14�THE ECONOMIC TIMES | KOLKATA | FRIDAY | 19 AUGUST 2016Commodities & Finance

KIRANAKOCHI PEPPER (per Quintal)Sept 2016(71000/71000)71000/71000Oct 2016(70000/70000)70000/70000Nov 2016(68000/68000)67000/67000Dec 2016(65000/65000)64000/64000

SPOTBULLIONMUMBAI Gold(10 gms.) Standard (31400) 31400 Silver(Per Kg) Silver .999 (46900) 46900

DELHI Gold(10 Grams) 1kg.Bar 999.5 (31000) 31000 Standard(999.9) (31150) 31150 Ornaments (28850) 28850 Gold Sovereign(8gm)(24300)24300 Biscuit (31125) 31125 Silver(Per Kg) Spot .999 (46650) 46650 Delivery-Weekly (46260) 46260 Buyer Coins (100pieces:)(75000/76000)75000/76000

KOLKATA Gold(10Gms.)Standard-24K (31845) 31930Guinea-22K (30215) 30295Ornament-22K (30670) 30750Silver(Per Kg) Bar (46300) 46300 Portion (46400) 46400

CHENNAIGold(10Gms.) Standard (31940/31930)32070/31960Ornament (22-carat: 8Gms:)(23888/23880)23992/23904Silver(Per Kg) Bar Silver (47815/47190)47640/47210

BENGALURU Gold(Per Gms.) Standard (per 10 gms.:)(31901)32004 Ornament (per gram:)(2965)2975 Silver(Per Kg) Bar Wholesale (per kg:)(46800)46900

HYDERABAD Gold(Per 10gms) Standard Gold (31920) 32050 Ornament (31180) 31310/31410Silver(Per Kg.) Silver .999 (47000) 47000

OIL & OILSEEDSMUMBAI Groundnut(Quintal) Groundnut kernel (7150) 7250Groundnut Bold 60/70 (9750)9850Javas 60/70 (9850) 9850Javas 70/80 (9700) 9700Javas 80/90 (9200) 9200OthersKardi (3075) 3100Sesamseed Crushing 48/2/4(5950) 5950Sesame (whitish) 98/2/1 (7300)7300Sesame 95/5/1 (7100) 7100Sunflowerseed (3925) 3925Nigerseed (9000) 8900Castorseed (3650) 3650Groundnut oil(10 Kgs)groundnut Oil Raw (1430) 1450Other oils(10 Kgs) kardi Expeller (870) 870cottonseed (Refined) (735) 740sunflower Exp (655) 655sunflower Exp ref.(710) 725copra white (930) 950Rapeseed Ref.(920) 940Rapeseed expeller (890) 910 Linseed (1150) 1150Neem (970) 970karanji (625) 625Castoroil Comm (760) 760Castor First Special Grade (770)770Fsg Kandla (732) 732Deoiled cakes(Per mt.)Groundnut Ext.(45%) (29000)28500Kardi Extraction (14500) 14500Undec Cottonseed Exp (28600)28500Sunflower Extr (21000) 21000Soyameal 48% (34120) 33285Castor Extraction (4200) 4200Imported ItemsRBD Palmolein (612) 625soyabean Ref (660) 625

Copra(Per Quintal) Alleppey (6100) 6400Kozhikode (6000) 6300Rajapur (9500) 9500Edible (7200) 7200Coconut Oil (1250) 1260

DELHI Oilseeds(Per qtl)Mustard (4800/4950) 4800/4950Cakes ExpellerMustard (old bardana)(2425/2450) 2425/2450Mustard (new bardana)(2550/2600) 2550/2600Cottonseed (2980/3150)3000/3200Deoiled Extractions(/tonne)Rice Bran Continuous(14200/14300) 14200/14300 Mustard (23000/23400)23000/23400Soyabean Yellow (35500/35600)35300/35400Sunflower (23000/23100)23000/23100Groundnut(40-45%)(32500/33500) 32500/33500Ricebran (per unit) (130/131)130/131Edible OilsSolvent Ref (Tin) (1950/2000)1950/2000Mustard (Tin) (1400/1650)1400/1650Mustard Expeller (9000) 9050Sesame Mill Delivery (7000)7200Soyabean Ref Mill Delivery(6750) 6850Soyaoil Digumed (6550) 6650Soyabean oil (Tin) (1030/1100)1030/1100Cottonseed Mill Delivery (6900)7050Rice bran oil (6200) 6300Coconut Oil (Tin) (1600/1625)1600/1625Non Edible OilsRice Fatty (5150/5200)5200/5250Acid Oil (4150/4200) 4200/4250Castor (7350/7450) 7350/7450Vanaspati(15 kg/Tin,Tax ext) Dhruv (1040) 1070Panghat (1175) 1190Rang (1020) 1020Shagun (1135) 1140Sainik (970) 990Rishi (815) 815

