Rupee Opens 5 Paise Up At 68.11 Against Dollar

NEW DELHI: Indian rupee opened nearly 5 paise up at 68.11 against dollar on Tuesday on account of some selling of American currency by banks and exporters. Meanwhile firm opening of domestic equity markets also supported sentiments.

At 9.15 am, rupee was trading 3 paise up at 68.13 against dollar. Benchmark equity indices BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty were up by 163.02 points and 60.05 points at 25928.16 and 7,989.15.

On Monday, the local currency slipped for the second straight day and closed 3 paise down at 68.16 against dollar. In cross-currency trades, rupee gained against the pound sterling to finish at 84.14 against 84.66 on last Friday, but fell against the euro to settle at 72.79 as against 72.37. It strengthened further against the Japanese yen and close at 61.62 against 61.72 per 100 yens earlier.

According to market experts, sustained foreign money outflows mainly affected the rupee movement against the dollar on Monday. However, weakness of dollar in the international market capped the rupee fall against the dollar. Foreign portfolio investors stood net seller on Monday and sold shares worth Rs 873.11 crore, according to the data available with NSDL.

HDFC Securities in a research note said, "We advise trader to remain long in USDINR Nov. Fut. for new all time high target above 69.21, keeping a stop loss at 67.50 on closing basis."

 
The 10-year benchmark bond yield eased further and opened at 6.28 per cent on Tuesday against previous close of 6.30 per cent

 

Sources:economictimes.indiatimes.com

Steel Imports Drop 39% To 4.5 Million Tonnes In April-October

NEW DELHI: Helped by steps to protect the industry, steel imports have declined 39 per cent to 4.5 million tonnes during April-October of this fiscal over the same period a year earlier.

"The government has taken various steps in the interest of the domestic steel industry from unfair foreign competition and the same have yielded positive results," Steel Minister Chaudhary Birender Singh said in a reply to the Lok Sabha.

Price realisation has improved, imports of steel have declined by 39 per cent to 4.5 million tonnes (mt) during April-October 2016 as against the corresponding period last year, the minister said.

Since the beginning of 2014-15, the Indian steel industry has witnessed severe stress due to surge in imports from countries saddled with excess capacity and fall in domestic prices.

In India, steel prices of HR coils fell to Rs 30,000 in January 2016, from a high of Rs 47,000 in April 2014.

Volume of steel imports increased to 11.71 mt in 2015-16, from 5.45 mt in 2013-14. With the decline in domestic steel prices, the net sales realisation and profit margins of domestic steel producers fell and the erosion in profit margin for the steel companies significantly decreased their debt servicing capability.

"The government has various export promotion schemes like Merchandise Exports from India Scheme (MEIS), duty exemption scheme, interest equalisation scheme etc under the Foreign Trade Policy 2015-20 which are also available for export of iron and steel goods," he said.

 

Sources :economictimes.indiatimes.com

Micromax To Start Making Smartphones In India By March 2017

NEW DELHI: Micromax Informatics is planning to make smartphones on a completely knocked down or CKD basis in India, by March next year, which could make it the first local manufacturer to take the plunge in the market where all but only Samsung is assembling phones.

"We're on the verge of importing our first set of CKD units," Micromax co-founder Vikas Jain said, adding that the company was looking at beginning before the end of the financial year.

"While we are working on logistics and building infrastructure, it will be at our new facilities either at Telangana or Bhiwadi," he said. The company is yet to decide the capacity of production from CKD units but is expecting its first shipment of CKD units soon. The move will be a step up in value addition for the home-bred handset maker, which makes 3 million phones a month in Rudrapur and Telangana factories, more than half of which falls in the smartphone category.

The company's third plant is set to come up in Bhiwadi, Rajasthan, and the fourth one in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh. An investment of Rs 2,000 crore has been marked out for making phones and electronics such as televisions, tablets and accessories locally, over the next five to six years.

At present almost all companies that sell phones in India, either import fully built units or semi-knocked down (SKD) phones from China, which can be assembled together with little manufacturing requirement. The process, however, is labour intensive and therefore offers jobs in large numbers to
fairly low skilled workers.

Making phones from completely knocked down (CKD) versions, involves mounting of components onto a printed circuit board (PCB) mechanically, where
the PCB and other components are required to be imported separately from China, and then put together. In terms of value addition, CKD is a step above SKD, and lays the groundwork for assembling components that in turn go into making handsets.

"PCB assembly done locally can provide a 2% cost improvement on bill of material, which can in turn reduce overall cost of the phone," Tarun Pathak, senior analyst at Counterpoint Research said.

