Rupee Gains 17 Paise To 67.04 Against Dollar

Mumbai, March 10:  

The rupee gained 17 paise against the US dollar in late afternoon trade today at the Inter-bank Foreign Exchange market on increased selling of the US currency by exporters and banks.

At about 4.40 pm, the rupee was quoting at 67.04.

It traded between 67.27 and 66.98 during intra-day deals after opening at 67.21.

Sustained foreign capital inflows gave the rupee some muscle, dealers said.

A subdued trend in domestic equities and dollar’s strength against other currencies overseas, however, restricted the gains.

The rupee closed at 67.21 in yesterday’s trade on fag-end selling of the dollar.

 

Source :.thehindubusinessline.com

Steel Imports At Rs 36,073 Crore In April-January Fy16: Government

NEW DELHI: India, the world's third largest steel producer, imported steel worth Rs 36,073 crore in the first 10 months of this fiscal against almost Rs 44,893 crore in 2014-15, Parliament was informed today.

India witnessed about 75 per cent year-on-year rise in imports of total steel (alloy + non-alloy) in 2014-15 and about 24 per cent increase during April-January period of 2015-16, Steel and Mines Minister Narendra Singh Tomar told Rajya Sabha in a written reply.

"The jump in imports is, however, largely on account of global steel glut. Due to this reason, steel is being exported by China and other countries, often at below cost of production," he added.

The data provided by Tomar showed that India imported 9.3 million tonnes (MT) of total finished steel worth Rs 36,073 crore during April-January this fiscal against 9.32 MT worth Rs 44,893 crore in 2014-15.

In 2013-14 fiscal, the country imported 5.45 MT of total finished steel worth Rs 30,416 crore against 7.93 MT worth Rs 39,290 crore in 2012-13, it showed.

To protect domestic steel sector, government has taken various measures, which have reduced the pace of growth of imports, the minister said.

"While imports grew by about 75 per cent in the Financial Year 2014-15, compared to the financial year 2013-14, the import growth has slowed to about 24 per cent in the period April 2015 to January 2016, compared to the same period in the last financial year," he added.

Tomar said various steps have been taken to check import of cheap steel such as imposition of minimum import price, last month, on 173 steel products.

Besides in September 2015, the government has imposed a provisional Safeguard Duty of 20 per cent on hot-rolled flat products of non-alloy and other alloy steel, in coils of a width of 600 mm or more, for a period of 200 days, he added.

In June, 2015, an Anti-Dumping Duty was levied for five years on import of certain variety of hot-rolled flat products of stainless steel from China ($309 per tonne), Korea ($180 per tonne) and Malaysia ($316 per tonne).

 

Source :economictimes.indiatimes.com

Oil Prices Dip After Rally But Supply Worries Persist

Oil prices held most of the previous day's strong gains on Thursday, but while a dive in US gasoline stockpiles fuelled hopes for a pick-up in demand, traders remain on edge over the long-running supply glut.

Both main contracts soared on Wednesday, with US benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) hitting a more than three-month high and Brent breaking $41 after the US energy department report.

The figures showed gasoline inventories plunged three times faster than expected while the country's commercial crude stockpiles rose almost two-thirds less than forecast. WTI put on 4.9% and Brent 3.6% soon after the data.

On Thursday, WTI eased five cents to $38.24 and Brent dipped 14 cents to $40.93.

Analysts said it remains to be seen whether the price rise would be sustained, especially after China this week reported a plunge in exports in February, stirring renewed fears of a "hard landing" for the world's second biggest economy.

"I'm still not leaning towards prices moving up sustainably because the fundamentals have not changed," said Phillip Futures analyst Daniel Ang.

He pointed to US crude production, which he said rose marginally last week after weeks of decline, describing it as "rather bearish" for prices.

EY oil and gas analyst Sanjeev Gupta said the market it looking forward to a March 20 meeting of major crude producers to discuss an output freeze proposed by key players Russia and Saudi Arabia aimed at stabilising prices.

The meeting "will provide vital clues about price development in the near term", Gupta said, but other analysts have cautioned against too much expectations that an agreement will be reached.

 

Source :.business-standard.com

Centre Considers Bi-Lateral Agreements With New Nations To Boost Exports

 As free trade agreements (FTAs) with major countries in Europe and US getting delayed, the ministry of textiles is looking at countries like Australia, CIS, including Russia and Africa, to boost exports through bi-lateral agreements. This comes on the back drop of the ministry's target of doubling textile exports in the next 10 years from the current level.

