Pakistan’s president seeks barter trade with Sri Lanka

COLOMBO: Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari called for a barter agreement with Sri Lanka on Monday to boost trade between the two countries.

Zardari, on a visit to the island, told legislators that they should switch to exchanging their goods and services rather than depend on dollar-denominated import-export trade that drew on foreign reserves.

“If you have anything in abundance we can trade (with that),” Zardari told the Sri Lanka-Pakistan parliamentary friendship association. “We have an abundance of cement, you have tea and other commodities that we can exchange.”

Zardari, who arrived in Colombo Saturday, held closed-door talks with President Mahinda Rajapakse and discussed increasing trade and defence cooperation, the Sri Lankan president’s office said Monday.

It gave no details of the defence cooperation, but Pakistan was a main supplier of

Brazil’s first female president Rousseff faces fiscal and currency challenges

RIODEJANERO: The same economic boom and free spending that propelled Dilma Rousseff to Brazil’s presidency could become the biggest source of trouble during her first year at the helm of Latin America’s largest economy.

Rousseff will have to tighten the purse of a government whose finances deteriorated this election year, but avoid choking off the raid growth that has lifted millions of people out of poverty.

She won a runoff election on Sunday with 56 percent of the vote, largely due to the economic successes of her mentor, President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

A former leftist militant who never before had run for elected office, Rousseff will have to manage the consequences of that growth — massive capital inflows which have lifted the real currency to two-year highs, hurting exporters in the commodities powerhouse.

Failure to curb inefficient

Cotton hits 15-year high

Cotton prices soars to its 15-year high as rates in the international market.
Per maund prices of cotton has been risen over $1 in New York markets.
Owing to flooding in Pakistan, an increase has been seen in the prices of cotton, rice, sugar and other commodities in the international markets. Cotton prices per maund has been risen from 88 to 90 cents in early September. Hike is prices may have been caused by limits of 550,0000 maunds export by India.

Cotton hits 15-year high

Cotton prices soars to its 15-year high as rates in the international market.
Per maund prices of cotton has been risen over $1 in New York markets.
Owing to flooding in Pakistan, an increase has been seen in the prices of cotton, rice, sugar and other commodities in the international markets. Cotton prices per maund has been risen from 88 to 90 cents in early September. Hike is prices may have been caused by limits of 550,0000 maunds export by India.

Sasta atta fails to lure buyers into Ramzan Bazaars

LAHORE: The commodities of daily usage could not be seen at low price in Ramzan Bachat Bazaars with atta being sold at cheaper prices there, Geo News reported Sunday.

Even the subsided prices of atta could not bring the shoppers to Sunday Bazaars.

The prices of the commodities could not be pushed down; however, the number of buyers in these bazaars curtailed to a great extent.

The price of atta came down from Rs525 to Rs400 per 20 kilograms; but, the distraught shoppers did not show up at these bazaars.

Gold hits record high in international markets

KARACHI: Gold hit record highs near $1,250 an ounce in Europe on Friday as investors bought the metal to protect against sovereign risk in the euro zone and instability in the foreign exchange markets.

Gold priced in euros, sterling and Swiss francs extended the record highs they have already set this month as investors concerned about the outlook for the European currencies chose gold as an alternative asset.

Spot gold hit a record $1,248.95 and was bid at $1,246.75 an ounce at 1046 GMT (6:46 a.m. EDT), against $1,231.83 late in New York on Thursday.

U.S. gold futures for June delivery on the COMEX division of the New York Mercantile Exchange rose $17.70 to $1,246.90 an ounce.

“The gold price has benefited from strong safe-haven demand linked to fiscal issues in the euro zone, and a pull-back from the euro as a reserve currency,” said BNP Paribas analyst Anne-Laure Tremblay.

“We expect incremental safe-haven demand to ebb as the Greek crisis subsides,” she added. “However, gold will remain a much sought-after hedge should fiscal concerns over Greece or other EMU countries mount again.”

Concerns over the outlook for Greece and other debt-laden euro zone economies has prompted demand for assets seen as a safe store of value this year.

