Rs 60 a kg in the same period last year, a rise of 41 per cent.

At present, kernel prices are hovering at around Rs 425 plus taxes (ex-Mumbai), as against Rs 370 a kg in May last year — an increase of 15 per cent. It touched an all-time high of Rs 500 and subsided rapidly in the new year.

The industry is eagerly looking forward to the domestic crop this year — its size and quality — as it plays a major role in both Indian and international supplies. Most Indian crop is sold domestically.