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LAUNCESTON, Australia, Aug 5 (Reuters): China's imports of coal from the seaborne market surged again in July, providing a stark contrast to a fourth consecutive monthly decline for India. It's possible that the market should be paying more attention to China's growing imports rather than India's downturn. The different dynamics in the world's two largest importers of the polluting fuel are largely a reflection of juxtaposing domestic policies. China is restricting domestic coal output and shutting inefficient mines, which, coupled with a decline in hydropower output, has boosted demand for imports. India, which gave back the title of the world's top coal importer to China last year, has a stated policy of reducing coal imports to zero and is boosting domestic production and efficiency of distribution toward that end. China's seaborne imports were 20.8 million tonnes in July, up sharply from 17.9 million in June, according to vessel-tracking and port data monitored by Thomson Reuters Supply Chain and Commodity Forecasts. The July data may be slightly revised in coming days as cargoes that arrived in the last few days of the month are factored in, but this won't change the underlying message that China's imports are strong. July will be the third month this year where seaborne imports have exceeded 20 million tonnes, taking the year-to-date total to 135.2 million tonnes, up 12 per cent from the first seven months of 2016. Looking at the breakdown of suppliers, and top exporter Australia has fared better than regional rival Indonesia, most likely because it is the major global shipper of coking coal used to make steel, while Indonesia concentrates on lower grade thermal coal. China's imports from Australia were 8 million tonnes in July, taking the year-to-date total to 51.26 million, a gain of 15.3 per cent over the same period in 2016. Indonesia has supplied more to China, with 56.72 million tonnes in the first seven months, but this is only up 10.3 per cent from the same period last year, or about two-thirds of Australia's increase. While not a major supplier to China, it's worth noting that the United States has shipped 4.03 million tonnes in the January-July period, double the 1.96 million from the same period last year. India's seaborne imports dropped 13.4 per cent in the first seven months of the year to 105.36 million tonnes, with top supplier Indonesia dropping 9.7 per cent to 47.29 million. Australia saw its exports to India slip 11.2 per cent to 23.66 million tonnes, with its bigger per centage decline most likely because higher prices and a longer sea voyage undercut its competitiveness against both Indonesian and other exporters. India's imports from the United States actually increased, rising 16.8 per cent in the January to July period to 6.23 million tonnes. What the vessel-tracking data does show is that the gain in China's imports in the first seven months of 2017 of 13.6 million tonnes has not been enough to offset the decline of 16.3 million in India's seaborne purchases. In some ways this makes the ongoing gain in thermal coal prices somewhat surprising, with the globalCOAL front-month Newcastle contract rising above $100 a ton this week, reaching a high of $102.50 on Aug. 1, its best level since December.....

Published at: 2017-08-06 00:00:04

Tax-takers have sought permission to freeze bank accounts of three state-owned entities for realising long-overdue VAT worth Tk 24.33 billion. Furthermore, the Large Taxpayers Unit (LTU) under the VAT wing of the National Board of Revenue (NBR) has served final notice to Petrobangla for realising some Tk 130.36 billion in unpaid VAT. The government petroleum agency (Petrobangla) also owes to the exchequer another sum of Tk 71.25 billion as current arrear amount of VAT (value-added tax). According to an official estimate, the LTU found an aggregate amount of Tk 221.20 billion in tax arrears lying with four state-owned entities. The three whose bank accounts the LTU seeks to freeze are Titas Gas Company Limited, Bakhrabad Gas Company Limited and Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC). The tax unit last month sent letters to the NBR for permission to go for the tough action as all of the processes meant for collecting the amount failed so far, officials said. "The unit has intensified its effort to realise arrears and find out VAT evasion through audit of the VAT returns," said one official. Under the move, the unit audited nine large companies and detected Tk 240 million in unpaid VAT. Of the amount, the VAT officials have realised Tk 44 million. The audited businesses are Unique Hotel and Resorts Limited, Partex Furniture Industries Limited, Star Particle Board Mills Limited, Mir Ceramic, Incepta Pharmaceuticals Limited, Aristopharma Limited, SKF Pharmaceuticals, Sinha Printers Limited and United Edible Oil. The LTU has withdrawn VAT rebate for 10 large taxpayers on detection that the rebate has been claimed "unlawfully", the officials said. There are six telecom operators among those companies: Robi Axiata Ltd, Grameenphone Limited, City Cell, Airtel Bangladesh Limited, Banglalink and Teletalk BD Limited. The unit has realized the VAT, taken as rebate, from Southeast Bank Limited, Eskayef Bangladesh Limited, Premier Cement Limited, and Seven Circle Bangladesh Ltd. Nineteen companies also faced legal action last year for non-payment of VAT. The LTU filed cases against the companies for realizing stuck-up revenue worth Tk 15.65 billion. Among the companies, the six mobile-phone operators, WASA, BTRC, BTCL, China Bangla Ceramic, Mir Cement, Global Heavy Chemical, New Zealand Dairy, LM Ericson, Interspeed and Premier Bank are on the list. The VAT unit later collected the arrears from LM Ericson, Interspeed and Teletalk Bd Limited. Officials, however, said it is difficult to get permission for freezing bank accounts of state-owned entities. The NBR did not respond to the letter yet considering sensitivity associated with such punitive action, they said. At a high-level meeting it was decided to take initiative to settle the arrears in VAT worth Tk 132.78 billion due from Petrobangla in phases through book adjustment on completion of audit by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) office. The Finance Division would take steps for settlement of account on the tax arrears. Petrobangla needs government subsidy handed out from the finance division. The entity wrote to the Ministry of Energy and mineral resources for allocating subsidies by the finance ministry.   Following the request, the finance ministry sent a summary to Prime Minister's Office regarding allocation of the subsidy. The finance ministry would allocate the subsidies to the Petrobangla after getting consent of the PMO. The LTU collected Tk 367.42 billion in VAT in Fiscal Year (FY) 2016-17, posting the highest growth of about 20 per cent compared to revenue collection in last three years. doulot_akter@yahoo.com....