The move will aid in quality control and better control on design, which local handset makers have begun to do in house.

 

Sources :economictimes.indiatimes.com

Cash Crunch Puts Brake On India's Cotton Exports; Rivals To Gain

Exports of 1 million bales of cotton from top producer India have been delayed after a government move to ban high-value currency notes prompted farmers, who prefer cash payments, to postpone sales, industry officials told Reuters.

The supply crunch has driven up prices in India to levels higher than in the global market and could force buyers to switch to other producers like the United States, Brazil and African countries. It could also curb India's total exports in the 2016/17 year marketing year that started on Oct. 1.

"Supplies are very limited in the market. Farmers are not selling cotton right now as they need payments in cash and it is not available," said Chirag Patel, chief executive officer of Indian exporter Jaydeep Cotton Fibers.

Earlier this month, Prime Minister Narendra Modi scrapped 500 rupee and 1,000 rupee bills to crack down on corruption. But the move disrupted trading of farm commodities like cotton and soybean as most farmers prefer payments in cash.

"November remains a peak supply month but now supplies have stopped due to the cash crunch. We are ready to give farmers cheque, but they are insisting on cash," said Pradeep Jain, a ginner based in Jalgaon in Maharashtra.

Expecting a bumper crop of 35 million bales, Indian traders had contracted 2 million bales for exports to China, Vietnam, Bangladesh and Pakistan for shipments in November to January. But traders have managed to ship only around 300,000 bales and nearly 1 million bales that were due to ship in November and December are getting delayed, three exporters told Reuters.

India's inability to ship promptly could force buyers to switch to other suppliers like Brazil and the United State, said Keith Brown, principal at cotton brokers Keith Brown and Co in Moultrie, Georgia. "In fact, this may be one reason why U.S. cotton is going higher at harvest time."

New York cotton futures last week touched a high of 72.75 cents per pound, the loftiest since August. They have risen about 5 percent over the past fortnight, versus a 10 percent gain in Indian prices.

The surge in local prices is also making signing new export deals difficult for India as overseas prices are lower than local prices, Jaydeep Cotton's Patel said.


The disruption in exports will have an impact on global prices as it reduces the overall supply, said Rebecca Pandolph, statistician of International Cotton Advisory Committee. "How much of an effect will depend on how long the situation lasts."


However, industry officials say the crunch is temporary and prices will moderate as India is set to harvest a bumper crop. Last year, the country shipped out 6.9 million bales.


"The Indian crop is still very big and if price pressure doesn't come now, then it's only being delayed and that pressure will arrive at some point,

 

Sources:timesofindia.indiatimes.com

Hyundai India Targets To Roll Out Its 10 Millionth Car By H1 Of 2021

 Hyundai Motor India Ltd (HMIL) sets a target of rolling 10 millionth car by the first half of 2021 from its Sriperumbudur manufacturing facility, near Chennai, from where the company on Monday rolled out its seven-millionth car.

Creta AT got the distinction of being the seven-millionth car.

With this, HMIL has achieved the second best position in Hyundai Motor group amongst its overseas peers, only after China. It is also the first auto manufacturer in India to achieve this feat in a record time within 18 years of commercial operation.

It may be noted, HMIL rolled out its first millionth car, a Santro, in 2006 just eight years after commencement of commercial production in 1998.

Thereafter, production picked up momentum, with the next millionth milestone being achieved within an average of 18 -19 months. The five-millionth car was flagged off in October 2013.

Managing director and Chief Executive Officer of HMIL, Y K Koo, said, " HMIL has always set new benchmarks in terms of quality and customer delight by introducing new products with new technology and design to the Indian market, demonstrating superior manufacturing prowess. Our 'Made in India' products have impressed global and Indian customers alike."

"We now have to move to realise our vision as announced during our 20th year of foundation on May 6th, 2016, of being the Market Leader, Great place to work, Most loved and trusted the brand with Modern premium brand essence to touch 10 million units within the first half of 2021," Koo added.

HMIL has held the top exporter position consistently for 12 years since 2004 with a volume of 24,64,723 to date. It currently has ten car models across segments — Eon, i10, Grand i10, Elite i20, Active i20, Xcent, Verna, Creta, Elantra, Tucson and Santa Fe. HMIL's fully integrated manufacturing plant forms a critical part of HMC's global export hub.

It currently exports to around 92 countries across Africa, Middle East, Latin America, Australia and the Asia Pacific.

 

Sources :business-standard.com