Goa likely to ban fisheries exports to check rising fish prices

Faced with a dropping fish catch and high prices of locally consumed fish, the Goa government may temporarily ban export of fish in order to stabilise prices, fisheries minister Vinod Palienkar has said.

Speaking to IANS during the inspection of the Chapora fort, 20 km from Panaji, Palienkar also said subsidies for the fishing industries were not really helping to keep the price of fish within the common man’s reach and a majority of the haul was being exported.

“We are looking to ban exports. Goans do not get much fish to eat here. There is a need for a ban,” Palienkar told IANS.
Availability of cheap fish had been the poll plank of several political parties like like Congress, the Aam Aadmi Party and the Goa Forward ahead of the February assembly polls.

The state is known for its sea food, which is sought after by the six million plus tourists who visit Goa every year.

Palienkar also said that his ministry doles out Rs 108 crore every year in subsidies to fishing trawler owners, but most of the fish caught was being diverted for exports.

“Most of the fish catch is being exported. How can we tolerate this when local Goans are not getting fish to eat and they have to shell our large sums of money to eat their fish thali at home?“This government is thinking of cutting down the subsidy for large trawlers and the money saved will be diverted towards formation of a fisheries corporation,” Palienkar said.

Overkill of fish for export and to cater to the hospitality industry in the tourism-oriented state as well as rising sea temperatures has resulted in a fish famine of sorts in the waters off Goa, driving prices of locally consumed staple fish through the roof.

Several marine experts have been warning the Goa government about how pollution near Goa’s river mouths and in the waters off the state’s coastline as well as excessive fishing could create fish famine.According to fisheries department statistics, while 80,849 tonnes of sardines were caught in 2014, this dropped to 57,270 tons in 2015. In 2016, this went down to 6,481 tonnes.

The same is the case with another staple fish called mackerel. While in 2013, 12,994 tonnes of mackerels were caught, in 2014 the figure dropped to 10,308 tonnes and further to 10,876 tonnes in 2015. In 2016, only 3,908 tonnes of mackerels were harvested.

Other species of fish like cuttle fish and silver belly have also shown a sharp drop in haul.

CMA CGM Group enhances its CIMEX 2E/IEX service with addition of Visakhapatnam call

VISAKHAPATNAM: The CMA CGM Group, a world leader in container shipping, marked the maiden call of the CIMEX 2E / IEX service in Visakhapatnam Port, with a welcoming ceremony for the CMA CGM Verdi on the 24th October 2017 in the Visakha Container Terminal.

On this occasion were present, key dignitaries from the Visakhapatnam Port Authority, the Visakha Container Terminal and representatives from the CMA CGM Group (CMA CGM & APL India).

With the enhancement of the CIMEX 2E / IEX service, the CMA CGM Group adds its 7th gateway port in India & 2nd in India’s East Coast.

The service facilitates an enhanced world-wide coverage with direct weekly mainline service connecting Visakhapatnam and its hinterland to the key markets of Korea, China, Philippines, South East Asia and offering prompt onward connections to North & South America and other worldwide destinations via the group’s dedicated transshipment hubs in Singapore and Port Kelang.

The service will comprise 6 x 4,500 / 5700 TEU vessels operating on fixed day weekly rotation, as follows:

Busan – Qingdao – Shanghai - Shekou – Singapore – Port Kelang – Chennai – Visakhapatnam – Port Kelang – Singapore – Manila – Busan.

China records maximum growth in India's Aug engineering exports

China has emerged as a pivotal destination for engineering exports, occupying its place among the top four ports ofcall for the Indian shipments , hugely steered by non-ferrous metals,an EEPC India data analysis for August shows. In fact, China accounted for the maximum and whopping 266 per centgrowth in India's engineering exports in August to USD 257 million against a meagre USD 70 million a year ago.
It has come to occupy the fourth largest destination for the engineering exports, thanks to a scorching pace of its imports ofnon-ferrous metals from India. Though the USA remains India's numberone destination for engineering exports at USD 782 million , logging   in year on year growth of 34 per cent in August,2017, expansion in shipments to China were unmatched by another country, the EEPC India analysis showed. Boosted by expansion of its economy, China's imports of engineering goods from India were largely accounted by non-ferrous metals.Of the total engineering shipments of USD 257 million , this segment accounted USD 150 million for the month under review , said EEPCIndia Chairman T S Bhasin. The overall scenario improved in August this year as compared to thesame month in 2016017. registering annualised growth of 19 per centin engineering exports. merchandise exports is 24.4 per cent and thanks to smart performance of the sector, the share has been improving month on month.

engineering exports Imports

India's Edible oil import may hit new high in 2017-18

Import of edible oil in the year 2017-18 may hit a record high. This is likely due to the fall in the availability of oil from domestic sources. Also, the oilseed production has decreased and on the contrary, there is an increase in the consumption of oil.

As per the data compiled by the Solvent Extractors’ Association, 14.27 million tonnes of vegetable oil has been imported for the 11-month period ending in September 2017. This is higher to 13.57 million tonnes of oil that was imported during the corresponding period, last year. Another 1.2-1.3 million tonnes of import in October will take the import of oil to 15.5 million tonnes, thereby creating a record high.

