................ CM YK CHENNAI 8 BusinessLine SATURDAY • FEBRUARY 13 • 2021 COMMODITIES/AGRI-BUSINESS OUR BUREAU Mangaluru, February 12 Buoyed by lower import taxes, refiners purchased more palm oil. Imports of the tropical oil jumped by 8 per cent in the first quarter of the oil year 2020-21. According to Solvent Ex- tractors’ Association (SEA) of India, the import of palm oil (which includes CPO, RBD palmolein, and crude palm kernel oil) in- creased to 2.17 million tonnes (mt) during the November-January quarter of the oil year 2020-21 against two mt during the corresponding period of the previous oil year, registering a growth of 8.01 per cent. Crude palm oil (CPO) imports jumped 24 per cent during the period under review due to duty reduction from 37.5 per cent to 27.5 per cent with effect from November 27. Soft oils down He said the import of soft oils decreased marginally to 1.32 mt (1.36 mt) due to lower import of sun- flower oil. Added to this, the im- port of soya oil was the lowest in January as a strike by truckers in Ar- gentina seriously affected loading during Novem- ber. This resulted in lesser vessels of soya oil arriving in India during January. However, he said, the Budget has restructured the vegetable oil import policy. Though the basic im- port duty on CPO was lowered by 12.5 points to 15 per cent, this was more than offset by a newly in- troduced 17.5 per cent of agriculture infrastructure and development cess which is earmarked to im- prove agriculture infrastructure. “Taken together, the total import duty on CPO increased from 30.25 per cent to 35.75 per cent. Soya oil and sunflower oil imports are now subject to a 20 per cent cess but the basic duty decreased from 35 to 15 per cent, keeping the effective tariff unchanged at 38.5 per cent. The duty advantage of CPO thus narrowed from 8.25 to 2.75 percent- age points,” he said. Country-wise imports India buys palm oil from Indonesia and Malaysia, while other oils including soya oil and sunflower oil are sourced from Argen- tina, Brazil, Ukraine and Russia. During November-Janu- ary of 2020-21, Malaysia supplied 1.23 mt of CPO followed by Indonesia at 0.85 mt. India imported 0.64 mt of crude soya- bean degummed oil from Argentina, and 0.54 mt of crude sunflower oil from Ukraine followed by 82,673 tonnes from Russia. Total vegoil import The total import of veget- able oils (which includes edible oil and non-edible oil) declined by 8 per cent to 1.09 mt during January 2021 compared to 1.19 mt in January 2020. However, the overall im- port of vegetable oils dur- ing November-January 2021 stood at 3.55 mt (3.45 mt) registering a growth of 3 per cent. CPO imports jumped 24% in Q1 of oil year 2020-21 Palm oil imports up 8% at 2.17 mt in Nov-Jan FUTURES TRACKER Symbol Delivery Centre Price Unit Previous Close (₹) Close (₹) % Change OI MCX ALUMINIUM Thane 1 Kg 167.7 167.6 -0.1 4785 COPPER Thane 1 Kg 636.9 634.1 -0.4 11777500 COTTON Rajkot 1 Bale 21450.0 21470.0 0.1 137775 CPO* Cash Settled 10 Kgs 1012.1 1015.4 0.3 53990 CRUDEOIL Cash Settled 1 BBL 4241.0 4200.0 -1.0 447700 GOLD Ahmedabad 10 grms 47508.0 47318.0 -0.4 13275 GOLDGUINEA Ahmedabad 8 grms 38015.0 37980.0 -0.1 53.28 GOLDM Ahmedabad 10 grms 47377.0 47196.0 -0.4 2004 GOLDPETAL Ahmedabad 1 grm 4726.0 4709.0 -0.4 56.507 KAPAS* Cash Settled 20 Kgs 1230.0 1233.5 0.3 244 LEAD Thane / Chennai 1 Kg 170.7 170.2 -0.3 3265 MENTHAOIL Chandausi 1 Kg 962.1 969.3 0.7 70.2 NATURALGAS Cash Settled 1 mmBtu 209.2 207.4 -0.9 15356250 NICKEL Thane 1 Kg 1350.6 1336.7 -1.0 3490500 RUBBER Palakkad 100 Kgs 15721.0 15682.0 -0.2 112 SILVER Ahmedabad 1 Kg 68492.0 68792.0 0.4 389160 SILVERM Ahmedabad 1 Kg 68454.0 68731.0 0.4 52730 SILVERMIC Ahmedabad 1 Kg 68441.0 68723.0 0.4 34417 ZINC Thane 1 Kg 221.9 222.2 0.2 12565 NCDEX CASTOR DEESA Quintal 4398.0 4412.0 0.3 6905 CHANA BIKANER Quintal 4609.0 4645.0 0.8 30830 COCUDAKL AKOLA Quintal 2274.0 2261.0 -0.6 20050 COTTON RAJKOT