KOLKATA Others(Quintal) Castor Oil (7900) 7900 Coconut Oil Cochin (10800)10800 Cottonseed Oil (5970) Linseed Oil (10700) 10700 Mustard oil Ghanni (9850) 9900 Ricebran Oil Gr.1 (6150) 6200 Ricebran Oil Gr.2 (6000) 6100 Sesame Oil (7500) 7600 Vanaspathi (15kg in tin)(1000)990 Soyabin Oil (6550) 6520Soyabin Oil (15kg in tin)(1150)1150

CHENNAI Groundnut Oil(Quintal) Oil (1300) 1300 Oil cake(70 kgs) (2750/2750)2750/2750 OthersCastor Oil (Per Quintal) (8600)8600Coconut Oil(15Kg)(1460/1919)1475/1919Gingelly Oil (10kgs) (1320) 1320 Kernals(80 Kgs) (6150/6250)6200/6300 Vanaspati (Per Tin 15Kgs+Tax)(1180/1190) 1180/1190Palm oil (10 kgs) (640/640)650/650

BENGALURU Oils(Per 10Kgs) Coconut (1850/2100) 1850/2100 Ghee (3900/4500) 3900/4500 Gingely (890/900) 890/900 Groundnut (890/950) 890/950 Groundnut Seed (Per Quintal:)(9500/10800) 9500/10800

HYDERABAD Groundnut(Per 15 Kgs) Oil (1550/1750) 1800/1900 Refined Oil (1750/1850)2000/2100 Others(Per 15Kgs) Sunflower Oil (1200/1300)1250/1350Tilseed Oil (2300/2400)2400/2500Kardi Oil (1600/1660) 1600/1660Cot.Seed Ref.Oil (1250/1350)1250/1350Rice Bran Oil Ref. (1300/1400)1200/1300 Vanaspati (1200/1300)1150/1200Castor Oil(Per 10Kgs) (675) 750Castor Seeds(Quintal)(3300)3500Cator Cake(Per 70Kgs)(900) 870

KOCHI Coconut(Quintal)

Coconut Oil (8800) 9000Coconut Oil(Mill) (9400) 9600Copra(Quintal) Copra Edible(ungraded) (6200)6400Copra (As it is) (6010) 6140Oil Cake Rotary (2200) 2200Expeller (2100) 2100

KOZHIKODE Coconut(Quintal) Coconut Oil (9700) 9700Copra(Quintal) Balls (7000) 7000Dilpasand (6300) 6300Office Variety (6200) 6200Rajapur (8000) 8000Oil cake expeller (2200) 2200

ALLEPPEY Coconut Oil(Quintal) Clean (9400) 9600 Oilcake (2000) 2000 Copra(Quintal) Edible (5900) 6000Thekkan (Rassy)(5850) 5950Mill(odey) (5800) 5900

FOOD GRAINSBENGALURU Rice(Per Quintal) Fine (4600/5400) 5000/5600Medium (4000/4400) 4000/4400 Bansi(Per Quintal) Wheat (2400/3100) 2400/3200 Bengal(Per Quintal) Gram Dhal (9600/11000)9600/11000 Black Gram Dhal (14200/17400)13500/16800 Green(Per Quintal) Gram Dhal (9200/10800)9200/10800 Others(Per Quintal) Horse Gram (2800/3400)3000/3600 Jowar (2250/2500) 2250/2500 Turdhal (12000/14200)11500/14000

