The Hindu Business Line : Value of cashew exports down

Kochi April 20 Exports of cashew kernels from the country showed an increase in terms of volume last fiscal but declined in terms of value on low unit value realisation.

During the last fiscal, 1,18,540 tonnes of cashew kernels valued at Rs 2,455 crore were exported against 1,14,143 tonnes valued at Rs 2,515 crore during the previous fiscal.

The unit value dropped to Rs 207 a kg compared with Rs 220 the previous year, Mr K. Sasi Varma, Secretary, Cashew Export Promotion Council of India (CEPC) told Business Line on Friday. Another factor responsible for the drop in unit value was the increased supply from Vietnam at lower prices, he said.

Unlike in India the domestic consumption in Vietnam is negligible and hence, almost the entire quantity is exported. On the other hand, the cost of production/processing in Vietnam was comparatively lower, he said.

The domestic market in India is very strong and as a result, prices in the internal market were higher than that in the overseas markets.

Non-availability of sufficient quantity of raw nuts pushed up imports of the raw material. Imports stood at 5,92,600 tonnes valued at Rs 1,812 crore as against 5,65,400 tonnes worth Rs 2,163 crore in the corresponding period the previous fiscal.

There has been a decline in the unit value of the imported raw nuts to Rs 31 a kg from Rs 38 a kg.

The forex outgo was Rs 1,812 crore as against Rs 2,163 crore.The total raw nut production in 2005 - 06 was at 5.73 lakh tonnes against 5.44 lakh tonnes the previous year.

In fact, the industry could not find adequate raw cashew nuts to meet its requirements in full and that phenomenon has been forcing many units to remain closed either round the year or for a considerable part of it, they said.

According to them concerted efforts are needed to increase the indigenous production of raw nuts. Besides, schemes should be drawn up to increase the productivity in the country, which is said to be at 815 kg a hectare as against Vietnam's 2000 kg/ha, they said.

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