Sunday, February 01, 2009
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PUBLISHED BY ‘FROM SCRATCH NEWSWIRE’
PUBLISHED BY ‘FROM SCRATCH NEWSWIRE’
Posted by Gilmour Poincaree on January 20, 2009
10:10:00 01/20/2009
by Maila Ager
PUBLISHED BY ‘THE PHILIPPINE DAILY INQUIRER’
Posted in AGRICULTURE, BANKING SYSTEMS, COMMERCE, COMMODITIES MARKET, CRIMINAL ACTIVITIES, ECONOMIC CONJUNCTURE, ECONOMY, FERTILIZERS, FINANCIAL CRISIS 2008/2009, FINANCIAL MARKETS, FRAUD, INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTION, INDUSTRIES, INTERNATIONAL, MONEY LAUDERING, PHILIPPINES, PUBLIC SECTOR AND STATE OWNED ENTERPRISES, RECESSION, REGULATIONS AND BUSINESS TRANSPARENCY, RESTRUCTURING OF PRIVATE COMPANIES, THE FLOW OF INVESTMENTS | Leave a Comment »
Posted by Gilmour Poincaree on January 3, 2009
01/03/2009
by Angie M. Rosales
PUBLISHED BY ‘THE DAILY TRIBUNE’ (Philippines)
Posted in AGRICULTURE, BANKING SYSTEMS, COMMERCE, COMMODITIES MARKET, CORRUPTION, ECONOMIC CONJUNCTURE, ECONOMY, FERTILIZERS, FINANCIAL CRISIS 2008/2009, FINANCIAL MARKETS, FINANCIAL SCAMS, FINANCIAL SERVICES INDUSTRIES, FRAUD, INDUSTRIES, INTERNATIONAL, PHILIPPINES, PUBLIC SECTOR AND STATE OWNED ENTERPRISES, RECESSION, REGULATIONS AND BUSINESS TRANSPARENCY, STATE TARIFFS, TAX EVADING | Leave a Comment »
Posted by Gilmour Poincaree on December 11, 2008
10 December 2008, Wednesday
PUBLISHED BY ‘BULGARIAN BUSINESS – NOVINITE.COM’
The Romanian-English fertilizer company InterAgro is going to lay off about 5 500 workers, or about 90% of its employees, the Romanian newspaper Adevarul reported.
The company is going to close down all of its six chemical plants, which produce fertilizers. The only way to save the factories would be if the Romanian state supported the company, the InterAgro President Ioan Niculae is quoted as saying.
Such a step, however, would be a breach of EU competition rules, and is therefore unlikely.
Niculae also said the closure of the company factories would incur losses of USD 100 M. InterAgro exports its fertilizer production, and the declining demand on the international market due to the global financial crisis has affected the company.
Bulgaria’s fertilizer producer Agropolychim has also been troubled by the effects of the global financial crisis, and has had to shut down temporarily its production lines.
Posted in AGRICULTURE, BULGARIA, CHEMICALS (processed components), COMMERCE, COMMODITIES MARKET, ECONOMIC CONJUNCTURE, ECONOMY, ENGLAND, FERTILIZERS, FINANCIAL CRISIS 2008/2009, FINANCIAL MARKETS, FOREIGN POLICIES, INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTION, INDUSTRIES, INTERNATIONAL, INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS, JUDICIARY SYSTEMS, NATIONAL WORK FORCES, RECESSION, ROMANIA, STOCK MARKETS, THE EUROPEAN UNION, THE FLOW OF INVESTMENTS, THE WORK MARKET, THE WORKERS, UNITED KINGDOM | Leave a Comment »
Posted by Gilmour Poincaree on December 3, 2008
December 03, 2008 Wednesday Zilhaj 4, 1429
by Mubarak Zeb Khan
PUBLISHED BY ‘DAWN’ (Pakistan)
ISLAMABAD, Dec 2: The Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the cabinet approved on Tuesday a new schedule for load-management of natural gas for winter to overcome a possible shortfall.
The shortfall may exceed 500 million million cubic feet per day (mmcfd) in December and February and 600 mmcfd in January.
A meeting of the ECC, presided over by Adviser to Prime Minister on Finance and Revenue Shaukat Tarin, approved a summary prepared by the petroleum ministry aimed at maintaining uninterrupted supply of gas to domestic consumers, independent power producers and CNG stations for the transport sector.
Under the schedule, gas supply to the cement sector will be suspended from December to February and to the industrial sector it will be reduced by 50 per cent.
While fertiliser companies will carry out their annual maintenance, no gas will be provided to Wapda during the three months.
The schedule was finalised by a committee in consultation with the stakeholders.
The ECC asked the petroleum ministry to ensure uninterrupted supply of gas to domestic consumers. The burden of reduced supply will be shared by the power sector and industry.
On the recommendation of the ministry of water and power, the meeting approved a proposal to extend the tariff provisions of the 2002 power policy and the mechanism developed by Nepra to hydropower projects under the 1995 hydel policy with minimum changes in project agreements.
For increased availability of power, the ECC allowed rental power projects the same tax treatment as applicable to rental power projects under Wapda’s jurisdiction.
The meeting also approved a market intervention price of Rs1465 per 40kg for seed cotton during the 2008-09 season on the basis of current export parity price. The ministries of food and agriculture and commerce have been asked to work out an efficient procurement plan that benefits small farmers and keeps the price stable. The food and agriculture ministry has been asked to make timely announcement of the intervention price.