Bales 21160.0 21160.0 0.0 0 DHANIYA KOTA Quintal 6504.0 6494.0 -0.2 2485 GUARGUM5 JODHPUR Quintal 6212.0 6220.0 0.1 2670 GUARSEED10 JODHPUR Quintal 3909.0 3913.0 0.1 7315 JEERAUNJHA UNJHA Quintal 13405.0 13425.0 0.1 1134 KAPAS RAJKOT 20 kgs 1231.0 1231.0 0.0 2446 RMSEED JAIPUR Quintal 6120.0 6103.0 -0.3 2580 STEEL GOBINDGARH Quintal 37730.0 37200.0 -1.4 600 SYBEANIDR INDORE Quintal 4802.0 4773.0 -0.6 5410 SYOREF INDORE 10 kgs 1123.0 1127.0 0.4 14175 TMCFGRNZM NIZAMABAD Quintal 7540.0 7756.0 2.9 7765 Source: MCX and NCDEX; all contracts are current month/near month; closing prices are taken from provisional bhav copy (as of 17.00 hours); *delivery option available ■ Demand will rise by 5.79 million barrels per day (bpd) this year to 96.05 million bpd, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries said in a monthly report, trimming its growth forecast by 110,000 bpd from a month ago. ■ Investors pull $10.6 billion out of cash and $800 million from gold. This is the first week of outflows from precious metals in two months, says a Bank of America report. MCX COMPDEX -39 pts (-0.36%) MCX BULLDEX -31 pts (-0.21%) MCX METLDEX -72 pts (-0.51%) NCDEX AGRIDEX 1 pt (0.10%) PR. CLOSE HIGH LOW CLOSE PR. CLOSE HIGH LOW CLOSE PR. CLOSE HIGH LOW CLOSE PR. CLOSE HIGH LOW CLOSE 10807.08 10817.90 10749.14 10768.34 15031.08 15064.67 14963.54 14999.98 14197.10 14246.45 14087.35 14125.00 1190.50 1198.90 1189.80 1191.80 As of 17.00 hours VISHWANATH KULKARNI Bengaluru, February 12 Anyone can grow gerberas, the decorative flowers, anywhere soon. Thanks to the ICAR-Indian Institute of Horticulture, Bengaluru, that has developed two new gerbera varieties that can be grown by farmers in the open fields, unlike in the green- house currently. These two varieties have the potential to revolutionise the cultivation of gerberas, which are grown on about 2,000 hec- tares in greenhouses. Also, these two varieties can help cut down the royalty being paid by the In- dian growers to breeders in Europe. The two new varieties, which can be grown in areas with max- imum temperatures of up to 40 degree celsius, have been de- veloped over eight years after screening the germplasm from various locations across the country, said C Ashwath, Prin- cipal Scientist and Head of IIHR’s Floriculture and Medi- cinal Plants division. They would be commercial- ised soon and made available to farmers at a price of ₹12-15 per plant, he said. Cost-saving variety Plants of about 30 varieties of gerberas, currently grown in the country are imported from Europe, mainly Netherlands. Each plant costs about ₹35-40, of which half the price goes as royalty to the European breeders. “The open gerberas are a boon to the small farmers as the cost of cultivation is lower than those cultivated in the green houses. They don’t have to incur the greenhouse costs and the planting material cost is less. Also, the open varieties need less of pesticide spray, once a month as against two to three rounds in the green houses. The cost of producing each gerbera flower will be around 20 paise in the open as compared to ₹2 in the greenhouse,” Ashwath said. “The new varieties look good but until and unless they are grown in a big way, it is difficult to assess,” said Shrikant Bollap- ally, a cut flower grower and President, Growers Flower Council of India. “These variet- ies look attractive for growers, who cannot think or afford to invest in green houses, which is a major cost. Moreover, it can avoid the royalty payments to the foreign breeders,” Bollap- ally said. The indigenous development of cut flowers varieties such as roses, carnation, gypsophia and limonium, would benefit the growers, he added. Now, grow gerberas in open fields ICAR-IIHR’s new gerbera varieties can help cut down on royalty paid to European breeders C Ashwath, Principal Scientist and Head of Floriculture and Medicinal Plants at IIHR OUR BUREAU Ahmedabad, February 