HYDERABAD Rice(Per Quintal) Fine Old (3500/4700)3500/4500 Medium New (2800/3600)3000/3500 Wheat(Per Quintal) Bansi New (2700/3200)2700/3300 Sharbathi Old (3200/3900)3200/3800 Others(Per Quintal Exl.Tax) Channa (9000/10500)9000/10500 Channa Dal (10500/11400)10500/11500 Jowar White (1800/2000)1800/2000 Jowar Yellow (2000/2200)2000/2200 Maize (1400/1500) 1500/1600 Masoor Dal (7000/7800)7000/7700 Moong (8200/8700) 8200/8900 Moong Dal 8500/9600)8500/9600 Toovar (12500/13000)12500/13000 Toovar Dal (12800/13500)12800/13500 Urad (15500/15500)15500/15500 Urad Dal 15000/16000)15000/16000 Bajra (1700/2200) 1700/2200

GUR & SUGARMUMBAI Sugar(Per Quintal) Small Grade (3662/3771)3670/3771Medium Grade (3736/3886)3736/3882

DELHI Sugar Mill Delivery(Per Qtl) Private Mill:Afjalgarh (3580) 3560Malakpur (3390) 3410Modi(3390) 3390Kinauni (3675) 3670Bundki (3590) 3570Titabi (3030) 3020Anoopshahar (3120) 3150Mawana(s) (3650) 3655Daurala (3630) 3620Simbhaoli (3650) 3630Devband (3125) Shamli (3600) 3560Khatouli-s (Duty-Paid) (3660)3640Co-operative Mills:Badayun (2880) 2880 Satha (2850) 2850Morna (2880) 2880Rudravilas (2840) 2840 Bagpat (2980) 2980 Najibabad (2970) 2970 Ramala (3100) 3100Sugar Ready (3875/3965)3825/3950Gur & Khandsari(Per Qtl) Gur New (4100/4200) 4050/4150Chaku (3900/4000) 3850/3950Dhaiya (4050/4150) 4050/4150Shakkar (4300/4400) 4300/4400Khandsari (4600/4700)4600/4700

CHENNAI Sugar(Per Quintal) Sugar S-30 (3850) 3900

BENGALURU Sugar(Per Quintal)

Sugar (3600/3800) 3600/3800 Jaggery (cube) (4000/4500)4000/4500 Jaggery (ball) (4200/4600)4200/4600

HYDERABAD Gur(Per Quintal) Ankapalle Gr.1 (2800/3000)2800/3000 Nizamabad Gr.2 (3050/3150)3050/3150 Sugar(Per Quintal) Sugar S-30 (3700/4000)3700/4000

METALSMUMBAI Copper(Per Kg.,inclusive ofoctroi) Heavy Scrap (360) 362Utensils Scrap (330) 330Wire Bars (393) 395Copper cable scrap (365) 367Copper Armature (350) 351Copper sheet cuttings (345) 345Brass(Per Kg.) Honey (273) 273Utensils Scrap (273) 273Sheet Cuttings (279) 279Aluminium(Per Kg.) Utensils Scrap (119) 119 Ingot (140) 140 Others(Per Kg.) Tin (1393) 1395Nickle (808) 800Zinc (191) 193Lead (133) 135C.C.Rod (392) 392

DELHI(Per Kg.Local tax ext)AntimonyChina (507) 530CadiumRod (111) 108Maxico (114) 112Plate (120) 118LeadIngot Imported (154) 154Broconil (180) 178HZL (150) 151Desi Soft (129.50) 131.50Desi Hard (1/1.5%) (130) 132Desi Hard (4%) (132) 133.50Gun Metal ScrapLocal (297) 295Mix (297.50) 297.50Jalandhar (308) 305BrassHuny (275) 273Chadripital desi (268.50) 268.50Radiator Desi (200) 200Imported (220) 223Bharat-accessories (266.50)268.50TinIngot (1382) 1390ZincIngot Slab (191.50/193.50)191/193Dross (157) 157Nickle Plate Russian (4x4) (812) 802(9x9) (817) 807(4x24)(832) 812Inco Canada (4x4) (965) 940(4x24)(965) 945CopperArmature (342) 345 Mixed Scrap (327) 325Pat (342) 340Super D. Rod (377) 375AluminiumCG Ingot (142) 139Sheet Cutting (130) 128Wire Scrap (134) 132Utensil Scrap (123) 120Accessories Scrap (112) 112.50Rod (local) (143) 144Rod company (145) 146

