Tanzania floor price zaps cashew imports.

 KOCHI: There has been a drastic reduction in import of cashew nuts through the Cochin Port Trust (CPT) in January 2012 due to higher floor prices for the commodity in Tanzania, according to officials of major cashew processing and export companies.

Data available with the Cochin Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Creveals that cashew imports in January recorded negative growth. While overall imports through CPT in January showed year-on-year growth of 35.7%, imports of fruits, vegetables and raw cashew shrunk 60% in terms of weight during the same period. In January 2011, India had imported 734 containers of raw cashew, fruits and vegetables through CPT. This came down to 288 containers in January 2012.

"This year, the floor price set by the Tanzanian government for raw cashew has been relatively high in comparison with previous years," said Babu Oommen, owner of Kollam-based Alphonsa Cashew, which imported 12,000 tonnes of raw cashew from African countries like the Ivory Coast, Benin, Guinea Bissau, Ghana and Tanzania last year.

"We usually import 4,000-5,000 tonnes in January, but imported only 1,200 tonnes this time round. We could source the Tanzanian cashew in a price range of $900-$1,000 per tonne earlier, but this year the Tanzanian government set the price at $1,500 per tonne, which is much higher than the optimum price of $1,100 per tonne," Oommen said. "Unlike the West African countries where agents of cashew companies could collect raw cashew from rural areas, Tanzania has a different system in place. Here, the government collects all the cashew produced in the country and auctions it," said Anu S Pillai, vice-chairman of the Cashew Export Promotion Council of India (CEPCI).

"Over half the cashew processed in Kerala is imported," he observed. "One reason for the decline in production is the industrialization of traditional cashew plantation areas in Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra and Orissa. Currently, the produce from these regions is processed there itself," Pillai said.

On the consumer front, the relatively high price of cashew nuts last year resulted in consumers in the US and UK looking at alternatives like almond, hazelnuts, pecan, peanut, brazil and pistachio.

Source : timesofindia.indiatimes.com