India Cashew Market 

Commercial cultivation of cashews in India started in the 1960s and now cashew is mainly grown as a cash crop by farmers across the country. As a pioneer in the cashew trade globally, India draws a considerable amount of foreign exchange through the cashew crop and the crop has earned a high economic status.

India is the major cashew growing country in the Asia-Pacific, positioned as the largest producer of raw cashew nut (RCN) globally with 5.5 lakh metric tons per annum. In India, cashew is grown in the peninsular areas of Kerala, Karnataka, Goa and Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Orissa and West Bengal. The country is the single largest producer and exporter of cashews, accounting for 40% of the global share. It is also the largest importer of RCN globally, with around 8 lakh metric tons of average annual imports, followed by Vietnam.

The cashew crop is traded in several forms including cashew kernels, broken and whole; raw cashew nuts; roasted cashew nuts and cashew nut shell liquid. However, due to an ongoing supply crunch, Indian cashew price will continue to escalate in the near future. Shippers of raw cashew nuts (RCN) have defaulted or negotiated new prices with sellers in India. In India, fluctuating climatic conditions are affecting the overall harvest; however, an unprecedented 40% rise in prices is helping cashew farmers. The 2016 season started at 115 to 117 per kg as against the starting price of 102 to 105 per kg last season. The major challenges faced by the Indian cashew trade industry are stringent policies regarding cultivation, availability of labor, competition from other crops and competitive pricing of crops.

The Indian cashew crop market report covers the following information –

• Crop production
• Country consumption
• Country trade (export-import) scenario and statistics
• Price trend and seasonality of the crop
• Future outlook of the crop market

Stakeholders who would benefit -

• Crop growers
• Enterprises providing agricultural inputs
• Crop processing companies
• Crop importers and exporters
• Investors/research institutions interested in the crop market