KIRANAMUMBAI Pepper(per kg) Black Pepper Ready (735/805)735/805Ginger(per kg) Bleached (150) 150 Unbleached (170) 170

BENGALURU Others(Per Quintal) Chillies (13000/16000)13000/17000 Copra (8000/11000) 8000/11000 Coriander (9000/11400)9000/14000 Tamrind (8000/10500)7500/12000Turmeric (8600/12200)8600/12200

HYDERABAD Others(Per Quintal) Chillies Gr.1 (10000/13000)10000/11300 Chillies Gr.2 (6000/8000)6000/8000 Chillies Gr.3 (5000/6200)5000/6000Corriander Gr.1 (8000/10000)8000/10000 Tamrind Gr.1 (4500/5500)4500/5500Turmeric Round (7500/7800)7500/7800 Turmeric Finger (7700/8100)7700/8100 Garlic New (8500/12500)8500/12500

MANGALURU Supari(Per Quintal)

Old Supari (23500/30500)23500/30500Old Model (28500) 28500New Supari (16500/24000)16500/24500New Model (21500) 21500 Koka (11000/17500)11000/17500koka Model (13500) 13500Coconut(Per Thousand)1st Qlty(12000/15000)12000/15000Model(13000) 130002nd Qlty(6000/9000) 6000/9000Model(8000) 8000

KOCHI Pepper(Per Quintal) Ungarbled (69000/69000)69000/69000Garbled (72000/72000)72000/72000

KOZHIKODE Pepper(Per/Quintal) Nadan (65700) 65700Wynadan (67500) 67500Ginger(Per Quintal) Ginger (11500/11500)11500/11500Turmeric (8000/8000)8000/8000Arecanut New (18500/19000)18500/19000Arecanut Old (20000/20500)20000/20500Coir Koyilandi-1(8500) 8500Coir Koyilandi-2(8000) 8000Coir Beypore-1(6500) 6500Coir Beypore-2(6000) 6000Cardamom(Per Kg)Green (700/1100) 700/1100

RUBBERDELHI RSS(Per Kg)RSS(5x) (130) 131RSS(4x) (135) 136RSS(3x) (142) 143RSS(2x) (159) 160RSS(1x) (174) 175RSS(Ungraded)(129) 130Latex 60% (DRC)(132) 133Synthetic(Per Kg)KSR (130) 125JSR (168) 167Korea-1502 No.(117) 114Silicone Emulsion (70) 68Steric Acid (70) 70

KOCHI RSS(Per Quintal)RSS FOUR (14000) 13700RSS FIVE (13600) 13300

KOTTAYAMRSS(Per Quintal)RSS FOUR (14000) 13800RSS FIVE (13600) 13300

KO0HIKODE RSS(Per Quintal) (12000) 12000

BANGKOK RSS(Per Quintal)RSS ONE (11651) 11583RSS TWO (11535) 11467RSS THREE(11428) 11361RSS FOUR (11370) 11303RSS FIVE (11238) 11216

KUALALUMPUR SMR-20 (8954) 8827

JUTE & JUTEGOODSHessian Cloth(Exclusive of cess, ST Etc)101.5 cms x 213 cms (100 Metres) (1880) 1840 101.5 cms x 229 gms (100 Metres) (2025) 1975101.5 CMs X 305 gms (100 Metres) (2725) 2665 101.5 CMs X 270 gms (Per Tonne) (90000) 88000 Sacking Bags (Per 100)B-Twills907 gms.112 cms x 67.5gms(6900) 6750 1020gms.112 cmsx 67.5 cms(7750) 7600 Raw Jute Ready per Quintal) TD-3 (Spot)[Ex-OtherStates](4400) 3925TD-3 (Spot)[Ex-West Bengal](4250) 3775TD-4 (Spot)[Ex-otherStates](4300) 3825 TD-4 (Spot)[Ex-West Bengal](4150) 3675TD-5 (Spot)[Ex-otherStates](4175) 3700 TD-5 (Spot)[Ex-West Bengal](4050) 3575 TD-6 (Spot)[Ex-otherStates](4025) 3550TD-6 (Spot)[Ex-West Bengal](3900) 3425W-3 (Spot)[Ex-otherStates](4250) 3775W-3 (Spot)[Ex-West Bengal](4200) 3725W-4 (Spot)[Ex-other states](4150) 3675W-4 (Spot)[Ex-West Bengal](4100) 3625W-5 (Spot)[Ex-other states](4050) 3575W-5 (Spot)[Ex-West Bengal](4000) 3525W-6 (Spot)[Ex-other states](3900) 3425W-6 (Spot)[Ex-West Bengal](3850) 3375

