According to the Mozambican Association of Cashew Industry (AICAJU), less than 35,000 tonnes of cashew will be processed and Mozambique this year, 33% less than what was processed in the country last year.
Last year, 2019, about 52,000 tonnes of cashew was processed in Mozambique.
AICAJU disclosed in a press release statement yesterday Monday, that Mozambique cashew processing declines annually. It reported that about 60,000 tonnes of cashew were processed in 2018.
The association also disclosed that the country now had less than 10 functioning processing plants and the number is expected to decline further by August this year as a result of lack of raw materials.
According to the Mozambican processing plants, they are aggressive competitors in the growing in the international markets such as India and Vietnam.
Last year, India’s export on the processed cashew kernels increased from 45% to 70%.
The AICAJU says that although India does not buy the finished product from Mozambique, they continue to buy the raw, unprocessing nuts from Mozambique.
The AICAJU says that this has had a negative impact on the Mozambique cashew industry.
