The decline in cashew prices seems to have stopped during October, with prices of W320 grades moving up by few cents.

Small Vietnam processors who had sold W320 as low as $3.20 to 3.30 cents FOB are now asking for $3.35-3.40 FOB. The better processors are able to sell at $3.50-3.60 FOB.

In India, W320 is trading in the range of $ 3.75-3.95 FOB and there is a reasonable buying interest from USA and EU for shipments up to March andApril 2019, said Pankaj N.Sampat, Samson Traders, Mumbai.

The prices for West Africa RCN in Vietnam and India are stable in $1,300-1,600 range. Traders inventories of West Africa RCN in Vietnam and in India are being picked up faster than previous months and will probably be used up by December.

With limited availability, Sampat said good quality Indonesia RCN are being traded at around $1,700. The crop in Tanzania seems to be good (close to 300,000 tonnes) and the farmer cooperatives are resisting lower prices.

So far only a small quantity has been traded because RCN traders and processors are reluctant to pay the high prices that cooperatives are looking for (equivalent of approx $1,800). The general feeling is that prices would ease a bit during November/December but not too much.

With the current levels, there will probably be interest from the retailers and roasters to cover some volume for next 4 to 6 months. It would be reasonable to expect the market to move in 3.50-4.00 range in the next few months.

It may be recalled that cashew prices have come down significantly since the beginning of this year. There has been a decline of about 30 per cent from range of $4.75-5.00 FOB in January/February to a low of $3.20-3.40 FOB from Vietnam in September.

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