Cashew prices continued to head south during the past fortnight. Although volume of business was very small, W320 was traded in a wide range from $3.10-3.30 a lb (fob).

Lower end of the range was for nearbys by a few processors in Vietnam and the lowest level reported from India was at $3.20/lb (f.o.b), market sources said. There was hardly any business in other grades but nominal levels were W240 from $3.50-3.70, W450 and SW320 from $3-3.10, SW360 from $2.80-3, SSW from $2.60-2.80, Splits and Butts from $2.25-42.35, Pieces from $1.80-1.90(fob) they said.

“We did not expect the market to come down as much as it has – as we said in our earlier reports, we were expecting it to remain in the $3.50-3.75 (fob) range for most of this year,” Mr Pankaj N. Sampat, a Mumbai-based dealer, told Business Line . The short term buying by the major markets and the pressure on some processors to sell to fulfil financial commitments has pushed the market down to current levels, he pointed out.

RCN Market

In line with the kernel market, Raw Cashew Nut (RCN) prices also continued to drift lower. Reason for this was softer kernel market and the lower kernel yields from quantities available in Ivory Coast (IVC). Till the end of June, shipments have been about 2,50,000 tonnes from IVC and about 50,000 tonnes from Guinea Bissau. On the sheller side, although the kernel market is quiet and prices have been drifting lower, they do not seem to be interested to make any large forward sales at lower levels. High prices have been paid for 2011/12 crop RCN. Current kernel prices are at or below cost for most shellers.

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