The major glut that hit the cashew industry has plunged revenue from the cash crop, running into several billions of naira, a development considered as a big blow to farmers, exporters and other stakeholders in the cashew value-chain.
17 June 2019
Cashew market report-17-06-2019
The prices of cashew kernels are stable. Prompt until July shipment prices are firmer than August and later shipments. Uncommitted kernel inventory for prompt and nearby shipments are limited. Stocks of RCN are available in Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, Benin and Tanzania (2018 crop) but general quality is going down a bit. Also Guinea Bissau is having sufficient RCN stocks but prices are going up as the Indian buyers are pushing prices up for this better quality material.
16 June 2019
Hike in import duty expected to boost domestic processing of Indian cashews
The Centre’s decision to hike the minimum import price (MIP) for whole and broken cashew has brought cheers to the cashew processing sector. The stakeholders observed that low-quality cashew kernel shipments from Africa and ASEAN countries had hit the domestic industry.
“We are happy with the DGFT notification which was long overdue as low-priced cashew kernel imports impacted the local production. The origin countries impose taxes on export of raw cashew, while they incentivise kernel exports. This has resulted in dumping of cheap and low-quality nuts into India, making the domestic industry uncompetitive,” Rahul Kamath, past president of Karnataka Cashew Manufacturers Association, told BusinessLine.
The Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) hiked the MIP for broken cashew to ₹680/kg from ₹288/kg. The whole cashew price has been enhanced to ₹720/kg from ₹400/kg.
According to RK Bhoodes, Chairman, Cashew Export Promotion Council, low- quality kernels from Vietnam, Mozambique, Ivory Cost are being dumped into the domestic market by partly evading the customs duty. This has affected genuine processors, who are finding difficulties in selling their products, as the domestic processing becomes unviable. This has led to closure of many cashew processing units.
“We are heavily dependent on imports as the sector needs 16 lakh tonnes of raw cashew for processing. Of which, 8.17 lakh tonnes was produced in the country,” he said.
The MIP was introduced in 2013 at the then market price. Later, the market price has gone up to 2-2.5 times, touching ₹700-₹800/kg for whole cashew and ₹650-₹700 for broken cashew. However, some importers misused provisions under various FTA’s and shipped large volumes of plain cashew kernels (mostly brokens), which are of inferior quality. The absence of a domestic market was the reason for origin countries to sell their products in the Indian market at throwaway prices.
These countries are providing 20-25 per cent incentives to exports of finished and semi-finished kernels. Taking advantage of this, they are dumping kernels as they have an advantage of 45 per cent of the costing compared to domestic processing. Besides, there were instances of wrong declaration on cashew kernel imports as roasted cashew and animal feeds, he said.
“It was the cashew workers who initially started the agitation against cheap kernel imports as it led to the closure of several processing units,” said K Rajesh, Convenor, Kerala Cashew Industry Joint Protest Council.
The government’s decision to hike the MIP is expected to revive the domestic cashew processing sector and thereby bring in more job opportunities. He also requested the government to extend a revival package to open the closed processing units.
India currently produces around 3.5 lakh tonnes of cashew kernels. The production and import of raw cashew is around 8 lakh tonnes and 9 lakh tonnes, respectively. The country exported 84,352 tonnes of cashew kernels in 2017-18 as against 82,302 tonne during the previous year. In value terms, exports went up almost 18 per cent to $911 million in 2017-18.
“We are happy with the DGFT notification which was long overdue as low-priced cashew kernel imports impacted the local production. The origin countries impose taxes on export of raw cashew, while they incentivise kernel exports. This has resulted in dumping of cheap and low-quality nuts into India, making the domestic industry uncompetitive,” Rahul Kamath, past president of Karnataka Cashew Manufacturers Association, told BusinessLine.
The Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) hiked the MIP for broken cashew to ₹680/kg from ₹288/kg. The whole cashew price has been enhanced to ₹720/kg from ₹400/kg.
According to RK Bhoodes, Chairman, Cashew Export Promotion Council, low- quality kernels from Vietnam, Mozambique, Ivory Cost are being dumped into the domestic market by partly evading the customs duty. This has affected genuine processors, who are finding difficulties in selling their products, as the domestic processing becomes unviable. This has led to closure of many cashew processing units.
“We are heavily dependent on imports as the sector needs 16 lakh tonnes of raw cashew for processing. Of which, 8.17 lakh tonnes was produced in the country,” he said.
The MIP was introduced in 2013 at the then market price. Later, the market price has gone up to 2-2.5 times, touching ₹700-₹800/kg for whole cashew and ₹650-₹700 for broken cashew. However, some importers misused provisions under various FTA’s and shipped large volumes of plain cashew kernels (mostly brokens), which are of inferior quality. The absence of a domestic market was the reason for origin countries to sell their products in the Indian market at throwaway prices.
These countries are providing 20-25 per cent incentives to exports of finished and semi-finished kernels. Taking advantage of this, they are dumping kernels as they have an advantage of 45 per cent of the costing compared to domestic processing. Besides, there were instances of wrong declaration on cashew kernel imports as roasted cashew and animal feeds, he said.
