Coir Board plans to set up a raw material trading company with authorised capital of Rs 5 crore to facilitate smooth supply of raw material to coir industry. "The board proposes to set up a company to discharge the functions of a raw material bank and make available raw materials such as coir fibre, yarn, dyes, chemicals, hessian cloths and jute twine to the coir industry," company sources said. The paid-up capital of the company would be Rs 2.5 crore. The board proposes to contribute equity to the tune of 26 per cent. Balance would be offered to state governments and state public sector undertakings, small-scale manufacturers, Coir Exporters' Association and Rubberised Coir Manufacturers' Association. The formation of the company would discourage hoarding of raw material by intermediaries in the trade and promote higher and better quality production of coir fibre and yarns and other materials required by the industry. Smooth supply of raw material would also helpmanufacturers to meet delivery schedules in both the domestic and international markets. The board has sought higher provision of Rs 16 crore in the current year from government as against the sanctioned amount of Rs 8 crore. The board management held talks with the industry ministry recently and an additional amount of Rs 5 crore was expected to be released.

AWB retains single wheat export system

The restructured Australian Wheat Board Ltd has retained its monopoly rights to export the nation's wheat, agriculture, fisheries and forestry minister Mark Vaile said on Wednesday. A federal government agreement on a constitution for the newly privatised AWB, effective July 1, 1999, gives wheat growers ownership of the agency, Vaile said. "The major concern of retaining the single desk for exports as a means of maximising returns to growers has been done," Vaile said. Australia's 60,000 wheat farmers were largely united in favour of removing a sunset clause on the AWB's export monopoly in 2004,although its abolishment required an act of parliament. Australia is forecast to export 14.5 million tonnes of wheat in 1998/99 (July/June) or two-thirds of the estimated crop of 21.2 million tonnes.

Japan rice tariff will force Australia out

Australian trade minister Tim Fischer on Wednesday warned Australian rice exporters would be locked out of the Japanese market if the government there went ahead with plans to impose high tariff restrictions on rice. Fischer said Japan's plans to levy tariffs in excess of 1,200 per cent would force Australian exporters out of the market even through Japan was also planning to remove volume restrictions as part of the tariff change. "If they are imposing a tariff of over 1,200 per cent it(the lifting of volume restrictions) becomes a pretty academic move because that would effectively lock out any rice from Australia or elsewhere in the world," Fischer told reporters. Fischer said he had spoken with US trade representative Charlene Barshefsky earlier onWednesday morning on the matter. Australia only recently won a tender to sell 25,000 tonnes of medium-grain rice to Japan in what Fischer described at the time as a breakthrough.

Liffe grains close higher

Liffe wheat futures closed between5 and 25 pence higher Tuesday as short profit-takers in the market buoy ed prices, said brokers. "There was a good element of shipper profit-taking in the market (Tuesday) holding up values," said one Liffe broker. November new-crop wheat gained the most through trading Tuesday closing 25 pence higher at GBP82.50 a metric ton. Brokers said market participants took advantage of lower prices during the day to buy at levels below those at which they had previously sold. Hence, the stronger pound Tuesday has largely been ignored, said brokers. At 1642 GMT sterling traded at DEM2.7931, up from DEM 2.7847 traded in London late Monday. A rise in the value of the pound makes UK goods more expensive to overseas buyers, and UK shippers usually have to lower prices to remaincompetitive on export markets. A total of 389 lots changed hands.

Liffe barley futures closed between 20 and 25 pence lower Tuesday, pressured by the stronger pound.

CBOT corn, wheat close steady

Corn and wheat futures closed steady to slightly lower Tuesday at the Chicago Board of Trade on technical selling, market watchers said. "We had some technical selling," said John Zanutto, a vice president at Merrill Lynch on the CBOT floor. "There is some nervousness over the impeachment process, so people are worried about owning anything for the minute." He said some traders are concerned about the possibility of winter kill in the US hard red wheat areas. Forecasts for later in the week call for colder temperature and without a snow cover, some wheat could be damaged. "Some of the wheat is not fully in dormancy because temperatures have been 30 degrees above normal," said Zanutto. Steve Bruce, a broker at ED&F Man on the CBOT floor, noted that Tuesday was a low-volume trading day and that the marketlacked direction. "There's no passion here," he said.

US West Coast ANS pure prices firm

Pure prices for US West Coast crudes firmed Tuesday but differentials remained unchanged in idle spot trade, dealers said. Buyers said market fundamentals would cause the discount for Alaska North Slope (ANS) crude to widen from $2.10 a barrel, where it has remained since December 3. "There's refining problems, the margins aren't good," said one buyer. "It should go lower based on demand." BP Oil, meanwhile, reversed its usual role and said it would buy ANS at $1.80 a barrel under WTI. Its offer remained $1.40 a barrel under WTI. ANS markets have been driven sharply lower by steady production, falling refinery demand, and broadly lower oil markets, traders said. Few deals of any kind were expected soon, with traders trying to reduce inventories and producers wary of selling into a weak market. Some buyers said West Coast demand for spot ANS would be thin for January, especially since a key buyer -- Equilon'sWashington State refinery -- was unable to take its usual two to three cargoes of ANS after an explosion cut plant capacity. Outright prices for January ANS on the West Coast made moderate gains to end around $9.46/9.62 a barrel on Tuesday,compared with $9.12/9.2 8 the day before.

