Cashew exports touch a new high

India's cashew nut exports rose to an all-time of Rs 2,709.24 in 2004-05, helped largely by production hiccups in Vietnam.

On a year on year basis, exports were up 50.14 per cent from Rs 1,804.43 crore (1,00,828 tonne) in 2003-04.

In volume terms, exports rose 25.62 per cent from 1,00,828 tonne to 1,26,667 tonne in 2004-05.

K Sasi Varma, secretary, Cashew Exports Promotion Council of India, said exports were way above the council's own estimate of Rs 2,600 crore.

The best year before this was 1998-99, when exports had touched Rs 2,569 crore.

In dollar terms, exports touched $602.98 million, compared with $392.28 million a year ago.

The import of raw cashew also went up in 2004-05, touching 578,884 tonne, compared with 452,398 tonne in 2003-04. In value terms, imports touched Rs 2,183 crore for the year, against Rs 1,493 crore in the previous year.

The US and Europe continued to be main destinations for Indian cashew exports followed by Japan, Australia, Canada and the Middle East.

The demand in the US and British markets was mainly responsible for the growth of exports in 2004-05, Varma said.

During January-March 2005, exports stood at 32,402 tonne (Rs 733.68 crore), compared with 28,789 tonne in January-March 2004.

In the last financial year, exports of cashew nut shell liquid rose 7.91 per cent to 7,474 tonne (valued at Rs 7.91 crore) from 6,926 tonne (worth Rs 7.03 crore) in 2003-04. Exports had declined drastically to 46 tonne in January-March 2005 from 1200 tonne in the comparable previous year period. Of this, exports in March 2005 alone was at 31 tonne.

The increase in the value of cashew nut products in the global market also added to the good performance on the exports front.

The increase in exports has also helped create a momentum in the cashew-based industries based in the Kollam district of Kerala.

India is the largest producer and exporter of cashew and cashew kernels in the world. But the industry has been in trouble since 2002-03 due to tough price competition from Vietnam. The far-eastern nation entered the arena just a decade back, compared with the centuries-old trade history of the kernel trade in India.

And as it did in agri-products such as black pepper, Vietnam started dominating the global market in no time.

But a temporary production setback in the country has helped India stage a comeback.