India's Oil Import From Iran Rises By A Fifth In February

India's oil imports from Iran rose by over a fifth in February, the first month after a nuclear deal that lifted restrictions on Tehran's oil exports, preliminary tanker data obtained by Reuters shows.

Iran emerged from years of economic isolation in January when world powers led by the United States and the European Union lifted crippling sanctions against the OPEC oil producer in return for curbs on Tehran's nuclear ambitions.

Iran is working to regain market share after sanctions relief and exports had already risen by 500,000 bpd in February, Mohsen Ghamsari, director of international affairs at National Iranian Oil Co, told Reuters on Tuesday.

New Delhi shipped in 215,500 bpd from Tehran in February, a rise of about 21 per cent from last month and more than double the about 111,000 bpd in the same month a year ago, the data showed.

India had to cut imports from Iran in February 2015 under pressure from western sanctions.

The sanctions had cut Iranian crude exports from a peak of 2.5 million barrels per day (bpd) before 2011 to just over 1 million bpd in recent years.

In February Essar Oil was the biggest buyer of Iranian oil, shipping in 110,200 bpd, followed by about 69,500 bpd by Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd.

MRPL shipped in just one cargo of Iranian oil in February.

Indian Oil Corp, which rarely buys Iranian oil, received a cargo of oil equivalent to about 35,800 bpd.

A true reflection of the step-up in Indian purchases of Iranian oil will emerge from April, the new contract year, as in the last leg of a fiscal year most companies cut purchases to maintain low inventory ahead of annual results.

Reliance Industries Ltd, which halted supplies from Iran in 2010, is preparing to lift a million barrels each of condensate and oil next month.

Source:- english.manoramaonline.com

Apple Wants To Sell Pre-Owned Iphones In India

Tech giant Apple has sought permission from the government to import pre-owned iPhones for sale in India, Parliament was informed today.

"An application from Apple regarding import of certified pre-owned iPhones for sale in India and manufacturing certified pre-owned iPhones for sale in India has been received in the Ministry of Environment and Forests," Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said in a written reply to Rajya Sabha.

Mr Prasad was replying to a question on whether any company has sought permission for refurbishing and selling used mobile phones in the country.

The minister further said the government has not taken any decision on the matter.

Apple is putting more energy in India to cash-in on the booming smartphone market in the country.

The California-based company, which saw total iPhone sales grow by 76 per cent in the country, had earlier said it will continue to invest in markets like India in the long-term.

Recently, Apple has also sent an application for approval to the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) for setting up retail outlets in India.

India is one of the fastest growing handset markets globally and is poised to overtake the US soon.

Source:- ndtv.com

Make In India: Automakers Ramp Up Production As Export Opportunities Knock At The Door

Three global automobile powerhouses either have started operating their India factories round the clock or are in the process of doing so to meet increasing export demand, in a resounding endorsement of the Prime Minister's call to make in India.

For the past six months, Ford Motor's manufacturing facility in Tamil Nadu is having three shifts a day, which is uncommon in the US carmaker's global operations. Europe's largest car maker, Volkswagen, is set to start a third shift starting next week, while the US No. 1, General Motors, is expected to add another shift from the beginning of 2017.

Interestingly, these companies aren't doing so well in the Indian market, and the incremental output is to cater to markets in Latin America, Europe and Africa.

Auto makers have committed to invest billions of dollars in India, enticed by the local market opportunity as well as its frugal manufacturing capabilities and abundant skilled manpower, which offer a cost-effective location to make small cars and sell them at competitive prices internationally.

In fact, even before Narendra Modi made the call to make in India a year and half ago, making in India for the world had already become part of global car makers' strategy and boardroom discussions. Hyundai Motor and Maruti Suzuki have long been shipping India-made cars to foreign markets, even as they ruled the domestic market as well. Companies such as Nissan and Renault, too, target foreign markets with compact vehicles produced in India. But now, with the government's new push to promote manufacturing in India, companies are expanding production and exporting more, even though the domestic market remains stuck in the slow lane.

"We are committed to position India as a global centre of excellence for manufacturing small cars and low-displacement engines," said a spokesperson for Ford India, which is churning out EcoSport compact SUV for the global markets at its plant near Chennai. "Our unflinching commitment to India is reflected in the aggressive implementation of our growth plans, including more than $2 billion we have invested here so far," he said.

Volkswagen and GM are witnessing strong demand for their India-made cars in Mexico - for the Vento and Beat, respectively. The Vento is already the segment leader in the Latin American country, where it sells double the number compared with India.

With demands of Indian customers also aligning to global markets, it is becoming easier for car makers to serve global markets of Europe and other developed markets out of India

While these car makers have a market share of less than 3-4% in India, experts say high export volume is helping them make local operations viable.

Several vendors supplying to these car makers said while the domestic market is expected to grow by single digit, the likes of Ford India, General Motors India and Volkswagen India are targeting 20-60% jump in 2016 production, clearly indicating their export plans.

The Ford India spokesperson said, with the recently inaugurated manufacturing facility at Sanand in Gujarat and the Chennai factory, the company is well on course to triple its exports from India and sell made-in-India products in nearly 50 markets over next five years.

