Kerala - Kollam   

Cashew exporters seek aid

KOLLAM: More than three lakh cashew workers of the State face the threat of losing their jobs as the result of the global economic crisis, according to the Cashew Manufacturers and Exporters Association.

Association general secretary A. Abdul Salam said in a statement here on Tuesday that the global financial crisis had pushed the cashew industry here to the verge of closure. Cashew processors stopped purchasing raw cashew and the existing stocks would last only for a month. Without raw cashew there would be no job for cashew workers. Exporters in the sector had already been hit by the crisis and it started affecting the other areas also, Mr. Salam said.

The price fall due to the meltdown had brought a loss of over Rs.500 crore to the Kollam-based cashew industry so far. The industry suffered a loss of Rs.25 lakh on each container load of kernels exported. Added to that, huge consignments that had been exported to the United States and the European sector were being sent back without citing any reason. Contracts for exports were also being wantonly cancelled.

While the harvest of raw cashew had begun in many African countries, cashew industrialists from Kollam were not entering into any deal to purchase the raw nuts. The financial crisis resulted in the price of kernels falling from $3.60 a pound to $2 a pound. In such a price situation, purchasing and processing raw nuts would result in huge losses for the

industry.

The bulk of the cashew workers were women and the majority of them were employed in the private sector. Kollam and neighbouring districts together had more than 800 private cashew processing factories.

The situation warranted that steps taken by the government to help the cashew workers should not be limited to those in the public sector factories alone, the private sector should also be covered, Mr. Salam said.

He said that since the cashew industry had been bringing in foreign exchange worth over Rs.2,500 crore annually, it was the responsibility of the Central and State governments to come to the rescue of the industry in this hour of crisis. Cashew exports should be given a 10 per cent incentive under the Visesh Krishi and Gram Udyog Yojana on the lines given to 24 products in the Gram Udyog list, he said.

At present the factories were processing raw nuts purchased at $1,400 a tonne. The processed kernels from this consignment would bring in huge losses to the industry. The government should consider offsetting this loss through financial compensation, he said. It would also be immensely beneficial if the Centre would be prepared to bear the bank interest on the working capital advanced by banks to the industry, Mr. Salam suggested on behalf of the industry.

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