Bad road, poor price hinder over N550b cashew export

By Oluwakemi DaudaBad roads, the gridlock on Oshodi/Apapa Expressway and poor price at the international market have contributed to the loss of multi-million dollas contracts to cashew exporters in the country.Last year, the National Cashew Association of Nigeria (NCAN) projected to export between 120,000 and 123,000 metric tons of cashew nuts.In 2019, the tonnes of cashew nuts that were exported was 120,000 metric tons per annum and the price was between N210, 000 and N350, 000.According to sources in the association, the lack of synergy among the port operators and corruption are also hampering their export processes. This, a source said, has made some cashew exporters to default in supplying the needed quantity to foreign buyers.While the country is said to have the capacity to produce 300,000 metric tonnes or N551.8billion ($1.19billion) of the nuts annually, many Nigerian exporters are at crossroads over poor pricing of cashew nuts which fell from $3,999 to $900 in some countries.Already, African Cashew Alliance (ACA) has warned that Africas raw cashew exports could fall up to 30per cent or 400,000 tonnes below 1.2 million tonnes exported last year.Olam International, the worlds leading raw cashew nut trader had complained the pandemic had reduced consumer demand which had dampened the marketAccording to the President of National Cashew Association of Nigeria (NCAN), Soni Stephenson Uzoechi, on the average, the country could earn N276billion ($600 million) from cashew exportation alone.However, he noted that when cashew had been processed into cashew kernel, a tonne of the processed kernel would attract $6,000.Nigeria, a member of the International Consultative Cashew Council (ICCC), is the fourth largest producer of cashew in the world and its major trading partners are the African Cashew Alliance (ACA), Vietnam Cashew Association and Cashew Export Promotion Council of India (CEPCI).
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