Published at: 2017-08-06 00:00:04

Munima Sultana Full functioning of Dhaka's metro-rail company is likely to get delayed for a move to continue implementation of the mass rapid transit (MRT) project under the ministry concerned. Sources said this bid defies agreement with the project's Japanese financier and the development-project proposal. According to project-insiders, full functioning of the Dhaka Mass Transit Company (DMTC) is necessary from now so that the country could attain the capacity to implement, operate and maintain such new kind of train-based mass transit system while working with Japanese consultants and experts. As the government has already made a move to construct four more MRTs, the company's capacity could help the government reduce dependence on foreign consultants, they observed. But sources said the Road Transport and Highways Division (RTHD) under the Ministry of Road Transport and Bridges (MoRTB) has already moved to continue the MRT project under its project implementation unit (PIU) instead of giving it over to a full-fledged DMTC. The RTHD already has sent a proposal to the Ministry of Finance for hiring 150 officials and engineers for the Dhaka Mass Rapid Transit Development (DMRTD) Project while it has an approved organogram for the company. Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), the project's lone financier, had recommended full functioning of the DMTC by completing recruitment of its own skilled and semi-skill hands according to the proposal of institutional development consultants (IDC) by 2016. Though the consultant recommended an over 2,000-strong staff, the ministry downsized the number to 1,901 which was approved by DMTC last January. However, sources said the government had agreed to work under the DMTC by signing minutes of discussions with JICA before signing loan agreement on Tk 166 billion worth of fund for the Tk 219.85 billion mass rapid transit (MRT) line-6. According to DPP, the DMTC is supposed to recruit 13 people in phase 01-02 and 255 in phase 03 and 554 in phase 4 and the rest in the fifth phase which was to be completed in 2016. DMTC is the maiden company under the road sector although the government has a good number of fully-owned companies under the power sector, which have been functioning since the project was undertaken. The ministry formed the DMTC on a limited scale by selecting board of directors after getting approval from the cabinet in January 2013. The board has so far made many important decisions including approval for contractors for the depot-site development, selecting contractor, procuring train sets etc. Under PIU, all these decisions have to be approved by the cabinet committee on government purchases. Officials who have already earned some expertise by working for the project from the beginning said continuing the MRT-6 under the project would be conflicting with many decisions already taken under DMTC. Besides, they said, know-how and trainings attained by the PIU staff from MRT-6 project would also be of no use as they would be transferred anytime or after the end of the project. "It has now only two years to earn our capacity to run the fastest train in the congested city. But PIU would damage it," said one official, preferring not to be quoted by name. JICA has come forward to introduce the country's first metro rail through conducting necessary studies in 2011. According to JICA recommendation, the government launched in 2012 the MRT-6 project under the Dhaka Transport Coordination Authority which carried out initial work under a special project office. The Japanese agency, which is now also providing support for conducting feasibility study for two more MRT lines in the city, also recommended utilizing the officials who worked in the MRT-6 project from the beginning and earned some capacity through trainings and visits to different countries having MRTs. Another official engaged in the DMRTD project since the beginning said MRT now needs full-fledged, dedicated and trained staff to run 100-kilometre-speed-train system in the congested metropolis. "Any minor error by any staff member in operating, managing and maintaining MRT will be totally damaging and disastrous for entire traffic system in the city," he said to lay importance on getting company functioning from now. However, a senior official of DMRTD who is engaged in preparing the proposal for PIU told the FE that they had taken a provision of recruiting 44 fresh engineers in the project with the assurance of accommodating them into the company through training. But another project official from past experience said not a single fresher engineer recruited earlier under the project did stay due to not having any financial or professional benefits under the project. RTHD Secretary MAN Siddique, however, would not agree with the suggestion for making the company full functioning right now. But, he said, "in the meantime, company's recruitment will be completed". smunima@yahoo.com....

