PRO 04-09-2012_Layout 1 9/4/2012 12:38 AM Page 1
Tuesday, 4 September, 2012
KHARIF 2012
Urea supply > urea demand 3.377m ton urea available against 3.214m ton estimated demand ISLAMABAD APP
N
ATIONAl Fertilizer Development Centre (NFDC) has announced that about 3.377 million tons of urea including 0.425 million tons of imported supplies would be available against 3.214 million tons estimated demand, leaving an inventory of 0.159 million tons during on-going Kharif season. The availability would also include 0.8 million tons of inventory and 2.152 million tons of local production. Issuing details about the situation during Kharif-2012, the Centre in its latest summary said about 0.726 million tons of DAP would also be available in the market. The demand estimates are around 0.552 million tons, leaving a closing balance of 0.173 million tons. Thus supply demand situation in respect of both urea and DAP will remain satisfactory during Kharif 2012. Regarding fertilizer off take during June2012, it said total nutrients off take during the month was about 0.592 million tons which increased by 96.9 per cent over June last year. Nitrogen and phosphate off take increased by 107.2 and 37.7 per cent respectively whereas potash off take decreased by 16.9 per cent. The summary further revealed that Urea off take during June-2012 was 1.029 million tons, showing an increase of 109.1 per cent over June 2011. The increase in urea off take was mainly due to reduction in its company price by local fertilizer industry from Rs. 1,790 to 1,650 per 50 kg
timeframe of last Kharif 2011. It also revealed that Urea off take was 1.715 million tons (1.451 million tons last year), with an increase of 18.2 per cent. The DAP off take was 0.182 million tons (0.153 million tons last year), showing upward trend of 19.2 per cent over Kharif 2011. About fertilizer off take year on year basis (July 2011 – June 2012), the summary indicates that total nutrients off take during 2011-12 was 3.697 million tons, showing a decrease of 6.0 per cent over previous year 2010-11. Nitrogen off take was 3.055 million tons against 3.133 million tons during 2010-11 with decrease of 2.5 percent. Similarly, phosphate off take was 0.621 million tons against 0.768 million tons last year, showing a decrease of 19.1 per cent. Potash off take also decreased by 33.2 per cent compared to previous year. In product terms, urea off take decreased by 0.8 per cent from 5.765 million tons in 2010-11 to 5.722 million tons in 2011-12. Off take of DAP also decreased by 20.7 per cent from 1.325 million tons in 201011 to 1.051 million tons in 2011-12, it added.
bag of urea. The DAP off take was 96,000 tons which increased by 40.6 per cent over corresponding month of 2011. The summary said production of all fertilizer products during June 2012 was about 0.514 million tons. Dispatches of imported fertilizers from port were 0.195 million tons, comprising of 0.132 million tons of urea and 63,000 tons of DAP. During June 2012, prices of all the fertilizers except TSP decreased. During June 2012 prices of Urea Sona and Urea tara decreased by 1.9 and 2.5 per cent over May 2012 respectively. Prices of DAP decreased slightly (1.3 %) while prices of CAN, SSP (P) and SSP (G) decreased by 1.0, 4.4 and 3.1 per cent respectively. However, price of TSP increased by 2.6 per cent over May, 2012. The summary said the cumulative nutrients off take for first three months of Kharif 2012 (April to June 2012) was 1.02 million tons, witnessing an increase of 17.4 per cent over the same
Trade policy envisages Rs 60b for Export Development Initiative
Dr Salman Shah elected LSE Board chairman LAHORE NNI
The Board of Directors of the lahore Stock Exchange limited (lSE) today elected Dr. Salman shah new Chairman of the Board. Dr. Shah is a lahore based prominent Economist and holds a PhD in Finance and Economics from Indiana University, Bloomington’s Kelley School of Business. Dr. Salman Shah is the CEO of Bridge Asia Financial Services. Earlier, he was the Finance Minister and Advisor to Prime Minister on Finance and Revenue at Ministry of Finance, Government of Pakistan. He has also been on the Board of Directors of Pakistan International Airlines and Associate Dean at lahore University of Management Sciences. He has also served in various task forces of Government of Pakistan. After election a press conference was conducted where newly elected chairman advised small investors to invest their savings into those companies that give handsome return. He also briefed about the development of the country and said that Kashmir issue and increased poverty are the main hurdles between the development of the country. Answering a question regarding Pak-India cross border investments, he said that this will be profitable for both the countries. He said that targets of Demutualization won’t be achieved without brokers’ involvement, therefore, he requested to the brokers of the Exchange to actively participate in this process. Managing Director of the lahore Stock Exchange congratulated the new elected chairman of the lahore Stock Exchange and expressed his hope that under the guidance of Mr. Salman Shah, the Exchange will achieve the targets of development rapidly using the vast financial experience of the chairman.
