Rupee Trades Lower At 66.61 Against Us Dollar

Mumbai: The Indian rupee on Thursday was trading marginally weaker against the US dollar, ahead of the key inflation and index of industrial production (IIP) data due after 5.30pm.

At 2.03pm, the home currency was trading at 66.61, down 0.08% from its previous close of 66.57. The rupee opened at 66.62 a dollar and touched a high and a low of 66.54 and 66.68, respectively.

According to Bloomberg estimates, consumer price index (CPI) will be at 5.05% for April against 4.83% in March. The IIP will be at 2.5% in March as compared to 2% in February.

The government will issue wholesale price inflation (WPI) data on 16 May after 12pm. According to Bloomberg analysts, WPI will be at -0.2% for April against -0.85% in March.

India’s benchmark Sensex index rose 0.48% or 121.60 points to 25,718.62. So far this year, Sensex is down 1.5%.

India’s 10-year bond yield was trading at 7.425%, as compared with its Wednesday’s close of 7.427%.

So far this year, the rupee has weakened 0.68%, while foreign institutional investors have bought $1.81 billion from the local equity market and sold $102.90 million in debt markets.

Asian currencies were trading lower. Japanese yen was down 0.47%, Philippines peso 0.23%, China renminbi 0.21% and Singapore dollar 0.21%. However, South Korean won was up 0.43%, Malaysian ringgit 0.4% and Indonesian rupiah rose 0.08%.

The dollar index, which measures the US currency’s strength against major currencies, was trading at 93.975, up 0.16% from its previous close of 93.823.

 

Source:.livemint.com

Edible Oil Import Bill To Rise 15-20%

India's edible oil import bill is likely to rise by 15-20 per cent this oil year (November '15-October '16), on a sharp increase in the price of crude palm oil (CPO) in global markets and a widening supply deficit here.

A fall in production from local sources, and a spurt in demand on subdued prices over the past year, has widened the deficit in India. the country imported 14.5 million tonnes of vegetable oil (edible and non-edible) worth Rs 60,000 crore in oil year 2014-15. This is likely to rise to 16 mt worth Rs 75,000 crore by the end of the current oil year in October.

The CPO price in November was around 2,100 ringgit a tonne in Malaysia, after declining to a several-years low of 1,800 ringgit a month before. It recovered from this to trade currently at 2,685 ringgit a tonne. From the lowest level, the price is up 49 percent"Considering the average price rise of 10 per cent and a similargrowth in volume of import, India's edible oil import bill will jump by up to 20 per cent this year," said B V Mehta, executive director, Solvent Extractors' Association (SEA), apex body of the edible oil industry.

Its data shows vegetable oil import at 6.27 mt worth Rs 27,990 crore between November 2015 and March 2016. For the full oil year, as mentioned earlier,import is estimated to be 16 mt, worth Rs 75,000 crore. Prices are likely to remain firm through this year on reduced supply from the world's top two producers, Indonesia and Malaysia, due to adverse climatic conditions. Dorab Mistry, director at Godrej International, estimates CPO production in Malaysia could fall by 1.5-2 mt to 19 mt. Output in Indonesia is estimated at 31 mt. The two together produce 86 per cent of global palm oil. "With excess rainfall forecast this monsoon, there is hope for higher kharif oilseed output this year. However, the edible oil import bill would continue to rise on increasing domestic demand," said Atul Chaturvedi, chief executive at Adani Wilmar, the Fortune brand producer, of the total import basket, imports around a third of refined oil and the remaining two-third of CPO.

 

Source:.business-standard.com

India Ready To Import Gas For Idle Power Plants, Says Goyal

The government is ready to import at least 70 to 80 million metric standard cubic metres (mmscm) of natural gas for India’s idle gas-based power plants if it can secure long-term ‘affordable’ rates,

Piyush Goyal, Minister of Power, said.“This will enable India to operate its idle gas-based power capacity,” Mr. Goyal said addressing a conference on ‘The Future of Electricity’. Obtaining the required gas will lead to the re-starting of 20,000 MW of idle power capacity in India. The minister recently visited Australia and secured assurances for gas supply at $5 per mmbtu but suppliers were not willing to sign long-term contracts.

“If the government gets gas at $5 per mmbtu, gives custom duty waiver, reduces marketing margins and gas transportation charges by half and reduces inter state transmission charges to zero, the industry will be able to absorb the price” Sushil Maroo, MD & CEO, Essar Power Limited, told The Hindu.

