The cashew industry has urged the Union Government to initiate steps to curb import of cashew kernels under misdeclaration and under-invoicing as it has become rampant, affecting the domestic industry.
An industry delegation led by R. Chandrasekharan, Chairman, Kerala State Cashew Development Corporation (KSCDC), has urged Prime Minister, Union Ministers of Finance and Commerce to take measures to stop import of kernel pieces and brokens as raw material for cattle feeds but ends up in various food manufacturing units.
Chandrasekharan told
He said that major competing countries such as Vietnam, Brazil, etc are selling in the domestic market . This ultimately will affect the employment of lakhs of women currently employed by the cashew industry in rural areas.
In the competing countries, processing is done mechanically and hence they used to have good quantity of bits, pieces and brokens. Their disposal is a major problem for them.
He said that the Corporation has been marketing pieces and brokens after adding value to them in the upcountry markets, especially Delhi.
The Cashew Export Promotion Council of India (CEPCI) has also pointed out that under invoiced imports of cashew kernel (especially the brokens and pieces) into the country were taking place and consequently, large quantities were finding their way in the domestic markets.
According to Sasi Varma, Executive Director and Secretary, CEPCI, “this leads to considerable revenue loss by way of import duty for the Government besides affecting the domestic cashew processors”
Meanwhile, in the international market, cashew turned softer last week after remaining steady for several weeks. Prices for Whole grades were at the lower end of the recent range while broken grades moved up slightly.
In the domestic market some pick up was seen with some in increases in prices for good quality products.
During the last two weeks, range of offers and trades has been for W240 $3.85-4, W320 $3.35-3.50, W450 and SW320 from $3.05-3.15, SW360 $2.90-3, butts $2.30-2.40, splits $2.25-2.35, pieces $1.55-1.65/lb(fob).
Since the beginning of the year, “the market has not crossed either end of the $3.30-3.50 range which we have been seeing for several months now. Even when the market has been very quiet, none of the shellers, not even the small ones, have reduced the price below $3.30 an lb and even when there has been reasonable activity, buyers have been reluctant to pay much more than $3.50, even to the top large shellers,” market sources said.
There are mixed reports about the demand trends. Some people say that stability of price for almost a year in a relatively lower price range will induce interest in the product from roasters / packers / retailers, Pankaj Sampat, a Mumbai -based dealer told Business Line .
“Others are not so sure because they feel prices will have to be stable for one season more to regain confidence in the US and EU. Another reason for concern about demand trends is the fragile financial situation in most regions. Asian demand in 2013 will certainly be better than 2012 when almonds were cheaper than cashews,” he said.
Raw Cashew Nut (RCN) prices have come down in the last one month and some portion of the decline is due to slow buying by shellers but most of the decline is due to lower yields in the cutting tests at origin. Due to early rains in many areas, drying has been a problem. Shellers expect much reduced yields of white wholes from the current crop. Coupled with wider differentials for the lower grades, this means shellers buying ideas are lower than usual. Recent offers and trades have been Benin at around $1,025 ; Ghana at around $975 and Ivory Coast (IVC) at around $900 a tonne (c&f).