Cashew market witnessed reasonable activity with prices moving
up slightly. By the end of last week, prices from medium packers
moved up to $3.25 (f.o.b) for W320, while large packers were also
able to sell few cents higher.
There were some trades in W240 at around $3.60 and W450 at around
$3.10 (f.o.b). Most of the sales were to the US and Europe importers
for October-December and some for January-March 11. India and Chinese
buyers were quiet but they are expected to start buying again in November,
market sources said.
The raw cashew nut (RCN) market continues to be firm. West African RCN
in India traded in the range of $1,200 to $1,350 depending on quality.
Indonesia RCN is steady around $1,500 despite lower quality. Tanzania
continued to get surprisingly high prices in their auctions.
Brazil reports of crop shortage ranging from 15-30 per cent. This means
that almost all origins have had short crops in 2010
Most buyers have been restricting volume and period of buying because
of the wide difference between prices from small/medium processors for
nearbys and large processors for forwards.
Outlook for mid/late 2011 continues to be cloudy – demand trends are
uncertain and it is impossible to judge what 2011 crops will be. So,
it would be unreasonable to predict long-term price movement. But in
view of supply tightness, which is likely to continue till April/May 2011,
it is more or less certain that prices will continue to be firm for the
rest of 2010 and even early 2011. There is some chance of a further
increase in prices if kernel activity picks up and/or RCN prices
continue to be firm.
Since 1997
