Tuesday, 3 February 2015
Goods not saleable due to restrictions imposed by Defence Ministry weren't marketable commodities
Provision for losses on forex option contract doesn't constitute an ascertained liability; not deduc
Non-consideration of issue not pressed before ITAT couldn't be considered as its apparent mistake
Director, being in charge of Co., was liable for offence committed by Co. even if he didn't receive
India's Wheat Exports To Fall In 2015 As Rise In Supplies From Australia, Europe Trims Prices
India's wheat exports are poised to fall this year as an increase in supplies from Australia, Russia and Europe has pulled down global prices and made shipments from India non-viable. This could put pressure on the government as it would be forced to procure more of the grain at the state-set price as India is expected to have another bumper harvest.
Trading companies from US-based Cargill to local major ITC aren't signing contracts for the new crop to be harvested in April-May as prices at $275 a tonne were too high, said industry executives.
In comparison, French wheat is available at $210. Indian wheat is usually in demand in the Gulf and African countries for milling and in southeast Asian countries for animal feed. "French milling wheat is now the flavour of the season," said Tejinder Narang, a grain analyst in New Delhi.
"The price of French wheat climbed down from $245 to $210 free-on-board (fob) with the depreciation of the euro."
According to him, French 'feed' wheat is available still cheaper, at $200 a tonne.February-March is usually the time when trading companies like ITC, Cargill, Olam, Louis Dreyfus, Glencore, Emmsons, Noble, Midstar, Concordia and Bagadiya Brothers start signing forwardcontracts for delivery in April. This has not been the case as of now.
The weakening euro and a stronger rupee have both enlarged the spread of disparity. Even the US soft red winter wheat is quoted cheaper than Indian variety, at around $232 fob.
"This year, commitment for a new crop for shipments from March till May has been nil. Compared to it, in the previous year it was 2.5-3 lakh tonne," said Rajnikant Rai, COO of ITC's agribusiness.
How the market forces unfold globally and domestically during April-June would decide future possibilities of shipments, companies and traders said. This will also be the time when the new crop from Russia and Ukraine will start arriving.
Narang said with no takers for Indian grain in the export market, the pressure on government procurement at the minimum support price is sure to build up.
"The government will end up buying again 30-32 million tonne of wheat in April-May 2015 unless there is some dramatic reversal in the market or the rupee depreciates to 65-66 to a dollar, a possibility that appears to be remote.
Souce:- economictimes.indiatimes.com
Gold Imports Dip To 14-Month Low In Gujarat
Over stocking by bullion traders in last few months of 2014, scrapping of 80:20 rule by central government and increase in international prices resulted in decline in gold imports in month of January in Gujarat. The imports were at 14-month low last month with little over 1.5 metric tonnes (MT), lowest since November 2013 when 0.2MT gold was imported.
According to latest figures, 1.58 MT of gold was imported in January 2015 compared to 4.57 MT in the same period in 2014. After record import in November last year (39.9 MT), the month of December saw a drastic fall, with only 2.6MT of the gold being imported.
The imports of yellow metal recorded substantial increase in later half of 2014 following Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) decision to provide conditional relief in gold import restrictions by allowing premier trading houses to import gold in September last year. However the imports fell to single digit owing to high international prices and availability of gold in local market.
"One of the major reasons for high imports last year was the fear among the bullion traders that central government may toughen the restrictions on imports," said Monal Thakkar, president, Amrapali Industries. "Traders imported in large numbers to cater to the demand during Diwali and marriage season which led to over stocking," added Thakkar.
The scrapping of 80:20 rule which mandated traders to export one-fifth of the gold consignment imported also led to decline in imports. In case of silver, only 5.27MT were imported in January 2015 compared to 41.57MT in same period last year.
Source:- timesofindia.indiatimes.com
Now, Apply Online For Importer, Exporter Code
Exporters and importers will now be able to apply online for their new Importer Exporter Codes (IEC) instead of physically submitting papers and making payments at various offices.