FUTURES

COMMODITIESAUGUST 18, 2016: Yesterday’s or the previous latestquotations for the commodities in various markets inIndia are given below. The rates are in rupees

August 17 Coffee Futures

NY Arabica cents/lb Lon Robusta $/tonne Source: NKG India Coffee* Rates as of 4 p.m. IST 18/08/2016

Market High Low Close Today *Ny Sep‘16 137.40 134.90 135.05 135.95Ny Dec‘16 140.65 137.85 138.10 138.70Ny Mar‘16 143.80 141.10 141.30 142.00Lon Sep‘16 1780 1745 1753 1849Lon Nov‘16 1812 1777 1785 1779Lon Jan‘16 1832 1799 1805 1809

LONDON Iron ore

strayed well off-

script in 2016 as a

rally surprised

bears. Michael Zhu, former

global sales director at Vale SA,

says the commodity will prob-

ably face a tough year in 2017 as

supply keeps on expanding while

China’s steelmakers struggle to

sustain output at current levels.

2017 will BringChallenges toIron Ore: Expert

LONDON Brent

crude oil traded

above $50 a barrel

for the first time in

six weeks on Thursday as the

world’s biggest producers pre-

pared to discuss a possible

freeze in output. Brent hit a high

of $50.05 a barrel, up 20 cents on

the day, before easing back to

around $49.75, down 10 cents.

Crude OilSteady, Near6-week High

LONDON Gold rose

on Thursday, buoy-

ed by a weaker

dollar after minutes

from the US Fed’s July meeting

showed policymakers were

divided over whether to raise

interest rates soon. Spot gold

was up 0.2% at $1,350.47 an

ounce at 1203 GMT, on track for a

fourth straight day of gains.

Gold up as FedCools RateHike Prospects

LONDON Copper

prices rose on

Thursday as the

dollar slipped after

minutes of the Fed’s last meeting

showed little support for an

imminent US rate rise and wor-

ries about demand in top con-

sumer China receded. Bench-

mark copper on the LME traded

up 0.9% at $4,818 a tonne .

Soft DollarGives Copper aHelping Hand

PARIS Chicago

soyabean prices

eased on Thursday

as the prospect of a

bumper US harvest this year

curbed an export-fuelled rally

that took prices to a four-week

high earlier in the session. The

CBoT most-active soyabean

contract was down 1.1% to

$10.05 a bushel by 1157 GMT.

Soyabeans Off4-week Top onExport Rally

Mumbai: Yes Bank plans to double its retail loan book in the next four years as it seeks to di-versify its advances and move towards high-yielding loans to individuals. As part of the plan, the lender will launch its credit cards next week which will com-plete its retail loan offering.

Loans to indi-viduals now make up 9.4% of the bank’s ` 1 . 0 5 - l a k h c r o r e l o a n book, and the plan is to in-crease it to

20% of the loan book by 2020, said Pralay Mondal, head of retail and business banking, at Yes Bank.

“We will be at 20% by 2020 in retail assets with the bank grow-ing between 25% and 30%. Both retail and SME make up 30% of the book, and with retail at 20%, retail and SME together will be 45%,” he said. He believes the launch of credit cards next week will allow the bank to get new customers and ensure it be-comes a one-stop shop for its ex-isting 1.5 million customers.

“We plan to issue 1 million credit cards in the next four years and expect to gain a 15%-18% market share by 2021. With credit cards, we have

the full array of products such as wealth management and re-tail assets which means we can now engage with the customer fully,” Mondal said.

