Cashew kernel prices in Palasa have dropped by Rs 70-100 per kg over the last one month due to oversupply.
“This is the first time that large quantities of second grade imported cashew kernels are available in the domestic market, leading to a reduction in prices,” said Malla Srinivasa Rao, president of the Palasa Cashew Manufactures Association.
Normally, Palasa cashew traders import cashew nuts every year from other countries to feed the processing units here.
However, this year cashew kernels also came to the domestic market in huge quantities, leading to a decline in prices, he added. This apart, economic slowdown led to a decline in cashew exports as a result, exporters diverted their material to the local markets.
“Last month, we sold grade-I cashew kernel at Rs 540-580 per kg. Now, the prices have come down to Rs 440-460 per kg. Similarly, second grade kernel prices have declined from Rs 420 to Rs 350-360 per kg,” he said. Kernel prices generally increase during festival, but this time they may not increase further.
Meanwhile, cashew nuts prices have also declined by Rs 1,000-1,500 per bag (each bag contains 80 kg) in the last two months.
In November, imported nuts were at Rs 7,500 per bag and domestic at Rs 8,000. Now both domestic and imported nuts are available at Rs 6,500 per bag here. Palasa cashew processing units need about 300,000 bags of nuts up to the end of March to operate their units. The new crop would be available in the domestic market from April first week, Rao said.