The ECC allowed procurement of 750,000 tons of additional wheat with better specifications and in a manner that domestic requirements were met satisfactorily and the wheat stock position remained adequate.
The ECC approved a credit guarantee scheme for small banks to help them maintain liquidity through availability of credit facilities from the State Bank. The scheme will be implemented by the SBP which will ensure its effective utilisation and sound operation of the banking system.
Posted in AGRICULTURE, BANKING SYSTEMS, CENTRAL BANKS, COMMERCE, COMMODITIES MARKET, ECONOMIC CONJUNCTURE, ECONOMY, ENERGY, FARMING SUBSIDIES, FERTILIZERS, FINANCIAL CRISIS 2008/2009, FINANCIAL MARKETS, INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTION, INDUSTRIES, INTERNATIONAL, NATURAL GAS, PAKISTAN, RECESSION, THE FLOW OF INVESTMENTS, WATER, WHEAT | Leave a Comment »
Posted by Gilmour Poincaree on November 27, 2008
First Posted 03:43:00 11/27/2008
by Amy R. Remo – Philippine Daily Inquirer
Philippine coconut production will likely expand 11 percent to 2.77 million metric tons in copra terms in 2009 from an estimated 2.5 million this year, thanks largely to a salt fertilization program, the Philippine Coconut Authority (PCA) said Wednesday.
The program involves fertilizing farms with two kilograms of salt per tree per year for three years to increase yield by at least 25 percent, PCA Deputy Administrator Arturo Liquete said at a news briefing.
The method increases the thickness of coconut meat and the number of nuts harvested, and is also credited for making coconut trees resistant to drought, pests and diseases, he said.
Liquate said that if all programs of the PCA would be put in place this year, coconut production could reach 3.2 million metric tons in 2009, given the farms’ recovery from typhoon devastation in late 2006 and infestation by the invasive beetle (Brontispa longgisima gestro), which damaged seedlings and mature trees.
The increase in coconut production would boost coconut oil exports to as much as one million metric tons in 2009, from an estimated 850,000 this year, and 886,561 million in 2007, he added.
The Philippines is the world’s biggest supplier of coconut oil, exporting 80 percent of its output.
“There’s a slow buying this year across export products due partly to the global recession,” Liquete said.
The United Coconut Associations of the Philippines earlier said the sector would likely miss its target volume for coconut oil exports this year because of “over-expectation of the recovery of local coconut production.”
The group said that while the coconut sector did not recover as fast as expected, the export figure this year would still exceed last year’s level.
Edited by INQUIRER.net
Posted in AGRICULTURE, COCONUT OIL, COMMERCE, COMMODITIES MARKET, ECONOMIC CONJUNCTURE, ECONOMY, FERTILIZERS, FINANCIAL CRISIS 2008/2009, INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTION, INTERNATIONAL, PHILIPPINES, RECESSION | Leave a Comment »
Posted by Gilmour Poincaree on November 27, 2008
November 27, 2008 Thursday Ziqa’ad 28, 1429
by Muzaffar Qureshi
KARACHI, Nov 26: Water shortage, especially in lower Sindh, is adversely affecting wheat sowing, which in other areas has started in full swing.
An official of the Sindh agriculture department confirmed on Wednesday that water shortage is the main problem in wheat sowing which has become a sensitive cash crop in view of the looming food shortage worldwide.
The areas affected by water shortage are: Hyderabad, Thatta, Badin, Matiari, Nawabshah and Naushero Feroze.
Growers complained that the fields situated at the tail-end of water canals were suffering most, and President of Sindh Abadgar Board Majeed Nizamani feared that the wheat target for year 2008-09 would not be achieved if water shortage was not tackled. The growers said that there was no real shortage of water, which has been created by mismanagement in water distribution and corruption in the irrigation department.
The water is supplied to influential and big growers offering incentives to the irrigation staff, they alleged.
Explaining the distribution network in the province, Nizamani said that the water available at the Guddu Barrage irrigates about eight million acres of land on both sides of the barrage through four major canals on the left side and three on the right side. The distribution network comprises about 210 water channels.
He said that the water shortage during the current wheat crop has been estimated at 35 per cent which means that out of four weeks, there will be no water supply to the farms for one week. However, he said that if judicious distribution of the available water is made, wheat target could be achieved.
Mr Nizamani said that otherwise factors, such as availability of phosphate and urea fertilizers, etc., were favourable for a bumper crop.
More land will be available for wheat sowing this year as growers of edible oil crop, who are not keen to grow sunflower in view of declining prices of edible oil in the world market, will instead contribute their land for wheat sowing.
Similarly, he said that if sugarcane is lifted by the sugar mills earlier, more land could be made available for wheat cultivation.
The government has fixed wheat cultivation area in Sindh this year at 2.5 million acres while the production target is 25 million tons.
Another leading wheat grower pointed to the corruption, which has reached its climax in the irrigation department.
The officials of the department are so powerful that the agriculture ministry finds itself helpless in dealing with the department.
He called for proper management of cultivation of various crops as is managed in Australia where the government fixed the land units for sowing of a particular crop, which is decided after assessing the domestic requirements.
Posted in AGRICULTURE, COMMODITIES MARKET, CORRUPTION, ECONOMIC CONJUNCTURE, ECONOMY, FERTILIZERS, INTERNATIONAL, PAKISTAN, SUNFLOWER, WATER, WHEAT | Leave a Comment »