“This market is going to grow the fastest among consumption banking in the next ten years; it has the most skewed market share. Electrification of pay-ments means 5% of payments will be through cards in the next 10 years, up from 2% now,” he said. Yes Bank will offer seven different kinds of cards with fees ranging from ̀ 250 a year to `10,000, and interest rates rang-ing from 14.4% per annum to 28.8% at the peak. “Our interest rates in some cases are half of what is being offered in the mar-ket. This together with the fact that we are offering a 6% sav-ings account rate will lead to customer acquisitions,” Mondal said. Commercial vehi-cles and loans against property, which are called earnings as-sets, dominate the bank’s retail book cur-rently.

BANKING ON CHANGEWhile LVB is scrubbing its old image clean, Yes Bank focuses on growth

Lakshmi Vilas Bank Gets Sleek Top Team

Mumbai: Lakshmi Vilas Bank has caught the fancy of inves-tors in recent times with its stock surging 83% in the past three months as the lender is trying to reinvent itself with a brand new management team.

W i t h P a r t h a s a r a t h i Mukherjee at the helm, the bank has built a senior team of sever-al senior bank executives, who came from bulge-bracket lend-ers including HDFC, SBI, Axis Bank, Royal Bank of Scotland, and is hoping to get back on the growth track as fast as it can. Mukherjee, an ace banker from Axis Bank, took up the job steer-ing the fortunes of Lakshmi Vilas Bank about a year ago.

The lender, having lost its way for a while and criticised for its poor performance, plans to raise `400-500 crore to fund its growth.

“We are in the re-inventing mode and we plan to do it with our existing manpower. But

there were some gaps and we are filling them,” Lakshmi

Vilas Bank managing direc-tor Mukherjee told ET.

“We believe there’s im-mense opportunity in

the mar-

ket, especially in areas such as retail and small & medium en-terprises. Being a South-based bank, we will try to tap the op-portunities in the south and then expand to other regions,” he said.

NS Venkatesh has joined as executive director, LVB, from IDBI Bank, where he was CFO.

RVS Sridhar is now the chief risk officer, who served Axis Bank earlier. G o v i n d Ravindran has assumed the role of head

consumer lending after serving HDFC for about 15 years in busi-ness development.

Madhusudhana Rao, with his expe- rience in the State Bank of India, is serv-ing LVB as the chief customer service. Peeush Jain, who was earlier with Royal Bank of Scotland, has joined as the head of business partnership and transformation.

Besides, S Venkatesh, former-ly with RBL Bank, is heading the credit and wholesale bank-ing at LVB. B Nedumaran, who was with Ma Foi HR consultan-cy, is looking after human re-

sources. “LVB is a growth stock,” said Aalok Shah, bank-ing & financial ser-v i c e s a n a l y s t , Centrum Capital.

Joel.Rebello@timesgroup.com

Yes Bank to Double its Retail Loans in 4 Years

Saikat Das & Atmadip Ray

The lender had lost its way for a while and criticised for its poor per-formance

Bank will launch credit cards next week which will complete its retail loan offering

Rajesh.Mascarenhas@timesgroup.com

Mumbai: Metropolitan Stock Ex-change, formerly known as MCXStock Exchange, is raising .̀ 100 crorethrough a rights share issue to boostthe capital base. Exchanges have tomaintain a networth of at least .̀ 100crore, as per Sebi guidelines. The networth of the exchange as on March31, 2016 was .̀ 107 crore.

The board of MSEI has given ap-proval for a rights issue, said an ex-change spokesperson. “The rightsissue will help in implementation ofthe turnaround strategy and sup-port new product launch. It will helpin capitalising the subsidiary Met-ropolitan Clearing Corporation ofIndia and improve the net worth ofMSEI, which is currently in excessof .̀ 100 crore,” he added. Last year,the exchange had raised .̀ 75 crorethrough a rights issue in which SBIraised its stake from 1% to 5%. Cur-rently, Union Bank and IFCI hold3.7% stake each while IL&FS own5% in the exchange. Other sharehol-ders in the exchange includes Ra-kesh Jhunjhunwala, RK Damani,Nemish S Shah, Viral Parikh andKalparaj Dharamshi, who all ownclose to 5% each.

