(Ecofin Agency) - The Indian company Shiloh Minerals has announced its intention to install a distillery to produce alcohol made from cashew. The information was made public by Dinesh Bathia, Indian ambassador in Côte d’Ivoire. This project is in line with a series of investments which will concern different sectors such as mines and the pharmaceutical industry.

The initiative falls easily into the strategic move of Shiloh Minerals which wishes to position itself in an expanding market, that of processing by-products of cashews. In effect, if the fruit is sought for its nut, one can equally extract alcohol from the cashew apple and oil from the husk.

Regarding supply, the company should not have any problems with availability of the raw material as Côte d’Ivoire is the leading producer of cashew on the continent and number two in the world behind India. It remains to be seen if Shiloh Minerals will be willing to align itself with export prices with have exploded recently, putting African processors in difficulty.

West Africa will register a new production record at the end of this season where the harvest will attain 1,450,000 tons, according to Rongead.