<p></p><p>The first consignment of 200 metric tonnes (MT) of raw cashew nuts from a private trader based in Andhra Pradesh reached crisis-ridden public sector Kerala State Cashew Workers Apex Industrial Cooperative Society (CAPEX) on Saturday which sets the stage for re-opening its defunct cashew factories since the last two months. Of the 10 cashew factories under CAPEX, four will be opened on Monday and the remaining six by Tuesday. <br></p> <p>Traditional cashew industry minister Mercykutty Amma is expected to inaugurate the re-opening of the cashew factories at Kollam on Monday. The Minister has assured to float a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) which will be a financial consortium that it help revive the crisis-ridden public sector cashew factories under CAPEX and Kerala State Cashew Development Corporation (KSCDC). <br></p> <p>The SPV to be floated will be termed the State Cashew Board, which will have 49 percent government stakes with 51 percent private participation. The SPV will be involved in procuring raw cashew and it will end the exorbitant prices charges by private traders and middlemen, Industry department officials told TOI. <br></p> <p>"We had invited tenders for procurement of 1000 MT of raw cashew nuts from a private trader based in Andhra which supplies Ivory Coast cashew raw nuts at Rs 124.5 per kg. Received 200 MT now and the remaining is being shipped in. Now, with the available raw nuts, four cashew factories will reopen on Monday and the remaining by the next day," CAPEX managing director R Rajesh told TOI. <br></p> <p>Meanwhile, KSCDC officials informed that all its 30 cashew factories have been opened after its closure for the last 11 months. "All our 30 cashew factories have started operations now after the initial reopening of 11 factories on August 17. We have procured 900 MT of raw cashew nuts from a private trader based at Thoothukudi in Tamilnadu which supplies Guinea Bissau cashew raw nuts at Rs 142 per kg," KSCDC commercial manager V Shaji said. This consignment can run the KSCDC factories for 10 days to process the finished cashew kernel product and before that it has invited fresh tenders to procure raw nuts. <br></p> <p>The total raw material requirement of KSCDC and CAPEX is about 42000 MT per annum raw cashew nuts and of that it procures 5000 MT from the domestic market. The remaining it imports from Africa and Indonesia through middlemen who demand huge costs. If the government floats the SPV, it is expected to curb the middlemen and thus help these public sector companies procure raw nuts at reasonable rates to make a break-even.<br></p><p></p>