For the year ended 31 March 2016,the exchange posted a loss of .̀ 40.47crore as against a loss of .̀ 60.12 crorein the previous financial year.

MSEI has 10% market shares in cur-rency derivative segment. Whileclose to 200 new companies are listedon MSEI, most of them have shiftedfrom Regional Exchanges. The ex-change sought permission from Sebito extend trade timings till 5 pm forits equity platform.

MetropolitanStock ExchangeRaises .̀100 crVia Rights Issue

Ram.Sahgal@timesgroup.com

Mumbai: Higher volatility has attracted stockand commodity futures market punters to thepound and yen-rupee futures, pushing out-standing positions or open interest in these co-unters to multi-year highs in the recent past.

Since the Brexit referendum on June 23, theaverage 10-day volatility through August 18 inthe GBP rupee front month futures has been al-most 20% (annualised) compared with just4.2% in the dollar-rupee futures counter.

Similarly, the yen-rupee futures’ volatilityhas been 16.7%. Higher the variation, more thescope for traders to make money, or risk losing.While this was expected after the British votedto leave the EU on June 23, sensing that the po-und would fall against the dollar, traders herestarted taking proxy bets on the pound-rupee.They sold the pound against the rupee to gain.

This pushed open interest of the front monthGBP-INR futures to a record high of 66,027contracts on July 10. OI currently is a 42932contracts. Over the period June 23-Aug 18, thepound has fallen by 12% against the rupee. Tra-

ders who went short on the pound (and long ru-pee) have squeezed those who took a contra bet.

Similarly, sensing that a lesser-than-expectedstimulus by Japan in August would put pressu-re on the dollar-yen, many punters here beganselling the rupee and buying the yen. This re-sulted in the rupee falling almost 5% againstthe yen over the last two months.

“As a proxy (in place of shorting dollar andbuying yen), clients here would have sold ru-pee to buy yen,” said Suresh Nair, director, Ad-misi Commodities. In comparison, the dollarhas slipped by 1.6% against the rupee since Ju-ne 23. That’s a relatively small movement com-pared with how much GBP and Yen have mo-ved over the period. “GBP and yen have provi-ded alternates to dollar-rupee pair over thepast few months,” said Viral Shah, head, com-modity & currency desk at Geofin Comtrade.“There’s quite a bit of trading interest, especi-ally in pound rupee.” Participation would havebeen greater had the position limits been hig-her, said analysts.For instance, a domestic cli-ent can take up to $15 million exposure in USD-INR but just $5 million in yen, pound and euro,put together without underlying exposure.

Krishnakumar.PK@timesgroup.com

Kochi: Rubber Board’s efforts topromote weekly tapping to tide overthe price crisis and labour shortageappears to have met with resistancefrom most growers as they feel thetappers may not agree for such apractice.

With natural rubber prices remai-ning low in past couple of years andexperts predicting remote chancesof a spurt in prices in the immediatefuture, the board has been pushingits proposal for weekly tapping,which it had been advocating earliertoo. Tapping is done once in two orthree days now.

“In the current situation it willhelp to bring down the cost of pro-duction and overcome tapper shor-tage. It will bring down the tappingcost per hectare by 40 to 45%. In addi-tion, it will improve the life of therubber tree by another ten years, de-laying the need for replantation,” sa-id MG Sathees Chandran Nair, depu-ty director (P& PR) of Rubber Board.

But growers are concerned aboutretaining the tappers if there is onlyone day work for them in a week.

“The income of tappers will be hitand they will not stay. It is not a prac-tical solution. Moreover, the boardadvises application of a stimulanton the rubber tree so that yield isn’taffected as the number of tappingdecreases. We don’t know how effec-tive this is,’’ pointed out a grower PM Thomas.

Sutanuka.Ghosal@timesgroup.com

Kolkata: Indian diamond tradethat cuts and polishes nearly85% of rough diamonds in theworld is bringing on board dia-mond miners to expedite the mo-vement of diamond across theglobe. The trade has already tiedup with De Beers and are in talkswith Russian diamond majorALROSA for generic promotionof diamond in India, China, Eu-rope, Middle East and the FarEast.