US West Coast products steady

Prices for US West Coast spot gasoline were mostly steady Tuesday, held up by talk that refiners were buying fuel during planned and unplanned outages, traders said. While Chevron denied rumours of any production problems at either its Los Angeles refinery, some traders said the facility's hydrogen plant would remain down until Wednesday for unplanned repairs. Other refiners were experiencing problems. Equilon late Wednesday confirmed that a coker at its Wilmington refinery near Los Angeles was experiencing mechanical problems. Rumours of the problems forced the price of spot West Coast gasoline higher late last week, but prices remained steady as buyer demand eased Tuesday. In lightproducts, ultra-clean CARB gasoline was quoted flat at 45/45.50 cents gallon to around 45 cents a gallon in Los Angeles. West Coast distillates were unchanged in general, with CARB diesel flat at 39/40 cents a gallon in LA.

ACCESS crude oil nearly unchanged

US crude oil futures prices were mostly flat during Tuesday's ACCESS session after a weekly report that showed no surprising changes in inventory levels, traders said. Volume became light on ACCESS, with little reaction to data issued late Tuesday by the American Petroleum Institute, an oil trade group based in Washington DC. "The (API) numbers were pretty neutral," one dealer said. "We're seeing more of a technical move," on ACCESS. Traders on ACCESS were waiting to see if crude would come in line with the 18-day moving average, used by analysts to help forecast the direction of the market. Dealers said they were putting more stock in an oil producers' meeting Thursday in Madrid than in Tuesday's API data.

NYCE cotton ends down

Cotton futures on the New York Cotton Exchange settled lower Tuesday as speculators sold futures amid a lack of buying interest, traders said. On Monday, the market ended slightly higher as the trade ho uses and some funds bought futures, taking profits on Friday's dips traders said. "The commission houses were sellers, the trade houses were buying on the dips and locals were on both sides," said a New York-based trader. "Specs are short and at these prices, it looks like they are comfortable in that situation and don't want to cover these positions yet. On the other hand, there's little demand for US cotton out there. So there's no reason to buy," said another New York-based trader.

Euro cotton unchanged

Cotlook, a Liverpool-based cotton information company, reported on Tuesday that the overall Cotlook Index a remained unchanged at 56.15 C/ lb. European raw cotton markets were lacking any fundamental new feature. The approach of the year-end holiday period is serving to dampen further analready lacklustre buying interest from most spinners. Where business has been under discussion, buyers' pt rice ideas have typically proved well below prevailing trade offering rates. Difficult trading in cotton yarn markets has also contributed to the slowness of demand for raw cotton, and activity generally has remained very subdued.

Textile databank inaugurated

A databank that provides latest information on textile industry including production, designs and other market related details was inaugurated today by textile minister Kashiram Rana. Called the Economic Research and Market Intelligence Unit (ERMIU), it will collect data from various departments and organisations like customs, embassies and trade commissions. The ERMIU will be useful to exporters as information will be the key in the post-multifibre agreement (MFA) era when the quota system will be dismantled leading to a increasingly competitive environment, an official release said here. The databank can be accessed through theInternet.

Shanghai copper firms

Shanghai copper futures edged up in early trade, taking cue from bargain-hunting on the London Metal Exchange (LME), traders said. The key April 1999 contract rose to 15,400 yuan ($1,860)per tonne, up 90 yuan from Tuesday's close. It traded between 15,410 and 15,350. The active March contract rose 60 yuan to 15,300 yuan. "Light consumer buying lifted London prices from the lows,confirming the sentiment that the copper market was due for a pause," a trader said. LME three-month copper finished Tuesday's kerb at $1,484, after hitting a 12-year low of 1,467. But traders remained wary because the bounce was not supported by fresh fundamental news. Shanghai spot copper was quoted at 15,050-15,150 yuan per tonne, little changed from Tuesday. The Jan 1998 contract rose 20 to 15,060 yuan, February 70to 15,200 and May 90 to 15,490.

Microsoft to hold seminar: Microsoft Corporation India Pvt Ltd is holding its annual professional developers conference - PDC '99 - inBangalore on February 1 and 2. The seminar titled ``Building Web Applications with Windows Operating Systems'' will also discuss issues realted to COM/COM+, Microsoft Transaction Server and Windows 2000, says a company release.

Bharti bags Rs 12 crore order: Bharti BT has bagged a 700-site V-SAT order worth Rs 12 crore from Hyderabad-based Sparsh Communication. The V-SAT network will be used to enable a country-wide system for monitoring of truck movement on major national highways and important state highways under the highway automation system (HAS). The HAS project will involve the deployment of info-kiosks at distances of 50 km along national highways, according to a press release.

Tainwala group qizzed: Justice SN Variava of the Bombay high court on Wednesday queried the Tainwala group on the manner in which it had disbursed interest-free funds to companies in which the directors were concerned. The court also raised questions about the wide discrepancies in the unaudited balance sheetof Tainwala Polycontainers and the final audited balance sheet.