Oil down in Asia SINGAPORE
ISLAMABAD
AFP
APP
Rest assured! Local industry to be protected after phasing out negative list ISLAMABAD APP
The local industry of the country would be protected even after phasing out of the negative list with India that is expected in December of the current year. After phasing out negative list, “we will shift to sensitive list under South Asian Free Trade Agreement (SAFTA) and this agreement was made in provision of World Trade Organization (WTO)”, said an official in the ministry of commerce while talking to APP. Of 1200 items in negative list, the sensitive list includes 700 items which were finalized after developing consensus with India, he added. Moreover, the sensitive list also covers major sector including automobile, pharmaceutical, agriculture and textiles. These items carried import duty from 25 per cent to 80 per cent whenever any of these items is imported from India. Quoting example of vehicle, he said that if any car was imported from India, its cost would be equal to almost local manufactured unit after paying duties. Besides, the local industries were under progress of making more competitive before phasing out negative list. Automobile sector is trying to transfer from Euro-I to Euro-II to compete the Indian market. European Countries has started to offer discount on the price of machinery after Pakistan took trade initiatives with India.
As much as Rs 60 billion have been proposed in the upcoming three-year Strategic Trade Policy Framework (STPF 2012 2015) for the Export Development Initiative. “The fund has been proposed keeping in view the financial constraints of the government,” a top official told APP adding that the aim is to facilitate the exporters for boosting their exports and make them competitive with regional competitors like India and Bangladesh. The official said that this fund was lowest as compared to the other regional countries. He was of the view that if the government did not provide this fund, it would be unjust for the export industry adding that at a time when the trade deficit had already reached to $21 billion, this support is needed to help exports grow. Commenting on the previous trade policy, the official maintained that the trade policy 2009-12 could not be properly implemented due to paucity of funds. He said that the Textile Ministry had demanded the government funds of Rs 188 billion for the implementation of the trade policy (2009 12)
for five years, but the ministry provided just Rs 23 billion for three years. Similarly, the Ministry of Commerce had demanded Rs 27 billion for the proper implementation but it was provided Rs.3 billion. “The scarcity of funds was the main reason that the previous three year trade policy could not be implemented,” they added However, the new trade policy is focused on addressing the new challenges and has been developed while keeping in view the financial limitations of the government.
D-day ahead Judgment day looms for euro FRANKFURT AFP
When the history books come to be written about the euro, September 12, 2012 could well prove one of the most significant dates in the life of the embattled single currency. At 10:00 am (0800 GMT) on that day, the eight scarlet-robed judges of Germany’s Verfassungsgericht or Constitutional
Crude prices fell in Asia Monday with traders disappointed after US Federal Reserve chief Ben Bernanke did not confirm stimulus measures during a closely-watched speech, analysts said. New York’s main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in October, shed 24 cents to $96.23 a barrel and Brent North Sea crude for October delivery fell 17 cents to $114.40. Crude markets were digesting Bernanke’s speech at a central bankers’ summit in Jackson Hole, Wyoming on Friday, where he did not announce a firm timetable for stimulus measures, IG Markets said in a report. “Bernanke disappointed with no confirmation of QE3 or details about its timing,” the report stated. But the price fall was limited as Bernanke’s speech “was very monetary policy-heavy which many viewed as paving the way for another round of asset purchasing soon”. In his highly anticipated speech, Bernanke defended the Fed’s interventions of the past four years and signalled he would be pushing for more when the Fed’s policy board meets in 12 days. “The economic situation is obviously far from satisfactory,” he said at the conference, adding that the central bank would provide additional policy accommodation “as needed” for economic growth in the world’s biggest oil-consuming country.
Court will file into the courtroom in the southwest city of Karlsruhe to decide whether German President Joachim Gauck can sign into law the eurozone’s key crisis-fighting tools. German parliament already voted in favour of the European Stability Mechanism (ESM) and the European fiscal pact with a two-thirds majority at the end of June. But Gauck held off from completing the ratification process in face of a number of legal challenges filed by the far-left Die linke party, a citizens’ initiative group called “more democracy” and a well-known eurosceptic from Chancellor Angela Merkel’s CSU Bavarian sister party, Peter Gauweiler. They argued that the ESM — the EU’s permanent 500-billion-euro ($627-billion) rescue fund — and the fiscal pact were incompatible with Germany’s “Grundgesetz” or Basic law because they are effectively forcing Germany to surrender its budgetary sovereignty without the necessary democratic backing. By committing Europe’s biggest economy — and already its effective paymaster — to the ESM, parliament was essentially exposing Germany’s public finances to unlimited risks should one eurozone country after an-
other topple under the debt crisis, they argued. And that meant German voters’ basic democratic rights were being infringed upon. In addition, the critics argued the ESM breaches the “no bailout clause” of the EU’s Maastricht Treaty, under which Germany agreed to relinquish its revered Deutschmark on condition there would be no direct or indirect sharing of eurozone members’ debt. The ESM, which will replace the temporary European Financial Stability Facility, should have been up and running by July 1. But it needs Germany’s share of the rescue money to function and has thus been held up pending the Constitutional Court’s ruling. On September 12 the court will not yet rule on the constitutionality of either the ESM or the fiscal pact. It will simply decide whether to grant temporary injunctions sought by the plaintiffs that will prevent President Gauck from signing the legislation into law until a final ruling can be made next year. If the court dismisses the plaintiffs’ case, everything will be hunky dory: Gauck can sign the legislation and the ESM can at long last become operational, much to the relief of the financial markets.