12 National Commodity & Derivat- ives Exchange Limited (NCDEX) will relaunch futures contracts in hi-pro (high-protein) soya- bean meal from February 17. The monthly contract will be available for trade from March to September. The launch of a futures con- tract for soyameal provides a synergy for the agri-commodity exchange, which has active con- tracts for soyabean and soya oil. As per market sources, a standardised contract and the synergy between the three con- tracts will benefit primarily the soyabean processors by allow- ing them to lock the spread and use hedging mechanisms for input and output. High-protein meal “This is a modified contract from the earlier yellow soya- bean meal contract. Soyabean meal containing 50% or more protein is called as Hi-pro Soya- bean meal. Soyameal market is slowly moving towards high protein soyameal and based on the market trend and feedback from trade participants, Ex- change has modified the spe- cification to Hi-pro quality,” in- formed a source at NCDEX. The minimum initial margin required is 10 per cent. The unit of trade and delivery unit is 10 tonnes and the ticket size is ₹10 per tonne. “This is a compulsory delivery contract,” the source added. The delivery centres are Indore in Madhya Pradesh and Latur in Maharashtra. Upon the expiry of the contract, all the outstanding open position shall result in compulsory delivery. On expiry, the futures price will be matched and settled at the cut-off price of the spot mar- ket. NCDEX to relaunch soyameal futures RADHESHYAM JADHAV Pune, February 12 Maharashtra Farmers Produ- cer Company (MahaFPC), a consortium of about 400 FPCs in the State, is exploring part- nerships and joint ventures with corporate houses even as debates and discussions on new farm laws continue. The MahaFPC has already launched India’s first onion storage and marketing infra- structure through the public- private-partnership (PPP) model. Yogesh Thorat, MD, Ma- haFPC, told BusinessLine it is high time farmers looked at equitable partnerships and not a subsidy to survive. “There is no option for small farmers than to form FPCs and corporate bodies will have to deal with FPCs. Corporate bod- ies would not be interested in production-centric operations but in infrastructure and value chain development. We are looking for investment- centric partnerships and joint ventures. This is the way to move forward,” said Thorat adding that the onion experi- ment has boosted the confid- ence of farmers. ‘Unfounded fears’ A section of farmers opposing new farm laws has alleged that big corporates will reap the be- nefits of reforms and farmers will be left high and dry. “Farmers and farming has to be competitive,” said Thorat. According to Vilas Shinde, Chairman and Managing Dir- ector of the Nashik-based FPO Sahyadri Farms, farmers’ col- lectives will increase their ne- gotiation power with corpor- ates. Maharashtra farmers exploring tie-ups with corporates G CHANDRASHEKHAR Platinum has had a stellar run so far with the market breaching the psycholo- gical $1,200 per ounce earlier this week. On Thursday, it touched a six- year high of $1,270. Al- though prices are now somewhat correcting be- cause of possible profit tak- ing, experts feel there is still some steam left in the metal. It appears that platinum has got out of gold’s shadow with the price dif- ferential narrowing to around $600/oz — a condi- tion seen about a year ago. Even as gold is under downward pressure hav- ing fallen to around $1,815/ oz, platinum is showing promise as ETF inflows con- tinue and financial in- vestors seem to opt for it. Supply deficit Clearly, the platinum mar- ket was in a state of supply deficit last year, according to the assessment of John- son Matthey, the world’s largest refiner. This deficit came on the back of an- other short supply a year earlier, too. Worse, the World Platinum Invest- ment Council has pre- dicted a record