Sugar industry asks for lower duty on sugar in Sri Lanka, Bangladesh
The Dollar Business Bureau As India’s sugar output is estimated to be at record level in the 2018-19 marketing year, expected to result in a surplus, industry body Indian Sugar Mills Association (ISMA) on Thursday requested the Government to seek preferential import duty structure from Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. “India’s sugar production may exceed in 2018-19 marketing year than 251 lakh tonnes estimated for the current year. So we may have surplus sugar for exports in 2018-19,” said Abinash Verma, Director General, ISMA, while speaking at the industry body’s 83rd annual general meeting. Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, the two major sugar importers, levy high import duty at $150 per tonne and $100 per tonne on sugar, respectively. The two Asian neighbours procure around ...
Central government allows import of 3 lakh MT of raw sugar at 25% duty
The Dollar Business Bureau The Central government has allowed imports of 3 lakh metric tonnes of raw sugar at a concessional rate of 25% tariff duty. The sugar can be imported only through southern ports such as Tuticorin, Chennai in Tamilnadu, Karaikal in Puducherry, Mangalore in Karnataka, Kakinada, Vishakhapatnam and Gangavaram in Andhra Pradesh. According to the notification released by the DGFT No- 27/2015-2020 dated September 7, 2017, the validity of the tariff duty of 25% is for 60 days ie until the 1st week of November. The move to allow the imports of raw sugar by the government comes after sugar mills in Tamilnadu sought permission to import the commodity duty-free. Harvesting of sugar in the state has come down drastically due to ...
LIBOR to be phased out by 2021!
By Abin Daya The LIBOR is dead! Well, not quite. But in the next 4 years, it could be. The The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) announced this week that it intended to phase out the LIBOR by 2021. Post that, banks would no longer be compelled to provide interest quotes to the Inter-Continental Exchange, and in the absence of these, the benchmark would die a natural death. What comes after that? We don’t know yet. But the first item this week is something closer home – India’s foreign trade numbers for the month of June. Apart from what is included in the update, I also tried to explore if there was some sort of correlation between industrial production growth and export performance. ...
Govt hikes import duty on sugar to 50%
The Dollar Business Bureau The government on Monday hiked the duty on raw sugar imports to 50%, in order to control the cheap imports of the commodity and to maintain the prices in the domestic market. “Import duty on raw sugar, refined or white sugar and raw sugar if imported by a bulk consumer has been increased to 50% from the current 40% rate with immediate effect and without an end date,” Department of Revenue said in a notification (No.66/2017-Customs) dated July 10, 2017. The Government’s move will improve the paying capability of sugar mills owners to farmers for their cane supplies, as per the sugar industry. Welcoming the government’s move, Abinash Verma, Director General, Indian Sugar Mills Association (ISMA) said in a statement, ...
Government likely to hike import duty on sugar to 60%
The Dollar Business Bureau The government is likely to increase the duty on the import of sugar to 60% from the present 40% in order to control the cheap imports and to maintain local prices. Any decline in the domestic prices of sugar will impact the millers' capacity to pay sugarcane dues to farmers. In the wake of lower sugar production expected during the current marketing year of 2016-17, the government, in April, had permitted 5 lakh tonnes of raw sugar import at zero duty in order to boost local supply. “We are monitoring global price movement closely. Prices in the international market are falling and some traders are keen to import even at high customs duty. So, we are considering raising the import duty,” ...
Govt extends deadline for duty free sugar import till June 30
The Dollar Business BureauThe government on Thursday extended the deadline for duty-free import of 5 lakh MT of raw sugar till June 30, 2017, from the current timeline of June 12.“TRQ (tariff rate quota) benefit (duty-free) shall be available up to and inclusive of June 30, 2017, as per Section 15 of the Customs Act, 1962,” DGFT said in a Notification No.02/2015-2020 dated April 13.Earlier, the government has allowed import of 5 lakh MT of raw sugar (under Exim Code 170114) to be imported by millers/refiners duty-free to boost domestic supply as the production is likely to decline to 20 million tonnes in the current marketing year of 2016-17 from 25 million tonnes a year ago.In order to further facilitate ...
Sugar import permit unlikely to ease prices: ICRA
The Dollar Business Bureau ICRA, in its new report, predicts that the limited duty-free import of sugar allowed by the Government of India will not help ease sugar prices, which have been rising owing to a 19% cut in output this year. The sugar output in the current year is forecasted at 20.3 million tonnes (mt) while the annual domestic sugar demand is pegged at 24 mt. The government expects a comfortable supply of sugar in the country after adding last year's closing stock of 7.7 mt and an additional import permit of 0.5 mt. Nevertheless, the report released by ICRA says that the sugar prices will stay firm as the closing stock will drop to 4.5 mt – 5 mt this year, which is only sufficient to meet demand for two months into the ...
The week that was: oil, sugar and core sector growth
By Abin Daya It is very rare that you will find a month in which all the 8 core sector industries have had positive growth. No, it did not happen in Feb 2017; but it happened a year back – in Feb 2016! Before that it happened in 2010 – that too, three months in a row! In the case of Feb 2016, what made the month even more special was that 4 out of 8 core sector industries grew in double digits! Understandably, when something like that happens, you expect a significantly high rate of growth for the sector. Core sector grew at 9.4% in Feb 2016. Compare that with the core sector performance a year later, in Feb 2017. Such a ...