The Mintec Benchmark Prices for cashew kernels W320 FOB Vietnam were last assessed at $2.63/lb on the 24th of November, an increase of USc 5/lb (+2%) month-on-month. The market has been on an upward curve over the past couple of weeks, rebounding slightly from low levels not seen since Mintec started tracking prices in 2011.
Between mid-October and the first week of November, the market bottomed at $2.58/lb on the back of muted buying activity due to abundant stocks in destination markets. For lower quality material, Mintec heard indications below this level, as low as $2.50/lb. Nonetheless, a slight improvement in global demand, and a decrease in supply from smaller processors in Vietnam, has led to the benchmark moving higher.
As the buying activity from key consumer markets slowed in the past several months and with buyers running down their stocks, there were growing expectations that the market would eventually rebound. Between July and September, US cashew imports contracted by 41% year-on-year (y-o-y) to 31,000 tons. EU cashew imports were down 11% y-o-y during the same period, at 32,000 tons.
Nonetheless, despite the latest uptick in prices, some market players remain cautious over future market developments.
Source: mintecglobal.com