Cashews: Africa gains market share in Europe
March 22, 2022 at 11:33 AM ,
Der AUDITOR
Hardly any processing in the countries of origin
In its review of the year 2021, the African Cashew Alliance (ACA) can draw a positive conclusion. With exports of up to 18,700 mt to Europe, Africa's share of the European cashew market is in double digits again for the first time since the 1970s; 11% of the cashews shipped to the EU came from Africa. Its share of the world market, however, remains in single digits. Although Africa is the largest producer of RCN, only a small proportion is processed there. The vast majority is shipped to Asian countries and processed there before finding its way to the European or American markets. The outright front-runner is Vietnam; 77% of the processed kernels imported into Europe come from there. For shipments to the USA, the figure is as high as 89%, with African shipments accounting for only 5%. Côte d'Ivoire in particular is making great efforts to invest more in local processing and marketing, and experts expect this to have a positive impact in the coming years.
Trust is rising
The ACA highlights that another important factor for the increase in African market share is the improvement in food safety. Traceability and transparency have become increasingly important in recent years, making international guidelines easier to comply with. Among other things, the ACA seal, which is recognised by major purchasing organisations, was introduced for this purpose. This significantly increases global trust in African goods.
Good quality
The quality of the African 2021 crops was also convincing. With a crop volume of more than 1 million mt, Côte d'Ivoire is the most important producing country not only in Africa, but worldwide. According to initial early forecasts, the 2022 crop is likely to exceed this mark again, barring unforeseen incidents. Meanwhile, in Nigeria, the harmattan, an African weather phenomenon characterised by hot and dry winds, may have already resulted in crop losses of 15%. Current estimates for the 2022 crop here are 190,000-220,000 mt. Overall, global RCN production is expected to be good this year and could be between 3.8 million and 4.3 million mt.
Prices for Vietnamese goods have picked up slightly again on the European spot market in recent weeks and are at EUR 7.30/kg FCA Spain for cashew kernels, WW240.
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Cashew kernels, Vietnam |
||
|
Type |
EUR/kg |
USD/kg |
|
WW320 |
6.70 |
7.39 |
|
WW240 |
7.30 |
8.06 |
|
WW210 |
8.40 |
9.27 |
|
WW180 |
8.95 |
9.88 |
|
FCA Spain |
||
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