The Mozambican government recently announced the determination of the reference price for cashew nuts for the next almond marketing campaign in 2023/24, setting it at 35 meticais per kilogram, equivalent to approximately 0.5 US dollars. This value represents a drop in relation to the price established in the previous campaign, which was 37 meticais per kilogram.
In the previous campaign, the price of 37 meticais had been established based on the consensus of producers, taking into account all costs associated with production, including services, inputs and labor, together with a profit margin of 15%, as per determined by Mozambican legislation.
Ilídio Dias, representative of cashew nut producers, acknowledged that although the new price is not ideal for the producer class, they agreed with it after analyzing the market dynamics. Dias noted: “Initially, there was no consensus, but the producers ended up agreeing to reduce the price from 37 to 35 meticais. Therefore, we cannot say that we are fully satisfied, since even the 37 meticais did not cover the real production costs”.
The director of the National Almond Institute, Ilídio Bande, on behalf of the government, explained that the price was established based on international market conditions. He assured that when the marketing campaign actually begins, the market will be able to provide a more accurate assessment of the effectiveness of the fixed price.
Currently, India and Vietnam are the main destinations for cashew nuts from Mozambique and exert considerable influence on market prices.
Cashew production is considered strategic for Mozambique's economy, as it represents a source of income for more than 1.4 million small producers and also boosts other services, such as spraying.