Published at: 2017-08-06 00:00:04

FE Report The government will ask the teams monitoring the prices of essentials to further expedite their activities in the coming days, officials said. On the other hand, a meeting will be held with the country's traders, wholesalers and retailers at the Ministry of Commerce (MoC) soon to review the prices of essential items in the city's kitchen markets, they added. Commerce minister Tofail Ahmed asked the commerce secretary to take necessary steps to strengthen the activities of the monitoring teams on prices of essential items after the Japanese envoy in Dhaka made a courtesy call on him at the MoC on Wednesday last. "We often sit to evaluate the activities of the 14 teams monitoring the prices of essential items in the capital city. We will direct the teams soon to be more careful about their respective duties and activities throughout the year," a high official of the commerce ministry told the FE on Thursday. Earlier, the commerce ministry formed the teams to check the surge in the prices of essential commodities in the capital city. Replying to a question on the price situation, the commerce minister told the meeting that the prices of essential commodities did not go up and remained stable due to steps taken by the government. However, he admitted that the prices of one or two items might go up for the time being due to flood or rain. A meeting with the country's retailers and wholesale traders will be held soon to review the supply, prices and stock of essential items, he said. Earlier, the traders had assured the government that the prices of essential items would not go up. "Consumers rights protection department is now active across the country to ensure the consumers' rights. We expect that the prices of essential items will not go up before or during the upcoming holy Eid-ul-Azha," he added. Prices of fish, spices and vegetables showed a significant rise last week compounding the sufferings of consumers, already buffeted by high costs of essentials. Traders attributed the hike to frequent rains in the last few days, which disrupted normal transportation, causing supply crunch. Prices of onion, ginger, garlic, chilli also witnessed a further hike last week. rezamumu@gmail.com  ....

Published at: 2017-08-06 00:00:04

Md Mofizuddin (65) and her wife Sultana Rezia (55) along with 72 intending Hajj pilgrims who came from Potnitala of  Naogaon to Haji Camp at Askona on Friday last are not sure when they will fly to Saudi Arabia. Semona Bahar (55) and her husband Md Obaidulla (68) from Masterpara of Feni, who also arrived at the camp on August 04 last, also do not know when they will avail their Hajj flight. Abdul Aziz (68), who came from Gobindaganj of Gaibanda, told the FE that he reached the camp on August 03 last and his scheduled flight time is set at 4:00 am today (Sunday). And until around 6:00 pm on Saturday, his agency could not confirm his flight. "I came here (Hajj camp) on Thursday last. But I am not still certain when I could fly as my Hajj agency is yet to give me confirmation of my flight," he told the FE at around 6:00 pm at the camp. Like them, many intending Hajj pilgrims were seen eagerly waiting on Saturday for their flights as the some Hajj agencies failed to give them exact time of their flight schedule. "Our Hajj agency told us that we will fly tomorrow (Sunday). But we are yet to get our visas and could not know our flight schedule," Afasuddin (65), a farmer by profession, told the FE at Hajj camp on the day.   Some of the Hajj agency owners, however, said they were not responsible for cancellation of flights. They attributed the cancellation to increased Muallim fees, complications over house rents in Makkah and Madina, two thousand extra Saudi Riyal fees for repeated Hajj (who wants to perform Hajj again) and e-visa printing for Hajj pilgrims. Around 6,500 Hajj pilgrims could not be able to fly as their scheduled flights were cancelled, said Saiful Islam, director of the government Hajj office at Ashkona in Dhaka. He said they were working on how to send those Hajj pilgrims to Saudi Arabia as soon as possible. He sounded hopeful of sending them abroad ahead of time. Preferring anonymity, an owner of a Hajj agency said there are some middlemen who took the money from the Hajj pilgrims but they did not pay the full amount to the agencies. This also contributed to the complications in arranging Hajj flights. "Due to all these reasons, the Hajj pilgrims could not get visas in time. This has compelled Biman to cancel some of its flights," he said. A total of 1,271,987 pilgrims from Bangladesh are expected to perform this year's Hajj. Over 3,500 pilgrims under government management already received their visas from the Saudi embassy in Dhaka. Until to date, 65,000 people have received Saudi visas. Of them, 40,000 already left the country for performing Hajj, according to Hajj Office at Askona in the capital.   So far, a total of 19 flights have been cancelled, depriving 6,000 to 6,500 Hajj pilgrims of their flights  to Saudi Arabia. But the Hajj Office at Askona told the FE that Biman Bangladesh Airlines and Saudi Airlines could carry them before August 26. The last flight for Hajj pilgrims, who are going to Saudi Arabia under government arrangement, is set on August 25. August 26th is the last flight for Hajj pilgrims who are going under private arrangement.      Four flights of Biman Bangladesh Airlines with Hajj pilgrims were supposed to leave the country to Saudi Arabia on Saturday. Until around 5:00 pm on the day two flights left the country. The rest are expected to fly on time, the official of the Hajj Office hoped.   talhabinhabib@yahoo.com....

Published at: 2017-08-06 00:00:04