Cashew: Exporters Want FG to Provide Storage Facilities at Seaports

• Cashew: Exporters Want FG to Provide Storage Facilities at Seaports

Exporters of Cashew nuts has appealed to the Federal Government to provide storage facilities at the nation’s seaports in order to enhance preservation of commodities before export.

Mr Mathew Obot, a cashew nuts exporter, made the appeal in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Friday in Lagos.

He said lack of storage facilities at the country’s ports is hurting export produce and has discouraged many exporters from continuing with the business.

Obot, while considering the feasibility of fresh tomatoes export as being championed by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), said that absence of storage facilities was the bane of the trade.

“Because of the paucity of the facilities, I do keep my produce far away from the port for preservation before transporting it to the port when the vessel is ready to sail.”

“This process is double expenses; instead of taking it direct to the port from the places I bought it, I have to take it to another location for preservation.”

“Many of my colleagues who cannot bear the cost of logistics involved in the business are no longer trading in it. Even we who are in it are just trying to exist,’’ he lamented.

He added that for the nation to get it right in terms of trade balance, such facilities need to be in place.