deficit of 1.2 million ounces for 2020. No wonder, the market is playing catch up. While there is no specific forecast yet for 2021, for all intents and purposes the market will con- tinue to remain in deficit and only the quantum has to be worked out. In the event, investment demand will remain robust. ETF in- flows are also expected to gather pace. Market participants con- the adverse impact of the pandemic on the global automotive industry which faced a slump be- cause of national lock- downs and shuttering of production units. After all, the automotive industry accounts for close to 85 per cent of the overall demand for the metal. Palladium has been in deficit for many years now and this year (2021) is likely to be no different. The metal is trading around $2,350/oz. The author is a commodities market specialist. Views are personal tinue to believe that plat- inum is under-valued in re- lation to gold. Given the tight market, platinum still has some course to run. Palladium Platinum’s sister metal palla- dium, too, is fa- cing supply shortfalls. In 2020, the market showed a relatively smaller deficit, according to Johnson Matthey with the deficit roughly 50 per cent bigger the year before. The smaller deficit last year can be explained by Stellar run: Platinum breaches $1,200/oz COMMENTARY
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................CMYK
CHENNAI
8 BusinessLine SATURDAY • FEBRUARY 13 • 2021COMMODITIES/AGRI-BUSINESS
OUR BUREAU
Mangaluru, February 12
Buoyed by lower importtaxes, refi��ners purchasedmore palm oil. Imports ofthe tropical oil jumped by8 per cent in the fi��rstquarter of the oil year202021.
According to Solvent Extractors’ Association (SEA)of India, the import ofpalm oil (which includesCPO, RBD palmolein, andcrude palm kernel oil) increased to 2.17 milliontonnes (mt) during theNovemberJanuaryquarter of the oil year202021 against two mtduring the correspondingperiod of the previous oilyear, registering a growthof 8.01 per cent.
Crude palm oil (CPO)
imports jumped 24 percent during the periodunder review due to dutyreduction from 37.5 percent to 27.5 per cent witheff��ect from November 27.
Soft oils downHe said the import of softoils decreased marginallyto 1.32 mt (1.36 mt) due tolower import of sunfl��ower oil.
Added to this, the import of soya oil was thelowest in January as astrike by truckers in Argentina seriously aff��ectedloading during November. This resulted in lesservessels of soya oil arrivingin India during January.
However, he said, theBudget has restructuredthe vegetable oil importpolicy.
Though the basic import duty on CPO waslowered by 12.5 points to15 per cent, this was more
than off��set by a newly introduced 17.5 per cent ofagriculture infrastructureand development cesswhich is earmarked to improve agricultureinfrastructure.
“Taken together, thetotal import duty on CPOincreased from 30.25 percent to 35.75 per cent.Soya oil and sunfl��ower oilimports are now subjectto a 20 per cent cess but
the basic duty decreasedfrom 35 to 15 per cent,keeping the eff��ective tariff��unchanged at 38.5 percent. The duty advantageof CPO thus narrowedfrom 8.25 to 2.75 percentage points,” he said.
Country-wise importsIndia buys palm oil fromIndonesia and Malaysia,while other oils includingsoya oil and sunfl��ower oil
are sourced from Argentina, Brazil, Ukraine andRussia.
During NovemberJanuary of 202021, Malaysiasupplied 1.23 mt of CPOfollowed by Indonesia at0.85 mt. India imported0.64 mt of crude soyabean degummed oil fromArgentina, and 0.54 mt ofcrude sunfl��ower oil fromUkraine followed by82,673 tonnes fromRussia.
Total vegoil importThe total import of vegetable oils (which includesedible oil and nonedibleoil) declined by 8 per centto 1.09 mt during January2021 compared to 1.19 mtin January 2020.
However, the overall import of vegetable oils during NovemberJanuary2021 stood at 3.55 mt (3.45mt) registering a growthof 3 per cent.
