Business

KARACHI: Pakistan suffered a decline in the inflow of foreign direct investment in the first quarter of 2010-11, as 24 major manufacturing sectors received considerably less foreign investment in comparison to the quantum of investment received in the corresponding period of last fiscal year.
Among the sufferers were sectors including food, food packaging, beverages, tobacco, paper, leather, leather products, chemicals, petroleum refining, pharmaceuticals, ceramics, metal

FAISALABAD: There is no shortage of fertiliser in Faisalabad, as ample stock is available to meet needs of Rabi crops. These views were expressed by acting EDO Agriculture, Chaudhary Abdul Hameed, while chairing a meeting of officers of the Agriculture Department and representatives of fertiliser dealers.
He said that about 1.5 lac bags of DAP fertilisers were required for Rabi crops in Faisalabad, while the same number of urea fertilisers were sufficient to fulfill demands of

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan cotton dealers facing record domestic prices are concerned about deals for nearly one million bales after India stopped registering cotton exports.
Pakistani traders say any cancellation of Indian contracts or even delays in shipments would have serious consequences for the textile industry, which accounts for about 60 percent of the country's total exports.
Textile firms in the world's third largest cotton consumer have looked to neighbouring India,

BEIJING: China's cotton imports nearly doubled on the year in September, captialising on a recovery in demand from the world's top consumer that helped cotton futures power to a record high on Friday.
"We have global supplies at the tightest level since 1994/95 when the previous record was set, and it doesn't appear to my mind that the supply issue is going to be rectified soon even with a larger U.S. cotton crop," said Luke Mathews, commodity strategist at Commonwealth Bank of

HONG KONG/LONDON: Asia-centric bank Standard Chartered launched a $5.3 billion (3.4 billion pound) rights issue to bolster its finances for new capital rules and provide the firepower to take advantage of growth opportunities, it said.
The bank said it made record profits and income in the third quarter and for the first nine months of the year. Income in the third quarter rose faster than in the first-half and trading volumes were almost back to levels of before the financial

JAKARTA: Indonesia plans to raise its tobacco excise tax by five percent next year to help meet state revenue targets, a senior official said Wednesday.
The country has one of the highest smoking rates in the world, as 60 percent of the men are estimated to smoke along with a "disturbing" number of children, according to the Asia Pacific Association for the Control of Tobacco (APACT).
Finance ministry official, Agus Supriyanto told Dow Jones Newswires that the excise tax

DUBAI: The Chief Restructuring Officer of Dubai World, Aidan Birkett, is stepping down after the debt-laden group reached a deal to restructure its debt, stated an official statement released on Wednesday.
"Birkett has now successfully completed his work at Dubai World and will be stepping down on 14th October 2010," said the Dubai government statement.
The group, which announced last month reaching an agreement with 99 percent of its creditor banks on its proposal to

ISLAMABAD: The 41st World Standards Day is being celebrated across the world including Pakistan to pay tribute to the efforts of thousands of experts worldwide working in active collaboration of the IEC, ISO and ITU to develop voluntary International Standards that facilitate trade, spread knowledge and disseminate technological advances.
The aim of World Standards Day is to raise awareness among regulators, industry and consumers as to the importance of standardisation in the

KARACHI: The Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra) has declared the wellhead prices for new gas production fields including Bobi, while the authority also revised the price upwards for Manzalai field to $2.83 per mmbtu against the earlier figure quoted of $2.72.
The price for the Bobi field has been determined since January 2007 but the price has now been set at Rs 382.08 per mmbtu.
Ogra owns 100 percent stakes in the Bobi field, which has an average gas production level

LAHORE: Zarai Taraqiati Bank Limited (ZTBL) has allocated Rs 60.34 billion for farm credit to meet production credit needs, both for Rabi and Kharif crops during the current year.
Agriculture Department, Punjab has advised farmers to utilise this facility of loan disbursement through One Window Operation and purchase agricultural inputs for Rabi crops in time for greater income.
According to the spokesman of Agriculture Department, Punjab credit availability to the farmers

LAHORE: The Lahore Stock Exchange (LSE), marked by a terrific recovery in volume, remained bullish on Wednesday.
Cement, banking and fertiliser sectors remained the eye catchers. The LSE 25-shares index added 33.32 points to close at 3,234.19 against its opening at 3,200.87 levels. Volume of the market remarkably increased by 1.71 million shares, and stayed at four million shares.
Out of 116 active scrips, 48 increased, 15 declined and 53 showed stagnancy.
Lafarge

KARACHI: The main board stocks of major commercial sectors received fresh funds inflow, mainly through government treasuries, resident participants and local financial groups; resultantly KSE 100 index gained 97 points.
However, various economic, financial and political problems prevalent kept the most prudent speculators reluctant to commit. Short term trading opportunities were capitalized by the more venturesome of investors.
The KSE 100 Index opened in red zone with a

KARACHI: Recent times have seen the KSE primarily focused on managerial reshuffling, as members hit by losses are demanding watershed changes.
According to market sources, an unprecedented hustle against the appointment of a non-member chairman is dominating the affairs and minds at the Karachi bourse.
Sources told Pakistan Today that some 200 card holders at KSE were agitated with the old tradition of what they consider appointing an outsider like Zubair Soomro as the

LAHORE: Pakistan's rice export is likely to fall by approximately 0.6 million tons this year due to the loss of crops in the wake of the heavy floods the country has endured. But exporters are hopeful that higher rice prices on the global markets will compensate for the reduction in the output.
Pakistan, the world's fifth-largest rice exporter, will likely export some 4.0 to 4.2 million tons of rice in 2010-11 as compared to 4.6 million tons rice shipped in 2009-10.