<p>The cashew market, after nearly a month-long hibernation, witnessed some activity triggered by low offers from a few processors and that were quickly picked up by the US and European traders, according to market sources. ndian domestic market has been extremely quiet for almost a month now following availability of good volume of cheap imported kernels which in turn slowed down sales of high priced indigenous product, they said.</p> <p>For the last two weeks, there has been a wide range of prices for both offers as well as trades. But, very few processors were selling at the lower end of the range. ost processors are at the higher end of the range and some are not offering at all, Pankaj N. Sampat, a Mumbai-based dealer told Business Line.</p> <p>The price range is as follows: W240: $3.85-4.00; W320: $3.30-3.45; W450: $3.05-3.15; SW320: $3.00-3.10; SW360: $2.80-2.90; Splits $2.10-2.20; Pieces $1.40-1.50/lb (f.o.b.), he said.</p> <h1><strong>Buying pattern</strong></h1> <p>“Buyers have been successful with periodic buying of small volumes for short spreads - and this has suited most shellers too. This pattern has kept the market moving within a reasonable trading range of about 30 cents. At any given time, buyers have been able to pick up some volumes at the lower end of the range for nearbys – so they are not scared of keeping some portion of their needs uncovered. Also, large shellers have been able to sell to some buyers at the higher end of the range by taking positions for few months ahead – so they are not under pressure to reduce prices to get additional sales,” he said.</p> <p>Slow movement and lower prices for brokens are becoming an increasing drag on the industry. Indian shellers who were so far relatively well placed are also feeling the pinch now, he pointed out. This issue needs to be addressed by all links in the chain. If the offtake and prices for lower grades do not improve, either the raw cashew nut (RCN) prices have to come down or the prices for wholes have to move up in order to avoid parity problems,” Pankaj said.</p> <h1><strong>RCN market stable</strong></h1> <p>Tanzania has been able to sell most of its crop of raw cashew nut without any significant price movement. West African crops seem to be progressing well but logistics will continue to be a concern. Prices are steady at $900-1,050 a ton (c&f) depending on the origin and quality, but a realistic price range will be established only when movements start by the end of March/beginning of April, the trade said.</p> <h1><strong>Brazil impact</strong></h1> <p>Pricing will depend on the activity of Brazil processors who are facing the problems of a very bad crop and Vietnam processors who are seeing very high prices for domestic RCN.</p> <p>The RCN market opened high in Vietnam after the TET holidays and has moved up further in the last two weeks, it said. We can expect some volatility in the kernel market during March to May and whether it will have an upward or downward bias depends onWest African RCN pricing and movement, and timing and intensity of kernel contracting for second half of the year.</p> <p>The reported forward sales by traders give them ability to buy regularly which will provide a floor to dips.</p> <p>The need of some shellers to keep selling at regular intervals will limit the spikes. f there are no issues with RCN movements and if there is no big kernel buying in this period, “we could see kernel market settling in the lower half or middle of the current range. If the RCN prices remain high during March-April, we could see kernel prices stay in the top half of the range. In either case, there are good chances of some gradual increase in kernel prices and offtake in the second half of the year,” the trade claimed.</p> <p> </p>