IEC is a unique 10-digit code given to exporters and importers by the DGFT without which they are not allowed to carry out international trade unless given special exemption.
The Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) has started the process of online filing and processing of applications and issuing of codes in a digital format, an official release said.
The required documents for getting the IEC can be uploaded by the applicants online and the required fee can be paid through net banking.
Processing of such applications by regional authority of DGFT would also be done online and the digitally signed e-IEC would be issued/e-mailed to the applicants within two working days, the release added. In case the application is incomplete or otherwise ineligible, the same shall be rejected and an auto generated rejection letter/e-mail (with reasons for rejection) would be sent to the applicant within two working days.
The DGFT is also working on enabling payment of fee through debit/credit cards, which would further facilitate this process. Once implemented the Online system would be made mandatory.
Till that happens, the existing offline/manual system has also been allowed side by side, in order to facilitate those applicants who do not have net banking facility, the release added.
Efforts are also on for message exchange/integration of the DGFT’s system with Income Tax department and Ministry of Corporate Affairs for verification of PAN and other details. Once implemented, this would further reduce the processing time of e-IEC applications to possibly one day, the release said.
Source:-thehindubusinessline.com
Rupee Gains 13 Paise To End At Nearly 1-Week High Against U.S. Dollar
Bucking the weak trend in stocks, Indian rupee on Tuesday strengthened 13 paise to end at nearly one-week high of 61.67 against the greenback on persistent selling of dollars by banks and exporters on a day the RBI kept interest rates unchanged.
The rupee opened higher at 61.65 per dollar as against the yesterday’s closing level of 61.80 at the Interbank Foreign Exchange (Forex) market. It moved up further to 61.61 per dollar on initial selling of dollars by banks.
However, it fell to 61.84 per dollar in the afternoon on fresh demand from some banks before closing at 61.67 per dollar, showing a gain of 13 paise or 0.21 per cent from its last close.
The rupee has now gained by 19 paise, or 0.31 per cent, in two days and has closed at its strongest level since 61.41 on January 28, 2015.
The local currency moved in a range of 61.61 per dollar and 61.84 per dollar during the day.
“Foreign inflows and hopes of rates cuts in the future continued to support the local currency. Foreign investors were net buyers of $120.68 million in Indian markets yesterday and purchased a total $6.818 billion in 2015,” said Admisi Forex India, Director, Suresh Nair.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) earlier today left repo rate unchanged at 7.75 per cent, but cut SLR by 50 bps to 21.50 per cent from 22 per cent.
In international Forex markets, the widely-tracked dollar index was down by 0.05 per cent against a basket of major global rivals.
In the Tokyo market, the dollar was lower against the yen on Monday, with investors seeking to take profits on overnight gains in the greenback.
In the New York market, the Canadian dollar, Norwegian krone and Russian ruble rose against the U.S. dollar yesterday as oil prices fluctuated.
Meanwhile, the Indian equity benchmark Sensex dropped by 122.13 points, or 0.42 per cent, to close at nearly two-week low of 29,000.14.
“Some banks were selling dollars in the market which helped the rupee trade strong against the U.S. dollar. The trading range for the spot USD/INR pair is expected to be within 61.20 to 62.20,” said Veracity Group, CEO, Pramit Brahmbhatt.
Meanwhile, the forward premia recovered sharply on fresh paying pressure from corporates.
The benchmark six-month premium payable in July ended higher at 222.5-224.5 paise from 218-220 paise yesterday and forward contracts maturing in January 2016 also rose to 428- 430 paise from 417-419 paise.
The Reserve Bank of India fixed the reference rate for dollar at 61.7389 and for Euro at 69.9378.
The rupee eased against the pound to 92.89 per pound from 92.82 per pound previously while moved up against the euro to 69.99 per euro from 70.02.
Source:- thehindu.com