#India is currently grappling with the second wave of the #Covid-19 pandemic, which has devastated livelihoods at the pace of knots all over the country.
Even though the Indian Government is yet to announce a nationwide lockdown. Indian processors find themselves in a Deja-vu situation, where in they have taken it upon themselves to reduce/halt production keeping the current scenario in mind.
The Indian #HORECA industry had started showing signs of recovery in Q4/2020-21, which led to a sharp increase in prices of cashew pieces in the Indian domestic market, thus making cashew production viable for a short while. However, this was short-lived as with the return of the deadly virus, all restaurants have been curtailed to take-aways and home delivery only. Marriages have been restricted with a strict cap of either 25/50 people depending on the states which has again started pushing down the prices of cashew pieces. During Q4, cashew wholes prices were constant as they didn’t see the kind of demand shown by cashew pieces and the current situation has further affected their sales.
Overall, the current scenario is grim with cashew prices as well as domestic #RCN (Raw Cashew Nuts) prices falling all over the country.
However, unlike last year when the #African RCN prices had collapsed with the onset of the pandemic. This year #Vietnam cashew processors on the back of a delayed and possibly short local crop have aggressively purchased African #RCN, which has ensured strong RCN prices in Africa. Furthermore, going by the Vietnam import stats it can be comprehended that #Vietnam has bought way more African RCN than last year leaving little to no stock of good quality RCN available at Africa.
Thus, the Indian cashew sector finds itself in a strenuous situation where achieving operations efficiency is becoming increasingly difficult due to rising Imported RCN prices and falling domestic kernel prices.
Will the African RCN prices fall?
Will India reduce its cashew production to avoid losses?
By what quantity has Vietnam increased its cashew production this year?
Participate in the discussion in the comments section.
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