<p></p><p>Global demand for cashew nuts has been severely hit due to the high price of the commodity and problems in several countries. Consumption in the US and Europe has declined due to economic problems, while tensions in Iran and Syria have led to lower trade with West Asia.“Demand from China, which was seen compensating for losses in other markets has also taken a worse turn,” Pratap Nair of Vijayalakshmi Cashews, one of the oldest and largest cashew-exporting house, said.</p> <p>“Cashew lost significant market share in 2011 due to high prices and reduced availability,” Pankaj Sampat Samsons Trading said. Prices of W 320 grade touched $4.50 per pound in 2011 but have declined to $3.30-3.50. Consumption of snack nuts actually fell by 11% in US during 2011 against the annual growth of 2-3 %. </p><p>“Iran and Syria used to buy our nuts through Dubai. This has come down significantly after tensions escalated in the region. Interestingly, demand from China has also come down and exports of Vietnam to that country has been lower” Pratap said. While the US and Western Europe remain large markets, nut consumption during 2010 was seen robust in India, China and the West Asian markets which registered double-digit growth.“We expect a revival in demand with prices coming down. Currently, nuts stocked in retail shelves are highly priced. When the benefits of lower input cost is passed over to the customers, we expect good buying,” he added. “Most of the competing nuts, except almonds, are currently costlier than cashew nuts,” Pratap said. </p><p>“Prices have come down significantly by over 30% in the last three quarters and 10% in the last one quarter. Current range is slightly higher than 2009 and lower than the average of 2010. It is reasonable to expect that off take in the second half of the 2012 will be better than 2011,” Pankaj said. “Shellers are not rushing to buy at these prices as kernel demand is slow. Raw nut traders are not showing signs of reducing prices to make sales because arrivals are slow,” he said. </p><p>Data provided by the Cashew Export Promotion Council (CEPC), suggest that Indian exports during the last FY of 2011-12 would be around R3500 crore. India exported 91,559 tonne of cashew kernels valued at R2598 crore in FY 2010-11.</p><br><p></p>