Karnataka Share In Cashew Trade Goes Up

Mangalore: Karnataka made significant growth in cashew imports and exports during 2007-08, constituting more than 11 per cent of the total import-export trade of the commodity.

Statistics from the New Mangalore Port show that the State exported 11,139 tonnes (10,529 tonnes) of cashew kernels, and imported 69,850 tonnes (48,901 tonnes) of raw cashew nuts during 2007-08.

The total export of cashew kernel from the country during 2007-08 stood at 1.14 lakh tonnes (1.18 lakh tonnes) and import of raw cashew stood at 6.05 lakh tonnes (5.86 lakh tonnes).

K. Prakash Rao, President of the Karnataka Cashew Manufacturers’ Association (KCMA), told Business Line that the cashew industry in Karnataka has been growing consistently at 15 to 20 per cent in the last three years in spite of the severe labour shortage in the State.

He said that export and import figures from the New Mangalore Port substantiate the claim of the processors that there has been buoyancy in the demand for cashews produced in Karnataka.

In addition to New Mangalore Port, cashew units from the State exported around 1,800 tonnes of cashew kernel and imported around 3,500 to 4,000 tonnes of raw cashew nuts through Kochi port.

“These figures account for more than 11 per cent of the total national export and import. Total cashew exports from Karnataka were hardly worth Rs 50 crore and less than 2.5 per cent of the total national exports in 1999-2000,” he said.

Cashew industry from the State exported cashew kernel worth Rs 325 crore during 2007-08, and the total value of cashew kernel exported from the country was at Rs 2,288.90 crore.

G. Giridhar Prabhu, proprietor of the Mangalore-based cashew firm Achal Industries, attributed this growth to the competitiveness of cashew units in the State and to the efficiency of New Mangalore Port in handling the cashew cargo.

On the improvement in the handling of cashew cargo, he said the Kanara Chamber of Commerce and Industry and New Mangalore Port Trust had taken initiatives to improve the movement of container cargo from the port.

Rao said that KCMA during the launch of its golden jubilee celebration in 2005 had released a vision document wherein it claimed that cashew exports from Karnataka would touch Rs 700-crore mark by 2014.

“The progress in the last two years justifies this claim and the industry is well on its way in meeting its targets,” he said.

Sluggish Demand Softens Edible Oils

New Delhi: Select edible oil prices drifted between Rs 50-150 a quintal in the wholesale oils and oilseeds market on Thursday owing to slow down in buying by millers and pick up in imports of edible oils.

Non-edible oils, on the other side, continued to be traded around previous level on some deals. Traders said apart from reduced offtake by millers, reports of a rise of about 38 per cent at 22.64 lakh tonnes of edible oils in the last five months also helped prices to decline.

They said reports of a near normal monsoon this year, forecast by the meteorological department was another factor behind fall in the prices.

In the edible section, groundnut and cottonseed mill delivery oil prices were down by Rs 50 each at Rs 7,050 and Rs 5550 per quintal respectively. Sesame mill delivery oil lost Rs 150 at Rs 7,650 a quintal on poor offtake.

Mustard expeller oil in line with general trend quoted lower at Rs 5,600 a quintal as against last close of Rs 5650. Rice bran (physical) oil also lacked necessary buying support and dropped to Rs 4550 a quintal from Rs 4,600.

Grains Rule Flat

New Delhi: Quiet conditions prevailed in the wholesale grains market on Thursday with most of the commodity prices after moving in a tight range, settled around previous closing.

Arrivals and offtake too remained at low ebb and volume of business was poor. Traders said negligible buying or selling by stockists at prevailing levels mainly kept prices unchanged.

Following were today's quotations per quintal in rupees:

Wheat MP (deshi) 1240-1490, wheat dara (for mills) 1065-1105, chakki atta (delivery) 1118-1120, Chakki atta Rajdhani (10 kgs) 150, shakti bhog (10 kgs) 160, roller flourmill 1110-1118, maida 1200-1215 (90 kilos) and sooji 1225-1240 (90 kgs).

Rice basmati (lal quila) 7000, Shri Lal Mahal 7000, Basmati common 6470-6670, Permal raw 1400-1500, permal wand 1600-1700, sela 2100-2250 and rice IR-8 1200-1300, Bajra 675-680, Jowar yellow 700-750, white 1250-1300, Maize 765-800 Barley (UP) 1140-1150 and Rajasthan 1150-1160.

Vegetable Oils Import Up 28% In March

Chennai: Import of vegetable oils, for cooking and industrial use, continued to rise and increased by 28 per cent in March, while overall shipments into the country during the current oil year (November 2007-October 2008) was up at 38 per cent.

According to the Solvent Extractors Association, cooking oil imports increased to 4.22 lakh tonnes (lt) against 3.18 lt during the same period a year ago. For the oil year, imports have increased to 22.64 lt against 16.43 lt.

peak crushing season

Imports have increased despite November-March being peak crushing season with kharif oilseeds being available and record production of 94 lakh tonnes of soyabean. One reason for the rise in production despite the peak crushing season is that the carryover stocks from the previous season were lower in view of a lower crop.

