<p>Having witnessed an easier trend in July and early August, the cashew kernel prices are expected to show a firmer trend if the current buoyancy in demand persisted.More enquiries were floating and small volumes were traded as there were very few sellers at lower levels.“If this trend continues, it is quite possible that price may move up gradually in coming weeks”, Pankaj N Sampat, a major Mumbai-based dealer, told Business Line.Although kernel buying interest was reasonable but not very strong in the last three months, prices were steady in a narrow range and forwards were trading a few cents higher. <br></p> <p>This seems to indicate that below a certain level, selling interest is limited. High RCN costs and regular buying interest from some market or the other are providing a floor to the market. However, given the current uncertainty in economic situation it is difficult to judge demand and market trend in coming months.And yet, overall, “we don’t expect much change in market in coming weeks but there is certainly a possibility that prices could move up a bit if there is a good demand for year-end top-up requirements and first half 2016 shipments,” he said.There are very little chances of decline from current levels in the foreseeable future, he said. The range of prices last week was for W240 $3.60-3.80; W320 $3.45-3.65; W450 $3.40-3.55; WS $3.15-3.30; LP $2.95-3.10 per lb (fob). <br></p> <p>RCN prices dip</p><p>The Raw Cashew Nut (RCN) prices came down in end-July/early August due to bunching of arrivals but not much was traded as most processors had adequate arrivals of their own.In last 2-3 weeks, prices have inched up a bit as medium and small processors started buying in small lots. Current RCN prices are in the range of $1,350-1,450 a tonne for Ivory Caost (IVC) / Benin and $1,550-1,650 for GB/Senegal/Gambia depending on the quality.Except for IVC which reportedly shipped a record quantity, shipments from other West African origins were slightly lower than last year.Outlook for upcoming Southern crop is hazy-some people say Brazil may have a good crop and Tanzania movements may be delayed due to elections. Small lots of Indonesia are trading at very high prices.On an average, RCN prices in 2015 have been 20-25 per cent higher than 2014 whereas kernel prices have been almost the same and probably with an increase of maybe 5 per cent.Between now and March 2016, RCN availability will be from Indonesia, East Africa, Brazil which account for only 25 per cent of world production.<br></p>