CPO imports
jumped 24% in Q1
of oil year 2020-21
Palm oil imports up 8% at 2.17 mt in Nov-Jan FUTURES TRACKERSymbol Delivery Centre
Source: MCX and NCDEX; all contracts are current month/near month; closing prices are taken fromprovisional bhav copy (as of 17.00 hours); *delivery option available
■ Demand will rise by 5.79 million barrels per day (bpd) this year to
96.05 million bpd, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting
Countries said in a monthly report, trimming its growth forecast
by 110,000 bpd from a month ago.
■ Investors pull $10.6 billion out of cash and $800 million from
gold. This is the first week of outflows from precious metals in
two months, says a Bank of America report.
MCX COMPDEX D -39 pts (-0.36%) MCX BULLDEX D -31 pts (-0.21%) MCX METLDEX D -72 pts (-0.51%) NCDEX AGRIDEX C 1 pt (0.10%)
PR. CLOSE HIGH LOW CLOSE PR. CLOSE HIGH LOW CLOSE PR. CLOSE HIGH LOW CLOSE PR. CLOSE HIGH LOW CLOSE
Anyone can grow gerberas, thedecorative fl��owers, anywheresoon. Thanks to the ICARIndianInstitute of Horticulture,Bengaluru, that has developedtwo new gerbera varieties thatcan be grown by farmers in theopen fi��elds, unlike in the greenhouse currently.
These two varieties have thepotential to revolutionise thecultivation of gerberas, whichare grown on about 2,000 hectares in greenhouses. Also, thesetwo varieties can help cut downthe royalty being paid by the Indian growers to breeders inEurope.
The two new varieties, which
can be grown in areas with maximum temperatures of up to 40degree celsius, have been developed over eight years afterscreening the germplasm fromvarious locations across thecountry, said C Ashwath, Principal Scientist and Head ofIIHR’s Floriculture and Medicinal Plants division.
They would be commercialised soon and made available tofarmers at a price of ₹��1215 perplant, he said.
Cost-saving varietyPlants of about 30 varieties ofgerberas, currently grown inthe country are imported fromEurope, mainly Netherlands.Each plant costs about ₹��3540,
of which half the price goes asroyalty to the Europeanbreeders.
“The open gerberas are aboon to the small farmers as thecost of cultivation is lower thanthose cultivated in the greenhouses. They don’t have to incurthe greenhouse costs and theplanting material cost is less.Also, the open varieties needless of pesticide spray, once amonth as against two to three
rounds in the green houses. Thecost of producing each gerberafl��ower will be around 20 paisein the open as compared to ₹��2in the greenhouse,” Ashwathsaid.
“The new varieties look goodbut until and unless they aregrown in a big way, it is diffi��cultto assess,” said Shrikant Bollapally, a cut fl��ower grower andPresident, Growers FlowerCouncil of India. “These varieties look attractive for growers,who cannot think or aff��ord toinvest in green houses, which isa major cost. Moreover, it canavoid the royalty payments tothe foreign breeders,” Bollapally said.
The indigenous developmentof cut fl��owers varieties such asroses, carnation, gypsophia andlimonium, would benefi��t thegrowers, he added.
Now, grow gerberas in open fieldsICAR-IIHR’s new gerbera varieties can help cut
down on royalty paid to European breeders
C Ashwath, Principal Scientist
and Head of Floriculture and
Medicinal Plants at IIHR
OUR BUREAU
Ahmedabad, February 12
National Commodity & Derivatives Exchange Limited (NCDEX)will relaunch futures contractsin hipro (highprotein) soyabean meal from February 17.
The monthly contract will beavailable for trade from Marchto September.
The launch of a futures contract for soyameal provides asynergy for the agricommodityexchange, which has active contracts for soyabean and soya oil.
As per market sources, astandardised contract and thesynergy between the three contracts will benefi��t primarily thesoyabean processors by allowing them to lock the spread anduse hedging mechanisms forinput and output.
