Sugar mills seek next year's export policy to cash in on firm futures-Exportify Pulse Edition - July 29,2022

Sugar mills seek next year's export policy to cash in on firm futures

Sugar millers have urged the government to announce an export policy for the next sugar season that begins on October 1, allowing mills to sign forward contracts at a time when international futures prices of raw sugar are firm. Industry body Indian Sugar Mills Association (ISMA), in a letter to the food ministry, has requested to allow the export of eight million tonnes of sugar in 2022-23.

“Right now, Thailand and Brazil are taking benefit of the firm international prices,” said Aditya Jhunjhunwala, president of ISMA. “If we can contract now for the next season, we can begin exports from October.”

ISMA has suggested that the government can impose a time limit from October 1 till April for the first phase of exports so as to expedite exports during the crushing season, which can help in making timely cane payment to the farmers. Read More

New UK parliamentary panel to promote trade, investment ties with India

A new cross-party UK parliamentary panel has been created to promote trade, investment and people-to-people ties with India, backed up by the British Indian think tank 1928 Institute. India (Trade and Investment) All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) was formally registered last week as part of celebrations of the 75th anniversary of India's independence and is made up of 25 members of Parliament and peers of different political affiliations.

With a stated goal to promote trade and investment between India and the UK for the mutual betterment of their citizens, whilst building an inclusive living bridge between the two countries, the new APPG hopes to support the ongoing India-UK free trade agreement (FTA) negotiations and promote its benefits once concluded. Read More

UAE Key Export Market For Indian Gems, Jewellery, Exports Account For 15%

The UAE is an important export market for Indian gems and jewellery, accounting for around 15 per cent or USD 5.8 billion in FY 2021-22, according to a top official of an industry body.

Colin Shah, Chairman of the Gem and Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC), said that India's plain gold jewellery exports to the UAE jumped 63 per cent to 135.27 million in May and 59 per cent to USD 116.70 million in June this year on a year-on-year basis.

“I believe that the fruition of the Indo-UAE CEPA will spur many more such opportunities for our traders to connect and network, as evidenced by the immediate spike in the bilateral gem and jewellery trade, especially plain gold jewellery, post the trade agreement's enforcement on May 1 this year,” Mr Shah said, urging buyers from the UAE to visit the India International Jewellery Show (IIJS) Premiere event next month in large numbers. Read More

India's crude sunflower oil imports fall 23 per cent during February-June

In the wake of the Russia-Ukraine crisis, India's crude sunflower oil imports fell by 23 percent to 5.70 lakh tonnes between February 21 and June 30 of this year, Parliament was informed on Tuesday. Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar, in his written reply to the Lok Sabha, said the major countries from which India imports sunflower oil are Ukraine, Russia, and Argentina.

"Since February 21, 2022, to June 30, 2022, 5.70 lakh tonne of crude sunflower oil has been imported in the country as against import of 7.39 lakh tonne during the corresponding period in the previous year," Tomar said.

The minister was responding to a query if there was any impact on sunflower oil import due to recent instability in Ukraine and Russia. Read More

Editor's Note

India has not imposed any country-specific ban on imports, Union Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal informed Parliament in reply to a question on whether the central government has taken or proposed to take any steps to impose a ban on Chinese products.

"India and China, are both members of the WTO, and any trade restriction imposed must be WTO compliant. Government has from time to time reviewed and taken WTO compliant measures to address the concerns raised by various stakeholders?to have a holistic global trade strategy," he said further in his reply.

However, as per the import policy of the government, all goods imported into India are subject to domestic laws, rules, orders, regulations, technical specifications, environment, and safety norms. Government takes appropriate action including a ban on goods if these are found to violate these regulations or have implications for national security," Goyal added.

Source: Economic Times