Imports have increased despite rise in global and domestic vegetable oil prices. According to B.V. Mehta, Executive Director of the Solvent Extractors Association, the rise in imports was due to the middle income group in the country being able to keep the demand rising in view of higher income.

This demand was able to neutralise the squeeze that was taking place among the lower income group.

Overall imports of vegetable oils are seen at 58 lt to 60 lt this oil year, a little higher than last year.

crude palm oil

Mehta said imports of crude palm oil showed a rising tendency also because of reports of Indonesia’s decision to raise export tax. The data show that refined oil imports have increased by two percentage points from last year.

Again among the vegetable oils, import of palm group of oils continues to witness an increase, making up 88 per cent of the total shipments into the country. This is against the oils making up 77 per cent of the total import last year.

Imports are seen gathering further momentum on lower rabi crop, steady global vegoil prices and the Centre’s decision to lower Customs duty to zero for unrefined oils and 7.5 per cent for refined oils.

Online Spot Gold Trading Records Average Sales Of 25 Kg

Mumbai: RSBL Spot (Spot Precious-metals Online Trading), over-the-counter (OTC) bullion trading platform, seems to be attracting traders and investor interest

The company, which has about 150 registered members, outperformed the combined volumes of about five gold exchange traded funds (ETFs) in India.

On Tuesday, the company recorded a volume of 33 kg, 90 per cent more than all gold ETFs. RSBL Spot, which was launched on March 12, records an average daily gold turnover of 25 kg, while it was 10 kg for gold ETFs, said Samir Shah, Vice President, RSBL SPOT.

RSBL Spot is first of its kind electronic trading platform in India with a distinction of giving physical delivery of precious metals. It provides real time price updates with charting and accounting modules which is very crucial for jewellers, who did not have a reliable source for Indian spot prices, said Ulhas of Antara Jewellery.

The promoter of the trading platform, RSBL Bullions Ltd has an annual turnover Rs 5,900 crore. It is the authorised participant (AP) of all the gold exchange traded funds (ETFs) in India and is also the largest creator and redeemer of units issued by these funds.

Tea Prices Continue To Gain, Up Rs 10-15 A Kg

Kolkata: It is about a couple of weeks since the new season for North Indian tea started, but with an average auction price increase of Rs 10-15 a kg compared with the corresponding period last year. This is more or less in keeping with the trend that persisted in the last quarter of 2007.

Drop in exports

One reason for this is the absence of carryover stock, largely due to high domestic consumption. The domestic consumption in 2007 was so high that even the drop in exports during the year compared to 2006 did not improve the domestic availability to leave with some stocks.

Also, the crop in March this year was lower compared to that in March last year, the shortfall being estimated at 40 per cent. The April crop, of course, is better but together with the March crop, the overall shortfall, it is estimated, will be about 20 per cent.

Industry bullish

The North Indian tea industry is bullish because it feels that there will be no respite from the price increase this year, largely due to the demand-supply mismatch. The domestic consumption has been growing at three to 3.5 per cent annually. Which means, every year the additional domestic demand will be up by around 30 million kg (mkg). But where is the tea to meet this burgeoning demand?

The production cannot be increased substantially within a short period. More important, the domestic availability of tea will not improve due to some other reasons also. With the Kenyan crop having failed and the world tea prices having risen by around 30 per cent, exports appear to be an attractive proposition. There being an accent on larger production of the orthodox variety fetching higher prices in the international market, any increase in orthodox production will entail drop in the CTC production to that extent. In 2007, the orthodox production was up by about 15 mkg.

Export demand

The export demand, it is felt, will also be fuelled by the probable increase in demand for Indian tea – the CTC variety from countries such as Pakistan and Egypt.

With the prospect of payment crisis in Iraq getting resolved soon, there might be additional demand for CTC tea from that country. Iran is likely to emerge as a major buyer of Indian orthodox tea, it is felt.

Spot Rubber Gains Sharply

Kottayam: April 16 Spot rubber made sharp gains on Thursday . According to observers, speculators kept the domestic mood extremely bullish as the scarcity of the raw material continued to haunt the main marketing centres. RSS 4 flared up to Rs 109 from Rs 108 a kg both at Kottayam and Kochi though major manufacturers sidelined the market at higher levels. The May futures for RSS 3 moved up sharply to ¥284 (Rs 112.37) from ¥278.4 a kg at TOCOM.

May futures improve

On NMCE, the May futures improved to Rs 108.63 (108.44), June to Rs 108.70 (108.69), July to Rs 108.30 (108.30) and August to Rs 107.32 (107) to per kg for RSS 4. The open interest was 3,233 (3509) tonnes. The volumes stood at 1,049 (984) lots. The outstanding positions were 1,947 (1,969) tonnes in May, 812 (810) tonnes in June,448 (435) tonnes in July and 26 tonnes in August.

