The Hindu Business Line : India overtakes Germany in almond imports from US

Indian traders seem to have taken advantage of strong rupee and the increased consumption in the domestic market for importing more almonds from the US.

The country reached the second position in the import of almonds from the US during the crop year 2007-08, beating Germany.

In the almond industry position report for the crop year 2007-08, published by the Almond Board of California, it is seen that India moved to second place in the shipment of almonds from the US with a share of 12.86 per cent.

During the same period last year, Germany was in second position with 13.89 per cent share in export deliveries by destination.

US to India

During the crop year 2007-08, exports from the US to India stood at 43.21 million pounds of in-shell almonds and 2.31 million pounds of shelled almonds as against 29.42 million pounds of in-shell and 2.16 million pounds of shelled almonds in the corresponding period of the previous crop year.

India imports a majority of in-shell almonds. These are shelled by hand here, where as machines are used for this purpose in the US.

Spain on top

Spain continues to retain the first position in the import of almonds from the US with its share increasing to 16.74 per cent (13.75 per cent). The other major economies such as China and Japan saw a decline in the import during the crop year 2007-08. The share of China and Japan in import of the commodity stood at 5.23 per cent (6 per cent) and 4.10 per cent (5.16 per cent), respectively.

The Mangalore-based Achal Industries, which markets almond in the country, attributed this growth to the factors such as easy availability of the commodity, lower price than last year, and to the strong rupee.

Mr G. Giridhar Prabhu, Proprietor of Achal Industries and former President of Kanara Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI), told Business Line that almond prices were retailing at Rs 600 a kg 18 months ago. This has dropped to below Rs 400 a kg in north Indian market. The wholesale prices are in the range of Rs 315-325 a kg for good quality almonds.

Consumption growth

He said the growing incomes in India and preference for almonds as a choice intake for health reasons will definitely contribute to higher consumption. There is extensive use of almonds as a luxury input in high quality sweets in India and is, therefore, a daily necessary input for the ready foods, catering and confectionary sector, he said.

On the growth in consumption in north Indian market, he said the VAT for dry fruits in most of the north Indian states is four per cent, where as it is 12.5 per cent in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.

Mr Prabhu said his company is introducing almonds in consumer packs of 500 gm and 250 gm and will focus on markets in Maharashtra and Delhi and in its own retail outlets in Bangalore and Mangalore. “This is a natural line extension to our cashews which are enjoying good customer preference in Maharashtra and North India,” he added.

World production of almonds was 1.76 million tonnes in 2006 with the US contributing a major share of 7,15,623 tonnes. The majority of the production in the US is concentrated in California.

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