After 3 weeks of lull, cashew trade gears up for June shipments

After three weeks of dull trade, the cashew market saw some action on Monday with processors trading kernels at a few cents lower.

The limited-quantity trades were for prompt June shipments.However, there was not much change in prices from most processors for shipment June onwards, according to market sources. As a result, the price range widened a few cents again, they said.

Offered/traded levels last week were W240 from $4-4.15 a lb (f.o.b), W320 from $3,60-3.75, W450 from $3.45-3.55, SW320 from $3.5-3.60, Splits and Butts from $2.6-2.75, Pieces from $2.3-2.40 all a lb (f.o.b), Mr Pankaj N. Sampat, a Mumbai-based dealer told Business Line .

Meanwhile, the domestic market was quiet after two weeks of good activity, he said.

Stakeholders are reluctant to take forward positions and the market has become illiquid, he said. Any small change on supply or demand side is resulting in large price swings, adding to the volatility.

Added to that, “We have the uncertainty of supply and demand trends and disruptions and wastage on the supply side. For instance, the delays in the West African crops followed by logistic problems and limited purchases by Vietnam means that processing in India and Vietnam in May, June and July will be lower than normal and could lead to temporary squeeze in kernel supplies in the importing countries in Jun-August/September”, he pointed out.

The raw cashew nut (RCN) market continued to be quiet. Prices eased a bit due to lack of buying interest from processors who are waiting for shipments of earlier purchases plus some activity in the kernel market. Lower yields should also lead to some softening of RCN prices. The cashew market has been highly volatile since 2010 and the following g price movements reveal it:

From January-July 2010, W320 was around $3except for a brief period in February/March when prices moved down to $2.70; from July to October 2010, W320 moved up slowly from $3-3.40; during November 2010, W320 moved up sharply from $3.40-3.80 and remained in $3.7-4range till May 2011. During June/July 2011, W320 moved up suddenly from $4.00 to $4.70, drifted down to $4.50 during August/mid-September 2011 and declined sharply to $3.90 by November 2011 and $3.75 by December 2011.

This year, W320 moved from $3.60 in January down to $3.20 in March and up to $3.80 in April and eased a bit to current $3.60 to $3.80 range during May .

An interesting feature to be noted, Mr Pankaj said, is that differential between W320 and Splits which was 50-60 cents, widened to $1in December 2011 and has been around the $1 level for the last six months.

After a 25 per cent movement in prices – down 10 per cent and up 15 per cent, from January 2012, W320 price has now settled in the range of the last quarter 2011. The current range is near the average paid for 2011 deliveries and less than the average paid for second half 2011 deliveries.

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