As to what ‘affordable’ price sellers would agree to for long-term contracts, Anish De, Partner, KPMG, said, “The international market is oversupplied on gas.”

Adding that this could go on for five years or more, he said, “Earlier, suppliers were not looking at long-term contracts in the region of 7-10 years, he said. “They might look at it now.”
 

Source:thehindu.com

Iraq Overtakes Saudi Arabia As Biggest Indian Exporter For April: Data

NEW DELHI: Iraq overtook Saudi Arabia as the top crude exporter to India in April for the first time since December, according to data compiled by Reuters, as the two biggest OPEC producers fight for market share in Asia's fastest growing oil market.

Saudi Arabia also lost its top spot in China, Asia's biggest oil consumer, last month when Russia overtook the world's biggest crude exporter due to strong purchases by Chinese independent refineries.

Overall, April oil imports by India rose 6 percent from March and are up 9.9 percent in the first four months from a year ago. For the first four months of 2015, imports fell 0.6 percent from a year ago because of refinery outages.

Iraqi oil exports to India were 960,700 barrels per day (bpd) in April, a 41 percent jump from March and 79 percent higher than a year ago, data obtained by Reuters and compiled by Thomson Reuters Oil Analytics showed.

India imported about 787,700 bpd of oil from Saudi Arabia last month, about 14 percent lower than a year ago, the data showed.

Iraq accounted for 22 percent of April Indian imports, up from about 15 percent a year ago, while Saudi Arabia's share dropped to 18 percent from about 25 percent a year ago.

"Iraqi oil is much more beneficial than Saudi because they are better priced. There is a significance difference in prices," said A. K. Sharma, head of finance at Indian Oil Corp..

Iraq has consistently maintained their official selling prices (OSP) below Saudi Arabia. In April, Iraq set the OSP for its flagship Basrah Light crude at a discount of 2.60 a barrel to Middle East benchmarks, 20 cents under the OSP for comparable crude grade Arab Medium.

Overall, Indian crude demand rose in 2016 as refiners normally avoid maintenance shutdown in the first quarter to meet annual crude processing target for the fiscal year.

Also, Indian Oil Corp, the country's biggest refiner, boosted imports after commissioning the 300,000-bpd Paradip refinery.

Iran is also raising its share in Indian imports. The country accounted for about 9 percent of overall purchases in April compared to about 7.2 percent a year ago.

Overall in January to April, Iranian oil accounted for about 7.4 percent of Indian imports from about 4 percent a year ago, becoming fifth-largest oil supplier to India compared with the eighth position a year ago.

On the losing side, Latin American suppliers exported 8.2 percent less crude to India during January to April. The region's share in Indian imports declined to about 16 percent from about 19 percent a year ago as its oil has become uncompetitive in the ongoing price war.

The company, which spends 10 per cent of its revenue on branding/marketing, would launch its TV commercial this year.

It has plans to spend 50 per cent of its total investment on branding/marketing on digital platforms.

 

Source:economictimes.indiatimes.com

Tea Exports To Pakistan Up 47% At Rs 185 Crore In Fy16

NEW DELHI: Country's tea export to Pakistan jumped 47.50 per cent to Rs 184.56 crore in 2015-16.

The overall shipments of tea rose 10 per cent to Rs 4,200.46 crore in the same fiscal.

In 2014-15, tea exports to Pakistan had stood at Rs 125.12 crore and the overall exports were at Rs 3,823.64 crore.

In volume terms, outward shipments from India to Pakistan increased to 18.94 million kg in 2015-16 as against 15.20 million kg in the preceding fiscal, according to Tea Board's data.

India is the world's second biggest tea producer and also one of the largest consumers.

The country exports CTC (crush- tear-curl) grade tea to countries like Egypt, the UK, and other traditional varieties to Iraq, Iran, and Russia.

The export price to Pakistan increased to Rs 97.44 per kg in the period under review compared with Rs 82.32 a year ago.

The rise in tea exports was seen in major tea-importing countries like the CIS countries, the UK, Germany, Poland, the UAE, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.

Tea production has been low this fiscal mainly due to unfavourable weather conditions. Besides, wage-related issues also hit tea producers.

The sector is also facing other issues including migration of labourers to other industries. Tea plucking in India mainly starts between July and October.

 

Source:economictimes.indiatimes.com