Cashews: high energy costs to dampen demand

May 4, 2022 at 12:51 PM , Der AUDITOR
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AMSTERDAM/HANOI. The market experts at Aldebaran reckon that the extreme increase in energy costs due to the Ukraine war will have a negative impact on demand. The cashew market is also strongly affected by this.

Vietnamese exporters face problems

In their last monthly report, the experts from Aldebaran Commodities looked at the situation on the European cashew market and analysed, among other things, the effects of the Ukraine war. They first come to the conclusion that the massive increase in energy prices could have a drastic effect on the demand situation. After the usual increase before Easter and Ramadan, buying interest is generally on the decline at the moment, and with the new crops from Vietnam and Cambodia, sufficient goods are available. Overall, the war is having a negative impact on the supply chain in several areas. Aldebaran reports that various large courier services no longer deliver documents to Russia, so that Vietnamese suppliers first have to send them to other countries, from where they are forwarded to Russian buyers. Shipments to Russia also sometimes have to be diverted to other ports.

Credit institutions hesitate

Farmgate prices seem to have stabilised for the time being, while export prices have increased slightly compared to last week. The fact that cashew prices are currently relatively cheap compared to the RCN prices poses new difficulties for processors: According to Aldebaran, many of them are finding it difficult to get new loans from their banks as these cannot see sufficient profit. Cashew kernels, WW320, from Vietnam currently cost a good EUR 6.65/kg FCA Spain.

Cashew kernels

Type, origin

EUR/kg

USD/kg

WW320, Vietnam, FCA Spain

6.65

6.99

Small pieces, Vietnam, FCA Spain

2.90

3.05

Large White Pieces, Vietnam, 2022, FCA Spain

4.90

5.15

W320, FOB India

7.77

8.18

W240, FOB India

8.39

8.83

Trade sources

Cote d'Ivoire increases exports to Germany significantly

German imports fell by 7.6% year-on-year in the period September 2021 to February 2022. The decline of the most important supplier Vietnam was moderate at -1.7%, while India's shipments to Germany more than halved to 3,631 mt. Côte d'Ivoire, however, achieved a substantial increase, shipping almost 272% more cashews to Germany than in the same period last year and thus taking third place among the most important suppliers.

German cashew* imports, in mt

Supplier

2020/21

2021/22

Diff.

Vietnam

18,651

18,335

-1.7%

India

7,763

3,631

-53.2%

Cote d'Ivoire

356

1,324

271.9%

Indonesia

373

1,045

180.2%

Netherlands

1,093

1,003

-8.2%

Honduras

107

646

503.7%

Burkina Faso

314

502

59.9%

Brazil

478

395

-17.4%

Mozambique

127

190

49.6%

Nigeria

150

22

-85.3%

Others

375

432

15.2%

Total

29,787

27,525

-7.6%

Federal Statistical Office of Germany / Sep-Feb

*08013200 Fresh or dried cashew nuts, shelled

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