The cassava market moves more than 330 million tons of roots a year, yet most of it never crosses a national border. Prices are set in two very different kinds of places: Thai export docks and village markets like Orie Ntigha.
I farm cassava in Abia State, Nigeria, and sell oven-dried starch and flour through Cassava Pathway, so I watch prices from the supply end.
Root buyers, garri traders, and online starch customers all reach me, along with strangers asking for container loads.
This hub sets out the global numbers first: production, consumption, trade, and the export prices that move them.
It then follows the money into each product market, from garri and flour to starch, chips, and feed.
The last sections cover Nigeria’s processing gap, local prices I see each week, and why published market sizes disagree so widely.
Table of Contents
Global Production and Consumption
Global cassava consumption reached 336 million tons in 2024, worth about $201.4 billion, according to IndexBox.
Production slipped about 1 percent that year to roughly 330 million tons, the same IndexBox overview reports.
Nigeria grew about 62 million tons, the Democratic Republic of Congo 45 million, and Thailand 32 million.
Those three countries alone supplied 42 percent of world output and consumed a similar share of it.
Every major grower and its yields are ranked in the list of top cassava-producing countries.
How roots move from farm to factory to shelf is traced in the cassava value chain.
Product Markets at a Glance
| Product | Main buyers | Where to read more |
|---|---|---|
| Garri and fufu | Households across West Africa and the diaspora | Garri production and prices |
| Flour and HQCF | Bakers, snack makers, gluten-free brands | High quality cassava flour |
| Native and modified starch | Food, paper, textile, and pharmaceutical factories | Tapioca starch export market |
| Dried chips and pellets | Chinese ethanol plants and feed mills | Cassava chips and pellets |
| Ethanol | Fuel blenders and beverage alcohol producers | How cassava biofuel works |
| Feed ingredients | Poultry, pig, and fish farmers | Cassava in animal feeds |
| Starch pulp | Feed makers and biogas operators | Cassava starch pulp market |
Each product sells to a different buyer, at a different price, under different quality rules.
Fresh roots fetch the least, while dried starch, flour, and chips earn more because they can wait for buyers.
Trade Flows and Export Prices
Thailand shipped about 61 percent of the roughly 3.5 million tons of cassava exported in 2024, IndexBox reports.
Vietnam followed with 22 percent, and Lao PDR with 7.3 percent of that trade.
The average export price reached $393 per ton in 2024, up 15 percent on the year before.
China took 99.9 percent of Thailand’s chip exports, Krungsri Research notes, so Chinese ethanol demand sets world chip prices.
A TQ Industry weekly summary relayed a Thai chip quote of $255 to $265 per ton FOB on 20 October 2026.
Month-by-month figures appear in cassava chip prices per ton, and shipping steps in exporting cassava from Africa.
Nigeria: Largest Grower, Small Processor
Nigeria harvested about 62.69 million tons in 2023, yet only around 5 percent entered industrial processing, BusinessDay reported.
The Central Bank estimated yearly imports of cassava derivatives at about $600 million, Channels TV reported in 2019.
Oversupply then hit prices hard, as garri fell 51 percent year on year by November 2025, BusinessDay found.
Why the country grows so much yet processes so little is examined in the post on the cassava industry by country.
Price collapses and ways to survive them are covered in cassava glut seasons.
Prices From a Village Market
In October 2026, a fertilizer bag of fresh roots sold for about ₦7,000 around Ntigha, falling near ₦5,000 when supply floods in.
Garri from the same roots sold for roughly ₦2,000 per paint bucket, or about ₦35,000 for a 50-kilogram bag.
Farmers sell at Orie Ntigha and Orie Amorji, where traders from Aba and Umuahia come to buy.
Farmers and processors who need help reaching buyers beyond the Orie market days can see what Cassava Pathway offers on our market access page.
My own oven-dried starch sells for ₦5,000 per kilogram, while ordinary local starch goes for about ₦3,000.
Buyers find me through the website, X, WhatsApp, and Facebook, rather than through a market stall.
I also see imported starch in our markets, though I have never bought it or checked its price.
People call me frequently hoping to buy dried chips for export, yet I never see local sellers of chips here.
Selling tactics are covered in strategies for selling cassava, and real setup costs in starting a cassava flour business.
Why Cassava Market Size Estimates Disagree
IndexBox values the whole crop at about $201 billion, because it prices every ton of roots consumed worldwide.
A Lagos Business School brief instead describes a global processing market of roughly $183 billion, with Nigeria capturing about 2 percent.
Reports on cassava starch alone give far smaller totals, since they leave out garri, fufu, fresh roots, and feed.
Before quoting any figure, check what it counts: raw roots, processed products, one product, or one region.
More Cassava Market Guides
- Starch buyers and uses: the post on industrial uses of cassava starch lists twelve industries that buy it.
- Income and jobs: the economic benefits of cassava post follows money through households and rural workers.
- Packaging for sale: better bags and labels raise shelf life, as set out in cassava packaging and market value.
- Planning a venture: a worked garri example appears in the cassava business plan example.
- Selling in America: demand from importers and shoppers is covered in cassava in the United States.
- Problems along the chain: losses, credit, and middlemen are examined in challenges facing the value chain.
Conclusion
The cassava market handled about 336 million tons in 2024, led by Nigeria, Congo, and Thailand as producers.
Trade stays small and Thai-led, with China buying almost all chips and setting world chip prices.
Nigeria grows the most yet processes only a small share, so local gluts still crash garri and root prices.
In Ntigha, roots fetch about ₦7,000 a bag, while oven-dried starch earns far more per kilogram than the raw roots behind it.
For oven-dried cassava starch or flour from Ntigha, message Cassava Pathway on WhatsApp.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which country produces the most cassava?
Nigeria leads with about 62 million tons in 2024, ahead of Congo and Thailand.
Together, those three countries supplied 42 percent of all the cassava grown worldwide.
Who buys most cassava exports?
China dominates, taking 99.9 percent of Thailand’s chip exports for ethanol and feed.
It also takes the largest share of Thai starch, ahead of Indonesia and Japan.
What does a bag of cassava roots cost in Nigeria?
Around Ntigha, a fertilizer bag of fresh roots sold for about ₦7,000 in October 2026.
Prices drop near ₦5,000 when many farmers harvest together and flood the local markets.
Why do published market values differ so much?
Some reports price every ton of roots consumed, while others count only processed products such as starch.
Always check exactly what a figure includes before quoting or using it.