“It was the cashew workers who initially started the agitation against cheap kernel imports as it led to the closure of several processing units,” said K Rajesh, Convenor, Kerala Cashew Industry Joint Protest Council.
The government’s decision to hike the MIP is expected to revive the domestic cashew processing sector and thereby bring in more job opportunities. He also requested the government to extend a revival package to open the closed processing units.
India currently produces around 3.5 lakh tonnes of cashew kernels. The production and import of raw cashew is around 8 lakh tonnes and 9 lakh tonnes, respectively. The country exported 84,352 tonnes of cashew kernels in 2017-18 as against 82,302 tonne during the previous year. In value terms, exports went up almost 18 per cent to $911 million in 2017-18.
14 June 2019
Cashew news-14-06-2019
International market demand for cashew kernels has fallen slightly this week but many processors now have their order books filled at least until July, which allows them to continue to place a few orders of raw cashew nuts from West Africa.
Indian processors and importers are particularly active in the purchase of good quality nuts from Guinea-Bissau/Senegal/Gambia. Indeed, as seen two weeks ago, Indian imports have so far beenlower than last year and this is why Indianindustry still needs to make large orders to get enough supply, as much as consumption remains dynamic in this fast-growing country. This favors a slight increase in the prices offered for nuts in this zone.
Ivory Coast's export statistics for May confirm that the slowdown in demand in April led to a sharp decline in Ivorian exports of raw cashew nuts in the first five months of the year.
In the end, Côte d'Ivoire exported 46,000 MT less than in the first 5 months of 2019. Exports were up between January and March (exports of the old stock of 2018) but slightly down in April and sharply down in May.
On the other hand, in terms of cashew kernel exports, growth continues. In the first five months of the year, Ivorian exports of kernel increased by more than 35%. In May, with more than 1,000 MT exported, Côte d'Ivoire confirms its position as the world's 4th largest processor in 2019 and the country where processing is experiencing the fastest growth.
Despite weak exports of RCN in May (a result of weak demand on the field in April) and contrary to all expectations, the campaign seems to be coming to a relatively early end in eastern and central West Africa
Most of the farmers have released their stocks and although some still hope for a price jump and hold stocks, the supply available on the markets tends to decrease in all production areas.
There are also significant stocks with some traders who have paid high prices in the start of the season and do not want to sell at a loss.
But little by little most of these storers are convinced to no longer take risks and sell their nuts. If demand continues at the current pace, it is likely that 90% of the producer and trader stocks will have been sold by the end of the month. There remains the Guinea-Bissau/Senegal/Gambia zone, where harvests are still in progress and where less than half of the production has been sold so far. Producers in this zone can expect to see increasing demand in the coming weeks as importers who still have a great need will continue to favor this area to be sure of having the quantities needed.
In other areas of West Africa, it is likely that with the gradual withdrawal of buyers and the intensification of rains, prices are unlikely to rise and that is why we still recommend a quick sale.
Source:- Vinacas
Indian processors and importers are particularly active in the purchase of good quality nuts from Guinea-Bissau/Senegal/Gambia. Indeed, as seen two weeks ago, Indian imports have so far beenlower than last year and this is why Indianindustry still needs to make large orders to get enough supply, as much as consumption remains dynamic in this fast-growing country. This favors a slight increase in the prices offered for nuts in this zone.
Ivory Coast's export statistics for May confirm that the slowdown in demand in April led to a sharp decline in Ivorian exports of raw cashew nuts in the first five months of the year.
In the end, Côte d'Ivoire exported 46,000 MT less than in the first 5 months of 2019. Exports were up between January and March (exports of the old stock of 2018) but slightly down in April and sharply down in May.
On the other hand, in terms of cashew kernel exports, growth continues. In the first five months of the year, Ivorian exports of kernel increased by more than 35%. In May, with more than 1,000 MT exported, Côte d'Ivoire confirms its position as the world's 4th largest processor in 2019 and the country where processing is experiencing the fastest growth.
Despite weak exports of RCN in May (a result of weak demand on the field in April) and contrary to all expectations, the campaign seems to be coming to a relatively early end in eastern and central West Africa
Most of the farmers have released their stocks and although some still hope for a price jump and hold stocks, the supply available on the markets tends to decrease in all production areas.
There are also significant stocks with some traders who have paid high prices in the start of the season and do not want to sell at a loss.
But little by little most of these storers are convinced to no longer take risks and sell their nuts. If demand continues at the current pace, it is likely that 90% of the producer and trader stocks will have been sold by the end of the month. There remains the Guinea-Bissau/Senegal/Gambia zone, where harvests are still in progress and where less than half of the production has been sold so far. Producers in this zone can expect to see increasing demand in the coming weeks as importers who still have a great need will continue to favor this area to be sure of having the quantities needed.
In other areas of West Africa, it is likely that with the gradual withdrawal of buyers and the intensification of rains, prices are unlikely to rise and that is why we still recommend a quick sale.
Source:- Vinacas
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)