KOCHI: Among various ports through which cashew nuts were exported, Cochin Port and the International Container Transshipment Terminal (ICTT) at Vallarpadam topped the list, exporting 45,243 tonnes during the ten-month period between April 2012 - January 2013.

Tuticorin came to the second slot with exports of 23,192 tonnes of cashew, showed the figures provided by the Cashew Export Promotion Council of India (CEPCI). Tuticorin also became No.1 in importing raw cashew nuts during the period. Major sources of raw cashew imports to India were African countries such as Benin, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Guinea Bissau, Tanzania, Nigeria and Senegal. Among them, Ivory Coast was the top exporter to India, shipping roughly 2.5 lakh tonnes of raw cashew to various Indian ports.

On a year-on-year basis, export of cashew kernels through Kochi declined 23% during the period while Tuticorin's exports went down by 28%. However, import of raw cashew from some of the African countries had gone up during the ten month period ending January 31, 2013, while others suffered. Imports from Ivory Coast, Nigeria, Tanzania and Benin surged, but that of Guinea Bissau and Ghana came down.

CEPCI data also showed that the US was the largest importer of Indian cashew kernels, importing 25,818 tonnes during the period. Second one was the UAE with 10,526 tonnes of processed cashew. Other major consumers of Indian cashew were Vietnam, the UK, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Netherlands, Japan, France and Belgium.