The move comes at a time whenpolished diamond prices havedropped 4%-5% in the past onemonth and demand for diamond

studded jewellery has falled 30%in the past six months.

Talking to ET, Praveen Shan-kar Pandya, chairman, Gem &Jewellery Export Promotion Co-uncil, said, “It’s been reasonablygood for the industry betweenJanuary and March. But the fol-

lowing quarter has not been go-od as demand has slowed. Apartfrom the US, we did not see muchof movement in India and in glo-bal markets. However, from July,we are seeing some recovery indemand, but demand for smallerdiamonds isn’t picking up.”

Pandya said GJEPC has alrea-dy entered into a memorandumof understanding (MoU) with DeBeers. “In the next three months,GJEPC and De Beers will jointlycome out with promotional cam-paigns. We will use social mediaand the traditional electronicand print media for ads. The costof this initial drive for threemonths has been pegged at $5million,” he said.

While talks are on with Russi-a’s ALROSA for a similar exerci-se, diamond trade is also plan-ning to approach two other ma-jor miners ––UK-based Rio Tintoand Canada’s Dominion Dia-mond Corporation –– to bringthem on board for generic pro-motion.

Indian Traders Lean on Diamond Giants Move comes at a time when polished diamond prices dropped 4%-5% in the past one month

INDIA’S APPLE PRODUCTION IN 2014-15

2133.84 MILLION TONNES

Did You Know?

‘King Cotton’ has been around for thousands of years. Inde-pendently discovered in both the Old World and New World, no other commodity has cre-ated more controversy, built more nations, enriched more lives and caused more suffer-ing. Extensively cultivated in India for 6,000 years, cotton became the darling of the Brit-ish Empire via the Dutch East India Company during the 18th century. As slavery be-gan to take root in the US, cheaper cotton from the South began to supplement and later replace Indian cot-ton. This coincided with Brit-ain’s desire to de-industrialise India’s cotton industry and expand its own during the 19th century. The three top cotton producing countries are China, India and the US. In fact, these three countries alone are responsible for 50% of the world’s cotton use. When it comes to cotton ex-ports, the US and Africa lead the world in exports totalling over $6 billion.

Cotton Changed Destinies of Many Nations

Quarts & Ounces

15000

14500

14000

13500

13000

12500Aug 19, 2015 Aug 17, 2016

Coconut Oil - KOLKATA(In ` per Quintal)

Source: Agencies

Asia Coffee Differentials RiseRobusta bean differentials in Asia rose this week following a fall in global futures, while trade slowed in Vietnam as stocks with growers declined, traders said.

Differentials in Premiums of Beans Grade 1

$50-$55

$15-$20

On Thursday(For a tonne)

Last Thursday

Country’s total acreage under the soft commodity

600,000hectares

Rise in coffee exports during Oct 2015-Jul 2016

1.46

40-50k hectaresCoffee farms in Vietnam switched to pepper

million tonnes

REASONSFarmers not selling

Huge discounts by traders

Farmers shiftedto other crops

10%Expected output fall in 2016-17

VIRAL SHAH,Geofin Comtrade

The GBP and yen have provided alternates to the dollar-rupee pair over the past few months. There’s quite a bit of trading interest, especially in the pound rupee

The Actual PlanRubber prices remain low over past two years

Experts predict less chances of price rise in near future

Now, tapping is done once in two or three days

Rubber Board is pushing its proposal for weekly tapping

Growers feel tappers may not agree to this proposal

This will help reduce production cost

30% Fall in rubber prices in two years

40 to 45%Expected fall in cost per hec-tare through this scheme

27% Fall in production

* lakh tonnes

5.62*PRODUCTION

4.58*IMPORTS

Traders OpposeRubber Board’sWeeklyTapping Plan

GURURAJ

Punters Leave Dollar toPlay Volatility on GBP

ANIMISHA

Major MSEI ShareholdersNAME

DERIVE INVEST-MENTS (RK DAMANI)

RAKESHJHUNJHUNWALA

NEMISH SHAH

VIRAL PAREKH

KALPARAJ DHARAMSHI

% HOLDING

5.00

5.00

5.00

5.00

4.80

VASU

SID

DH

AR

TH