Spot prices were (Rs/kg): RSS-4: 109 (108); RSS-5: 107 (105.50); ungraded: 105 (104); ISNR 20: 106 (105) and latex 60 per cent: 72 (71.50).

Govt To Import Oil, Pulses To Control Prices

New Delhi: In an effort to control the spiralling rise in prices, the Government plans to import one million tonnes of edible oil and 15 lakh tonnes of pulses, the Union Agriculture Minister, Sharad Pawar, said in Parliament on Wednesday.

Replying to a one-day debate on price rise, Pawar said that there is a scarcity of edible oil in the country. “We will import one million tonnes of edible oil and have told all public sector companies that they should import edible oil,” the Minister said. The oil will be sold at a subsidised rate of Rs 15 a litre throughout the country.

The Minister announced that 15 lakh tonnes of pulses will be imported with an order of 11.86 lakh tonnes being placed before March 31 and added that the Government has already abolished import duty on edible oils and pulses.

No scarcity of rice

The Agriculture Minister said that there was no scarcity of rice in the country and the Government has taken steps such as reducing the import duty to zero and putting restrictions on export of all varieties of rice except Basmati. Pawar also informed the House that production of rice was better than last year and expressed confidence that the Government will procure more than required. Similarly, wheat procurement this year was expected to be 150 lakh tonnes as against 111 lakh tonnes last year, Pawar said.

While emphasising that domestic food grain production was satisfactory, Pawar said prices had risen as the purchasing power of poor people had increased due to welfare schemes such as NREGA and, therefore, the demand had gone up tremendously.

“I would like to assure all members of the House that the policy of the Government is to control inflation as well as to ensure that the growth rate momentum does not decline,” he said.

International aspect

Pawar said there was an international aspect to the price rise as there was a global shortage of food grains and climate change was also having an impact on global production. The Minister, however, asserted that the increase in prices of essential commodities such as wheat and rice in the country was the lowest in the world when compared to other countries.

Spot Rubber Prices Improve

Kottayam: Spot rubber rates improved on Tuesday. The market flared up on supply concerns. A positive closing in the global futures extended further support to the domestic mood.

Sheet rubber RSS 4 moved up to Rs 108 from Rs 107 a kg at Kottayam and Kochi. The transactions were dull. RSS 3 firmed up at its May futures to ¥278.4 (Rs 110.22) from ¥276.3 a kg at TOCOM.

Futures gain

The rubber futures made all-round gains on NMCE. The April contract expired in green at Rs 107.01 (106.53) a kg while the May futures improved to Rs 108.30 (107.40), June to Rs 108.55 (107.80) and July futures to Rs 108.47 (107.45) per kg for RSS 4. The open interest was quoted at 3509 (4,661 ) tonnes. The volumes totalled 984 (409) tonnes with 108 (78) tonnes in April, 590 (220) tonnes in May, 206 (76) tonnes in June and 80 (35) tonnes in July. The open positions were 295 (1,552) tonnes in April, 1,969 (1,972) tonnes in May, 810 (744) tonnes in June and 435 (393) tonnes in July.

Spot prices were (Rs/kg): RSS-4: 108 (107); RSS-5: 105.50 (105); ungraded: 104 (103); ISNR 20: 105 (104.50) and latex 60 per cent: 71.50 (71.50).

Turmeric Futures Hit Lower Circuit

Mumbai: The Government anti-inflationary measures such as imposition of inventory limits by the State Governments and possible ban on futures trading in essential commodities continue to affect sentiments of traders in the commodity futures exchanges.

Almost all the agriculture commodities were locked at their lower circuit on Tuesday.

Chana for May delivery on NCDEX fell 3.98 per cent to Rs 2,629 per quintal on panic selling after Government officials conducted raids on traders to check their inventories in Maharashtra and Delhi.

Turmeric was frozen at the lower circuit of 4 per cent at Rs 3,024 per quintal on heavy selling and long liquidation. Guar gum and guarseed dipped 3.73 per cent and 3.71 per cent to Rs 4,438 per quintal and Rs 1,790 per quintal respectively due to weak spot markets and good south-west monsoon forecast.

Maize shed 3.02 per cent to Rs 739 per quintal on unconfirmed news that exports will be banned to rein in high inflation.

Soya gains

Soya oil futures topped the list of gainers as the most active May contract ended the session at Rs 590 per 20 kg, up 2.51 per cent. Strong sentiment in international edible oil market and rally in Crude Oil prices pushed up soy oil futures.

Good demand in the Guntur spot markets pushed up chilli futures 1.94 per ent to Rs 4930 per quintal. Sharp rise in soyameal prices supported soyabean futures to gain 1.78 per cent to Rs 2,200 per quintal. Strong stockists and millers demand saw mustard seed futures rise marginally by 0.87 per cent to Rs 548 per 20 kg.

MCX recorded a turnover of Rs 4,356 crore up to 5 pm, while it was Rs 2,068 crore in NCDEX.