Volkswagen India managing director Andreas Lauermann said going past the capacity of the two-shift system due to higher demand is an important milestone for the company.

"Volkswagen Pune plant will start off with the third shift soon and will ramp-up the production over the year. This step is necessary due to the rising demand from exports as well as domestic market, especially through the new Ameo. Exports have helped VW to create a natural hedging against the weak Indian rupee and fluctuating domestic demand," Lauermann said.

Volkswagen sees the share of exports to contribute equally with the domestic sales to its total production in the coming few years.

GM, as part of global manufacturing realignment, has given responsibility to India to focus on growth markets. "India will focus mostly on growth markets, as part of GM's global growth strategy and Korea will focus mostly on mature markets," said the company spokeswoman.

With demands of Indian customers also aligning to global markets, it is becoming easier for car makers to serve global markets of Europe and other developed markets out of India.

The quality of cars produced out of India has also improved to such a level that Maruti Suzuki will be exporting India-made Baleno hatchback to Japan and Ford will be shipping the EcoSport to North America starting 2017.

Source:- auto.economictimes.indiatimes.com

Indian Mills Clinch Sugar Exports Deals, First In 2 Months

Indian sugar mills signed export deals this week, the first in nearly two months, as an incentive by the top producing state Maharashtra and a rally in global prices of the sweetener made overseas sales attractive, industry sources told Reuters.

A pick up in exports by the world's second-biggest producer could put a lid on world sugar prices, which climbed to more than one-month highs on Thursday amid worries about lower shipments from top supplier Brazil.

Indian sugar export deals, absent earlier this year due to uncompetitive local prices, are trickling in now following a decision by Maharashtra to "exempt cane purchase tax for mills exporting their quota", said Sanjeev Babar, managing director of Maharashtra State Co-operative Sugar Factories Federation.

Just last week, the western Indian state said it would waive a 3 percent tax on cane purchases for mills that export 12 percent of their output in the year ending Sept. 31.

"This decision, along with the rally in global prices, is encouraging mills to export sugar," Babar added.

According to three dealers, mills have signed contracts this week to export 7,000 tonnes white sugar to Myanmar at around $411 per tonne, free on board (FOB).

"Mills have started approaching us. Earlier we were approaching them, but they were not interested in exports," said a Mumbai-based dealer with a global trading firm.

Offers of Indian sugar need to be at a discount of about $10 a tonne to ICE London front-month futures to be attractive in export markets, dealers said.

But in January, Indian mills were quoting a $30 premium as a threat to domestic output from the first back-to-back drought in three decades kept local prices high. The spread has now turned in favour of the country's exporters as world prices have spiked more than $50 in two weeks.

Indian mills have so far contracted to export 1.15 million tonnes of sugar since the start of season on Oct. 1, of which nearly 1 million tonnes have been dispatched. They have shipped mostly white sugar to Asian countries like China, Myanmar, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, dealers said.

Indian mills, which have concentrated on exporting whites due to strong demand from Myanmar, are unlikely to produce much raw sugar now as the crushing season is coming to an end.

Already a scarcity of cane has forced more than 100 sugar mills to shut operations ahead of normal schedule.

India's total sugar exports in the current season will be at least 2 million tonnes, said a government official, who did not want to be named as he was not authorised to speak to media.

"We will try to meet our target of 3.2 million tonnes."

Source:- reuters.com

Rupee Trades Higher At 67.32 Against Us Dollar

The Indian rupee on Friday strengthened for the sixth consecutive session against the US dollar, after local equity markets continued to gain. The currency has appreciated in eight out of nine sessions.

At 2pm, the home currency was trading at 67.32, up 0.03% from its previous close of 67.34. The rupee opened at 67.23 and touched a high of 67.22, a level last seen on 14 January.

India’s benchmark Sensex index lost 0.20% or 48.81 points to 24,558.18. Sensex gained over 1,600 points from the last four trading sessions.

Indian markets will remain closed on Monday on account of Mahashivratri.

Traders are cautious ahead of the release of US non-farm payrolls data to be released later in the day

The report on US non-farm payrolls will give investors further insight into the health of the world’s biggest economy and the likelihood of further interest rate hikes by the US Federal Reserve, while China will announce its 2016 growth forecast when the National People’s Congress gets under way on Saturday, Bloomberg reported.

Meanwhile, India’s 10-year bond yield was at 7.652%, as compared with its Thursday’s close of 7.662%.

Since the beginning of this year, the rupee has lost 1.74%, while foreign institutional investors have sold $2.18 billion from local equity and $1.10 million in debt markets.

Most of the Asian currencies were trading higher. Taiwan dollar was up 0.316%, Indonesian rupiah 0.532%, South Korean won 0.952%, Philippines peso 0.224% and China renminbi 0.209%. However, Japanese Yen and Thai baht were down 0.114% and 0.40%, respectively.

The dollar index, which measures the US currency’s strength against major currencies, was trading at 97.723, up 0.13% from its previous close of 97.592.

Source:- livemint.com