Product Profile - Cassava Flour (For Local & Export Market)

Description

Cassava is the third most important source of calories in the tropics, after rice and maize. Millions of people depend on cassava in Africa, Asia and Latin America. Almost 60 percent of world production is concentrated in five countries Nigeria, Brazil, Thailand, Indonesia and the Congo Democratic Republic. The bulk of world trade in cassava is in the form of pellets and chips for feed (70 percent) and the remaining 30% are mostly used in starch and flour for food processing and industrial use. Very little is traded in the form of fresh root, given the product’s bulkiness and perishable nature.

High quality cassava flour (HQCF) is unfermented cassava flour prepared from fresh cassava roots through a process of peeling, chipping or grating followed by dewatering, drying and milling. HQCF may also be made from any of the intermediate products such as chips and/or grits. It is made by cooking, drying and grinding cassava root to a fine powder. It differs from Tapioca flour in that Tapioca flour is made from the starch of the cassava plant where the cassava flour is the ground root

Specifications

The details of the different specifications of high quality cassava produced for the export market have been highlighted below. High quality cassava flour must be:

a) Practically free from extraneous matter;

b) Free of off flavours and odours;

c) Practically free from any living insects and foreign matter;

d) Safe and suitable for human consumption;

Physical properties

High quality cassava flour shall have the following physical properties:

a) Not less than 95 % by mass of high quality cassava flour shall pass through a sieve of 250μm mesh screen; and

b) Extraneous matter shall not be more than 10 specks/100cm2.

Chemical properties

High quality cassava flour shall:

a) give a blue-black colouration when tested with iodine; and

b) have a pasting temperature less than 75 0C.

Compositional quality requirements

S/N	PARAMETERS	MEASUREMENT	METHOD OF TEST
1	Total Acidity	0.25% maximum	AOAC
2	PH	5.5 – 7.0	AOAC
3	Acid Insoluble Ash	0.35% maximum	EAS 82
4	Cyanide	10mg/kg maximum	EAS 744
5	Starch	60% maximum	ISO 10520
6	Moisture	12% maximum	ISO 1666
7	Crude Fibre	0.2% maximum	ISO 5498

Uses- Some uses High Quality Cassava Flour {HQCF} include the following

1.      It is used in place of Wheat Flour in baking

2.      It is also used in the production confectionery products

3.      Non-Allergenic (Gluten-Free, Grain-Free and Nut-Free)

4.      Low In calories, fat and sugar

5.      Inexpensive, sustainable and easy to grow

6.      Can be fried or eaten as regular swallow

7.      It is used in the paper board and plywood industries.

Market size

The demand for High Quality Cassava Flour {HQCF} in Nigeria is high. The driving force behind the demand is the federal government policy on cassava flour inclusion in wheat flour for cassava wheat composite flour production especially for bread and confectionary baking. The annual national demand for High Quality Cassava Flour {HQCF} is estimated at 750,000 tonnes while the national supply estimate is about 50,000 tonnes. The High Quality Cassava Flour {HQCF} industry in Nigeria is dominated by small scale with production capacity of less than 0.1 tons per day. The production plants are usually found all parts of Nigeria where the chief raw material, Cassava tubers, can be found.

In the international market the demand for flour is humongous, According to a new market report published by Transparency Market Research "Flour Market - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast, 2014 - 2020," market was valued at USD 182.66 billion in 2013, which is expected to reach USD 245.82 billion by 2020, growing at an average rate of 4.3% from 2014 to 2020. By volume, global flour market is expected to grow at an average rate of 3.8% during the forecast period from 2014 to 2020 to reach a market size of 183,100.0 Kilo Ton by 2020. In 2013, volume of the market was 141,001.3 Kilo Ton.

The market has been segmented as follows:

Flour market, by raw material: Maize (Including corn flour), Rice, Wheat (Including durum flour), Others (Including cassava flour, oat flour, rye flour, etc.)

Flour market, by Application: Noodles and pasta, Bread and bakery products, Wafers, crackers and biscuits, Animal feed (Including pet food), Non food application (Including bioplastics, biomaterials, glue, etc.), Others (Including roux, baby food, etc.)

Profitability Analysis

The average range of the Free on Board (FOB) price ( FOB price is value of the goods plus profit) of different types of flour hovers between $250 and $350 per MT. In the cost and profit table below, the unit price used was $250/MT, the exchange rate was N350 to $1. The quantity in a shipment on a 20 x 1 container is estimated to be 20MT ( 20,000kg).

CASSAVA FLOUR
	Qty	Unit price	Rate
Export Proceeds	20.00	250.00	350.00	1,750,000.00
Items	Qty	Unit price	Total
Products	20.00	50,000.00	1,000,000.00
Transport cost	20.00	5,000.00	100,000.00
Freight Forwarding	20.00	2,000.00	40,000.00
NXP Form	1.00	5,000.00	5,000.00
NESS Fee 0.5% FOB	0.005	1,750,000.00	8,750.00
Port Logistics	1.00	20,000.00	20,000.00
Shipping Line Local Charges	1.00	35,000.00	35,000.00
Terminal Handling Charge	1.00	42,000.00	42,000.00
Total Cost				1,250,750.00
Gross Profit				499,250.00
Bank Charges				17,500.00
Profit				481,750.00
ROI				39%