For the oil year 2017-18, there is scarcity in sowing and crop damage due to flooding has increased in the major growing regions. These factors have contributed towards a reduction in Soybean crop size. As compared to the last year, when the Soyabean oil output was 12 million tonnes, this year it is forecast at below 9 million tonnes.

It has been estimated that a mere 4% increase in the per capita consumption adds around 0.8 million tonnes of demand each year. Therefore, the lower acreage and dependency on imported edible oil would increase, stated the industry sources.

China emerges as a major destination for engineering exports

China has emerged as a major destination for engineering exports, occupying its place among the top four ports of call for the Indian shipments , hugely steered by non-ferrous metals, an EEPC India data analysis for August shows.
In fact, China accounted for the maximum and whopping 266 per cent growth in India's engineering exports in August to $257 million against a meagre $70 million a year ago.
It has come to occupy the fourth largest destination for the engineering exports, thanks to a scorching pace of its imports of non-ferrous metals from India. Though the USA remains India's number one destination for engineering exports at $782 million , logging in year on year growth of 34 per cent in August,2017, expansion in shipments to China were unmatched by another country, the EEPC India analysis showed.
Boosted by expansion of its economy, China's imports of engineering goods from India were largely accounted by non-ferrous metals. Of the total engineering shipments of $257 million , this segment accounted $150 million for the month under review , said EEPC India chairman Mr T S Bhasin.

Prabhu on fast track; working to speed up exports growth

The new Commerce Minister, Suresh Prabhu on Wednesday said his ministry is looking at ways to quickly boost India's exports which are currently facing "challenging times", partly on account of the implementation of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) from July.

"Exports to GDP ratio has to rise...so we are at a crash intervention sort of a thing. We are trying to work out what is to be done to promote exports in a shortest possible time which includes issues coming up because of the GST," Prabhu told reporters in New Delhi.

The Minister, who took charge of the Commerce and Industry portfolio after cabinet reshuffle earlier this week, said exporters are facing certain issues in the GST regime, which the ministry is taking up with the concerned authorities.

After rising for 10 months in succession, Indian merchandise exports in July fell 6.84 percent to $21.69 billion compared to $23.28 billion in the corresponding month of 2015. Exports in June at $23.56 billion had grown by 4.39 percent over the same month of 2016.

Exporters have said that the GST regime would block working capital worth over Rs 1.85 lakh crore per year with the government as they now have to pay the tax first and then claim refund under a cumbersome process.
Prabhu also said the ministry is working on the support measures "which can facilitate quick increase in exports both in volume and value."

He said the ministry will work on several fronts, including bringing in a new industrial policy, improving logistics for exporters, an agriculture export policy and integrating into the global supply chains.

"Global supply chains are now become a reality. India is part of that in auto components and generic formulations," he said.

Prabhu also described the current times as "challenging" in view of more countries creating protectionist "walls".

"Protectionist ideas are growing. They are stronger over a period time. So we will follow our trade policy in a manner that we will be able to work through these walls," he said.

South Indian sugar mills seek duty-free import of Raw sugar

Sugar mills in Tamil Nadu are looking to get permission from the Centre for duty-free import of raw sugar to tide over a supply crunch brought about by last year's drought.

Mills estimate cane availability for the forthcoming season at 65 lakh tonnes. If the entire stock is used, mills can turn out only upto 6 lakh tonnes of sugar. This would mean a 75% production drop from one of the peaks of 23.7 lakh tonnes recorded four seasons ago.

Holding a mere 2.7 lakh tonnes of sugar in the coffers -the state consumes 1.5 lakh tonnes a month -the inventory will dry up in about 45-60 days, leaving mills in the lurch just ahead of the festival season.

“We find ourselves in a position where it is economically unviable to get sugar from states like Uttar Pradesh, and at the same time run our factories at very low capacity utilisation. So, import is the only resort, or else we may have to suspend operations,“ said Palani G Periyasamy, chairman of Dharani Sugars.

Private sugar mills in the state have seen their production dwindle over the past few years from over 20 lakh tonnes to about half of that lately. The mills had also had cane arrears payable to farmers in hundreds of crores in terms of the State Advised Price, an addition to the Centre's Fair and Remunerative Price announced every year.In such a milieu, if sugar mills were to run their plans at a capacity utilisation of 25%, it could impact cane price remuneration in terms of FRP by `1,000 a tonne procured.

Interestingly, the Centre had allowed import of 5 lakh tonnes of raw sugar in April, of which Tamil Nadu got a share of 1.3 lakh tonnes, but the mills had exhausted that allocation. While they are allowed to individually import, the duty levy of 50% would render the processing an unviable business prospect.

An industry representative told ET on conditions of anonymity: “The current global price of raw sugar enables a situation where we can make a reasonable margin for every kg we sell. But of course, a huge demand from India would buoy global prices in the future too.“ For farmers, the cane shortage had led to the odd advantage of mills willing to pay more than the FRP to keep factories running .K Rajendran, a cane farmer in Ariyalur district in Tamil Nadu, said: “Of course, the little cane to supply means the higher prices would not make much of a diffe rence, but it underscores the desperation of mills to procure raw material.“

 import of Raw sugar