The textiles ministry has set a target to double textiles exports from the current level in the next 10 years. However, the challenge remains lack of FTAs, credit availability, old labour laws, which currently puts India at competitive disadvantage, Textiles Secretary Rashmi Verma told Business Standard on the sidelines of India International Handwoven Fair ( IIHF), which was inaugurated at Chennai on Wednesday.

Textile export target for 2015-16 was $47.5 billion. Till December, export clocked was around $32 billion.

“We might be little short of target, but by and large we will achieve it,” said Verma.

Last year, textile export was around $42 billion, large of part of it cotton and yarn, said Alok Kumar, union development commissioner (Handlooms) adding that current global environment is challenging.

Verma added since India doesn’t have FTAs with US and EU, our sector is at big disadvantage compared to Bangladesh and Vietnam. They are exporting at zero duty, while Indian exports subject for 10-14%.

The Ministry is now looking at countries like Australia, CIS including Russia and Africa to boost exports, by having bi-lateral agreements, said Verma, adding that garment sector can double exports in a year's time if FTAs are in place.

The Textile Ministry also requested the Finance Ministry to give some kind of tax incentives to the weavers to make this sector attractive. The suggestion includes offering tax holidays and interest subvention among others.

Verma also wanted relaxation in Labour Laws including allowing women to work at night and want modification in Contract Laws, said Verma, adding that the Ministry will introduce new Textile Policy in the next two months.

"The new modified and simplified textile policy is ready, we are in the process of sending it to Cabinet. We should be able to bring it out in two months time,", she said.

The policy will focus on productivity of textile sector, generating more employment, bringing down the cost of production, penetrating into newer markets, and increase value added products contribution from the current 25%.

Commenting on WTO guidelines and its impact, Verma said most of the incentives or subsidies given by the Ministry are production related. Those related to processing and skilling would be continued, she said. A meeting of all stakeholders would be held next month to take stock of current situation. It would also review which are the subsidies and concessions that could be continued or phased out.

On the revised Textile Upgradation Fund Scheme (TUFSW), Verma said revised guidelines have been finalised. It is being placed before the Cabinet.
 
Value-added products

Thrust will be value addition, which is currently around 25%, said Verma. Traditionally the focus has been exporting raw material, but the fabric and the garmenting was not happening much since our products were not competitive in the international market due to duty structure.

"We are trying to balance the value chain and trying to focus on fabric and garmenting so that value addition can take place within the country. Raw material share will come down, when the overall exports grow and that is what we want.”

On cotton, Verma said, this year we did not had any problem, since market rate was higher than MSP. But, yes with the shortage of cotton export has to be seen whether we need to encouraging, that is why the ministry want to focus on value addition.

 

Source:business-standard.com

Cotton Imports From India Rise 36Pc

Cotton imports from India increased 36 percent year-on-year to 2.99 million bales in 2015, according to data from Bangladesh Textile Mills Association.

India became the largest cotton supplier to Bangladesh's spinners and weavers thanks to the rise in imports, the industry insiders said. One bale weighs 480 pounds or 218 kilograms.

In 2015, Bangladesh imported 6.1 million bales of cotton, 49 percent of which came from India.

In 2014, cotton import from India grew by 27 percent year-on-year to 2.2 million bales, which was 37 percent of that year's total cotton import of 5.91 million bales.

Cotton imports from India started climbing in 2011. Bangladesh imported total 4.37 million bales of cotton that year, of which 1.66 million bales came from India, registering a 48 percent year-on-year growth.

Due to higher quality, lower prices and shorter lead-time, India has become the largest cotton sourcing country for Bangladesh, Tapan Chowdhury, president of BTMA, said at a press meet at the association's office in Dhaka yesterday.

Chowdhury announced the first-ever Bangladesh India Cotton Fest 2016 to be held at Radisson hotel in Dhaka on Saturday.
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“We should not be too much dependent on India alone for cotton as any disruption in the supply chain could cause a lot of trouble for Bangladesh,” he said.

Such disruption in cotton supply happened earlier when India imposed a ban on the fibre's export without any prior notice during 2010 and 2011. Cotton prices then increased over 4 times to $2.6 a pound for an artificial crisis.

The other reason for over-dependence on India is the presence of child labour in Uzbekistan, another major source of cotton for Bangladesh.

Apart from India and Uzbekistan, Bangladesh usually imports cotton from the US and some African countries.

Due to child labour, sometimes the international clothing brands and retailers show their reluctance to source garment items from the factories, which manufacture the apparel items with yarn spun from Uzbek cotton, he said.

Chowdhury also said the import trend shows that India will dominate the Bangladeshi market among the other cotton growing and exporting countries in the coming days.

That is why, BTMA, Bangladesh Cotton Association and Indian Cotton Association will jointly organise the Cotton Fest.

 

Source :.thedailystar.net