India claims to be top cashew exporter

Cashew export figures emanating from Vietnam, quoting its Government and other sources, give the impression that it is the top exporter of cashew kernel in the world.

But Indian processors and exporters contest it and say they continue to occupy the top slot.

“They might have overtaken us in pepper but in cashew we still continue to enjoy our position as the top exporter of this tree nut,” said some of the major exporters in Kollam.

They said that the Indian cashew industry (in the organising sector) has the capacity to process around 12 lakh tonnes of raw nuts a year as against Vietnam’s six to seven lakh tonnes.

India imports around 5.5 lakh tonnes of raw cashew nuts a year, while the indigenous production of this raw material comes to about six lakh tonnes, they said.

Therefore, with the processing capacity of 6-7 lakh tonnes of raw nuts a year, it is quite unlikely for them to export 1.65 lakh- to 1.7 lakh tonnes of cashew kernels annually, they claimed.

A recent report quoting Vietnam Ministry of Industry and Trade sources said “Vietnam is expected to rake in $992 million from exporting 1.65 lakh tonnes of cashew nuts in 2008.

The figures will show a rise of 20.5 per cent in value despite a fall of 8.29 per cent in volume against 2007”.

Vietnam Cashew Association (Vinacas) last week said “in Jan-Nov, the country is estimated to have exported 1.53 lakh tonnes of cashew nuts, earning $859 million, up 10.9 per cent on year in volume and 47 per cent in value, according to the General Statistics Office (GSO)”.

Meanwhile, another report quoting the Head of the Department of Farming, Forest and Fisheries Processing etc. under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development said even though the value of cashew exports is expected to decline this year due to the global financial crisis, Vietnam “will export 1.7 lakh tonnes of cashews, worth $900 million, in 2009, 16 per cent lower in value than in 2008”.

Vietnam, according to the Vinacas, has 220 cashew processors with a total capacity of 6-7 lakh tonnes a year. The country exports to 78 markets, including Russia, the US, Japan, Germany, Australia, the UK, the EU and China.

Despite the increase in exports, the Vietnam Cashew Association (Vinacas) complained that local cashew nut processing and exporting companies are facing a lot of difficulties such as high lending rates and high import tax.

In January, cashew exporters shipped an estimated 12,000 tonnes, earning $55 million, said the department. Those figures were down 14.3 per cent in volume and 19 per cent in value compared to December 2008.

Nguyen Thai Hoc, Deputy Chairman of the association, was quoted as saying that exporters still had unsold stocks from 2008. The exporters have signed contracts to export 40-50 per cent of total processed cashew output, but there were few long-term contracts.

However, the Indian cashew industry does not seem to accept the export figures appeared in the reports and claimed that cashew kernel exports from Vietnam in 2008 were unlikely to have crossed 1.2 lakh tonnes. Their figures are of the calendar year while ours are for the financial year. But, it won’t make much difference, they said. In 2007-08, India exported 1,14,340 tonnes of cashew kernel (and 7,813 tonnes of cashew nut shell liquid), valued at Rs 2,300 crore ($572 million).

Exports during Apr – Jan 2008-09 were at 91,381 tonnes valued at Rs 2,507.08 crore at an average unit value of Rs 274.35 a kg as against 94,794 tonnes valued at Rs 1,850.71 crore at unit value realisation of Rs 195.23 a kg in the corresponding period last fiscal. Total imports of raw nuts during Apr–Jan 2008-09 stood at 5,39,184 tonnes valued at Rs 2,317.57 crore at an average unit value of Rs 42.98 a kg as against 5,10,434 tonnes worth Rs 1,358.38 crore at the unit value of Rs 26.61 a kg in the same period the previous year, Cashew Export Promotion Council of India (CEPC) sources said.

Indian exporters claimed that India continued to occupy the top slot of exporters of cashew kernels in the world market. Vietnamese figures were on the higher side but, the Vietnam industry does not seem to have claimed as the top supplier of this tree nut in the world market like the way it projects itself as the largest producer and supplier of pepper in the world.


Source: sify.com

Publication date: 3/3/2009