High-protein meal“This is a modifi��ed contractfrom the earlier yellow soyabean meal contract. Soyabeanmeal containing 50% or moreprotein is called as Hipro Soyabean meal. Soyameal market isslowly moving towards highprotein soyameal and based onthe market trend and feedbackfrom trade participants, Exchange has modifi��ed the specifi��cation to Hipro quality,” informed a source at NCDEX.
The minimum initial marginrequired is 10 per cent. The unitof trade and delivery unit is 10tonnes and the ticket size is ₹��10per tonne. “This is a compulsorydelivery contract,” the sourceadded. The delivery centres areIndore in Madhya Pradesh andLatur in Maharashtra. Upon theexpiry of the contract, all theoutstanding open positionshall result in compulsorydelivery.
On expiry, the futures pricewill be matched and settled atthe cutoff�� price of the spot market.
NCDEX torelaunch soyameal futures
RADHESHYAM JADHAV
Pune, February 12
Maharashtra Farmers Producer Company (MahaFPC), aconsortium of about 400 FPCsin the State, is exploring partnerships and joint ventureswith corporate houses even asdebates and discussions onnew farm laws continue.
The MahaFPC has alreadylaunched India’s fi��rst onionstorage and marketing infra
structure through the publicprivatepartnership (PPP)model. Yogesh Thorat, MD, MahaFPC, told BusinessLine it ishigh time farmers looked atequitable partnerships andnot a subsidy to survive.
“There is no option for smallfarmers than to form FPCs andcorporate bodies will have todeal with FPCs. Corporate bodies would not be interested inproductioncentric operations
but in infrastructure andvalue chain development. Weare looking for investmentcentric partnerships and jointventures. This is the way tomove forward,” said Thoratadding that the onion experiment has boosted the confi��dence of farmers.
‘Unfounded fears’A section of farmers opposingnew farm laws has alleged that
big corporates will reap the benefi��ts of reforms and farmerswill be left high and dry.
“Farmers and farming hasto be competitive,” saidThorat.
According to Vilas Shinde,Chairman and Managing Director of the Nashikbased FPOSahyadri Farms, farmers’ collectives will increase their negotiation power with corporates.
Maharashtra farmers exploring tie-ups with corporates
G CHANDRASHEKHAR
Platinum has had a stellarrun so far with the marketbreaching the psychological $1,200 per ounceearlier this week. OnThursday, it touched a sixyear high of $1,270. Although prices are nowsomewhat correcting because of possible profi��t taking, experts feel there isstill some steam left in themetal.
It appears that platinumhas got out of gold’sshadow with the price dif
ferential narrowing toaround $600/oz — a condition seen about a year ago.Even as gold is underdownward pressure having fallen to around $1,815/oz, platinum is showingpromise as ETF infl��ows continue and fi��nancial investors seem to opt for it.
Supply deficitClearly, the platinum market was in a state of supplydefi��cit last year, accordingto the assessment of Johnson Matthey, the world’slargest refi��ner. This defi��citcame on the back of another short supply a yearearlier, too. Worse, the
World Platinum Investment Council has predicted a record defi��cit of 1.2million ounces for 2020.No wonder, the market isplaying catch up.
While there is nospecifi��c forecastyet for 2021, forall intents andpurposes themarket will continue to remainin defi��cit and onlythe quantum has tobe worked out. In theevent, investment demandwill remain robust. ETF infl��ows are also expected togather pace.
Market participants con
the adverse impact of thepandemic on the globalautomotive industrywhich faced a slump because of national lockdowns and shuttering ofproduction units. After all,the automotive industryaccounts for close to 85 percent of the overall demandfor the metal.
Palladium has been indefi��cit for many years nowand this year (2021) is likelyto be no diff��erent. Themetal is trading around$2,350/oz.
The author is a commodities
market specialist. Views are
personal
tinue to believe that platinum is undervalued in relation to gold. Given thetight market, platinumstill has some course to
run.
PalladiumPlatinum’s sistermetal palladium, too, is facing supply
shortfalls. In2020, the market
showed a relativelysmaller defi��cit, accordingto Johnson Matthey withthe defi��cit roughly 50 percent bigger the year before.
The smaller defi��cit lastyear can be explained by