Cashew nuts: Characteristics
Outturn, count and the caustic shell liquid
What this tab covers The supply and physical characteristics of the commodity. Supply: current production, inventories and stocks, capacity utilisation, geographic and producer concentration, how fast supply responds to price, the project pipeline and capital spending, and logistics and export flows. Material: the physical and chemical properties that set its grade, price and end uses (for example purity and conductivity for metals, API gravity, sulfur and energy content for fuels, moisture, protein and fibre quality for crops).Supply volume characteristics
| Characteristic | Figure | What it means | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Current production volume | 4.24 Mt of raw cashew nuts in shell (2024) | Africa grows about 3 Mt of RCN; Cote d'Ivoire is the largest grower (22.3%). India grew 0.79 Mt (FAOSTAT) or 8.0 lakh t (APEDA 2024-25). Kernel yield is about 27% of RCN weight. | FAOSTAT 2024; APEDA 2025 |
| Inventory and stock levels | Indian RCN stocks 7.2 lakh t and kernel stocks 1.8 lakh t projected for end 2025-26 | Processors carry stocks because each origin harvests once a year. Indian RCN stocks of 7.2 lakh t equal about 4 months of processing at about 20 lakh t a year (derived). No public reserve exists anywhere. | APEDA Market Intelligence Cell, Oct 2025 |
| Capacity utilisation | not published; Africa processes only 9.35 lakh t of about 30 lakh t grown | Karnataka's capacity is about 5 lakh t, about 25% of India's, implying about 20 lakh t nationally. India's supply of 8.0 lakh t grown plus 12.47 lakh t imported (CY2024) is close to that, but many Kerala units are reported idle while Karnataka expands. Vietnam's mechanised plants imported 2.6 Mt of RCN in Jan-Oct 2025. | APEDA, Oct 2025; ETV Bharat, Nov 2025 (derived) |
| Geographic and producer concentration | Cote d'Ivoire 22.3%, top-3 (Cote d'Ivoire, India, Tanzania) 53.5%, HHI 1,182 (2024) | Processing is more concentrated: Vietnam supplies about 64% of world kernel exports and India about 5%. The US takes 27.7% of kernel imports. | FAOSTAT 2024; APEDA 2025; UN Comtrade 2024 |
| Supply elasticity | low: trees take about 3-5 years to bear and longer to reach full yield | Short-run supply is fixed by the crop on the trees. Nearly 40% of India's cashew area is older than 25 years, so yields are falling without replanting. African governments' export taxes and bans on RCN can shift supply between processors quickly. | APEDA; agronomy literature (indicative) |
| Project pipeline and CapEx | African processing push; Karnataka expansion | Cote d'Ivoire and other African states are adding processing to keep value at home; African countries already self-process about 42% of output by one estimate. Karnataka's processors expect to lead India by 2030. | ETV Bharat, Nov 2025; APEDA 2025 |
| Logistics and export flows | RCN ships Africa to Asia; kernels ship Asia to the US and EU; kernel exports $1.66 bn by HS 080132 (2024) | RCN moves in jute bags in containers from Abidjan, Dar es Salaam, Lome and Bissau to Tuticorin, Kollam/Kochi and New Mangalore (3.45 lakh t in Apr-Oct 2025) and to Ho Chi Minh City. Kernels travel vacuum-packed in containers. Bottlenecks: African export rules, container shortages and quality claims on outturn. | APEDA; ETV Bharat, Nov 2025; UN Comtrade 2024 |
Material characteristics Agricultural / soft commodity
Raw cashew nuts are bought on outturn, the pounds of kernel per 80 kg bag, and on nut count and moisture. Kernels are graded by size (count per pound), colour and wholeness. The shell holds caustic cashew nut shell liquid, which must be removed carefully. Kernels are about 45% fat, so moisture and packing protect against rancidity.
| Property | Value / specification | Why it matters | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Outturn (KOR) | typically about 44-54 lb of kernel per 80 kg bag; 48 lb is about 27% kernel by weight | Main price driver for RCN; each pound changes value by about 2% | trade practice; APEDA (indicative) |
| Nut count | about 160-220 nuts per kg | Fewer, larger nuts give more large whole kernels | trade practice (indicative) |
| RCN moisture | about 8-10% max at shipment | Wet nuts mould and lose outturn during voyages | trade contracts (indicative) |
| Kernel grade | W180, W210, W240, W320, W450 (kernels per lb), plus butts, splits and pieces | W180 and W240 earn large premiums over W320 and broken grades | AFI specifications for cashew kernels |
| Kernel moisture | at most 5% | Higher moisture brings mould and rancidity | AFI specifications |
| Composition | fat about 44-46%, protein about 18-21% | Nutritional value and oxidation risk | food composition literature (indicative) |
| CNSL in shell | shell liquid about 25-30% of shell weight | A by-product sold for resins and friction materials | industry literature (indicative) |