<p>An emergency meeting of the Cashew Manufacturers and Exporters Association recently decided to boycott the Kochi port and instead promote the Tuticorin port in Tamil Nadu for import of raw cashew nuts and export of processed cashew kernels, reported The Hindu.</p> <p>The association has already given directions to three container ships carrying 18,000 tons of raw cashew from the Mtwara Port in Tanzania to skip the Kochi port and call at the Tuticorin port. The ships Kota Hormat, Kota Hungal, and Kota Akbar have already steered clear of the Kochi port and are heading for Tuticorin.</p> <p>A spokesman for the association told The Hindu that the decision had been taken in the wake of the growing trade union militancy at the Kochi port. For the past 10 days there had been no container movement from the Kochi port because of a strike declared by drivers and cleaners of container trucks.</p> <p>The spokesman said there were hopes that talks called by Labour Minister Shibu Baby John and Ports Minister K. Babu at Thiruvananthapuram with representatives of the trade unions would solve the problem. But the trade union leaders walked out of the meeting.</p> <p>This has led to about more than 50,000 tons of raw cashew nuts, meant for the processing industry, being held up at the Kochi port for more than a week. A huge quantity of processed kernels could not be brought to the port for export. Processers are finding it difficult to meet export commitments. The association feels that the demands raised by the trade union of drivers are unjustified.</p>