India’s cashew kernel exports posted a decline of 8.7 per cent to 84,463 tonnes during the first 10 months of the current financial year, compared to the year-ago period. The drop in value terms was higher at 10.7 per cent to Rs 2,267 crore, as against the comparative period last financial year.
The drop was mainly due to the stagnation in international demand, mainly from the US, Australia and the European countries. The appreciation of the rupee against the dollar also resulted in lower realisation for the Indian exporters during the second half of the financial year.
Walter D’Souza, a Mangalore-based exporter said, “Going forward, we expect the financial year to end with an overall drop of around 4-5 per cent at about 110,000 tonnes, compared to 114,000 tonnes exported a year ago.”
He added, “Apart from the poor demand in major consuming markets like the US and Europe, the growth in domestic consumption and better price realisation here helped cashew processors divert their produce from the export markets.”
In the first 10 months of the current financial year, US registered a drop of 18.7 per cent in imports at 31,049 tonnes compared to the same period previous year. Australia’s imports also declined 35 per cent to 1,243 tonnes, while exports to Netherlands were down 39 per cent to 7,228 tonnes.
However, loss from the US and Australia was made up by India’s exports to United Arab Emirates, which grew 21.4 per cent to 14,566 tonnes during the same period.
During the April-January period, Indian exporters also witnessed a marginal drop of 2.1 per cent in the unit value realisation to Rs 268.44 per kg in the international market. However, the good news for the cashew industry was an 8.2 per cent drop in the unit value of imported raw cashew nuts at Rs 39.44 per kg during this period.
Pankaj Sampath, a cashew trader of Mumbai-based Samsons Trading Co, said a reason for India’s poor performance in the international markets could be a strong show by Vietnam. This year, their exports are in the range of 150,000 tonnes, as against 110,000 tonnes exported from India.