A $1 trillion rescue deal aimed at stabilizing financial markets announced last weekend helped the euro and European equities recover some losses, but the boost it gave the markets has proved short-lived.

The cost of insuring peripheral euro zone government debt against default rose on Friday, having fallen sharply this week after the deal was unveiled, while the euro fell below $1.25 to an 18-month low and European shares slid.

A weaker euro and consequently stronger dollar would usually weigh on gold, but this link has been weakened as sovereign risk concerns fueled buying both of bullion and the U.S. currency.

While investors have traditionally bought gold as an alternative to the dollar at times when the U.S. currency is weak, analysts say they are increasingly seeing it as an alternative to paper currencies in general.

“Bullion is performing rather well against any fiat (paper) currency at the moment,” said VTB Capital analyst Andrey Kryuchonkov.

Investment interest in physical bullion was strong as buyers sought safety, with holdings of the world”s largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, New York”s SPDR Gold Trust, at a record high 1,209.5 tonnes on Thursday.

The fund”s reserves have risen 68.5 tonnes or 6 percent in the last four weeks. The SPDR ETF is the world”s sixth largest holder of gold, ahead of Switzerland, China and Japan.

However, high prices are set to curb gold demand from the jewelry sector after a soft year in 2009 in key gold buying centers such as India, Turkey and the Middle East.

Gold imports by India, the world”s biggest market for the precious metal, could drop for a third straight year in 2010 as record high prices scare off traditional buyers.

Among other commodities, oil prices fell more than 2 percent to below $73 a barrel on Friday on concerns the European debt crisis may curb global growth, and therefore energy demand. Industrial metal prices also slid.

Silver tracked gold higher to at $19.63 an ounce against $19.41. Platinum was at $1,721.50 an ounce against $1,731.50 and palladium at $529 against $537.

“Selling pressure has again been seen overnight but again we expect tightening fundamentals to offer background support,” said James Moore, an analyst at TheBullionDesk.com.

“Volatility may increase in the coming days ahead of next week”s Platinum Week activities in London.”

High atta price despite bumper wheat crop

KARACHI: Pakistanis buckling under immense pressure spawned by the burgeoning price of the commodities, have no moment of respite despite having the bumper wheat crop, Geo News reported Saturday.

The consumers still have to buy atta at Rs32 to 36 per kilogram.

The country yielded 24 million tonnes of wheat produce during the current season; while, the Flourmills Associations said the country has 3.5 million tonnes of wheat from the last year as well.

The Flourmills Association said after the new crop arrives in the market, the total wheat stocks in the country will mount to 27.5 million tonnes in contrast with the consumption of 22 million tonnes.

Thus, there is stock of 5.5 million tonnes of wheat in excess of national needs in the country; notwithstanding, atta is being sold at Rs32 to 36/kg in the local market.

The helpless masses are forced to buy the commodity at exorbitant rates with no role of the government in sight.

Crude Oil Exceeds $80 A Barrel In Asian Markets

Oil up in Asia

Crude oil exceeds $80 a barrel in Asian markets.

During trading in Singapore delivery contract for March increased by 50 cents to 80.16 cents per barrel. London Brent North crude for April delivery was at $78.80 with an increase of 47 cents.
According to the traders, the fall of dollar against Euro pushed the prices of oil and other commodities.

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Crude Oil Exceeds $80 A Barrel In Asian Markets was first posted on March 1, 2010 at 5:40 pm.

Sugar Prices Increased Rs 70/kg in Balochistan

QUETTA, PAKISTAN: The sugar prices have been increased enormously in different districts of Balochistan including Quetta.

In Quetta, the price of one kilogram sugar has been increased from Rs.58 to Rs. 60 whereas it is available at Rs.70/kg in Panjgur and Mastung.

The government has directed the utility stores to sale sugar at Rs.38/kg; however, citizens complained that sugar is not available at utility stores. They demanded government to make sure the availability to sugar and other commodities at official rates.

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Sugar Prices Increased Rs 70/kg in Balochistan was first posted on August 22, 2009 at 1:31 pm.