Fuel oil import cost halves

The government spending on import of fuel oil has declined by more than half in the fiscal year 2015-16 (FY’16) from what it had to spend two years back. The import cost stood at USD 1.9 billion (BDT 150.0 billion) in the last fiscal year as compared to USD 3.5 billion in FY’15 and USD 4.7 billion in FY’14, according to statistics of state-run Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC). The prices might decline further in the coming days as the BPC would procure half the total imports through open tender, said a senior BPC official. The import quantity remained almost at the same level at around 5.4 million tons and 5.39 mts respectively during FY’14 and FY’15. In FY’16, imports slightly declined to around 4.76 mts as the BPC allowed import of furnace oil by the private sector to generate electricity. The BPC usually imports around 1.40 mts of crude oil for refining in its wholly-owned subsidiary – Eastern Refinery Ltd (ERL) – and the remaining quantity of diesel, jet fuel and furnace oil combined to meet the domestic demand, said the official. The BPC, on the other hand, is making hefty profit since October 2014 as it imports oil at lower prices and sells at higher administered prices. The price of Brent crude, the benchmark in oil price, slumped to around USD 50.0 per barrel recently from its highest around USD 120.0 per barrel. The price had hit its bottom below USD 30.0 per barrel last year. The BPC, that never had earned profit over the past 14 years since FY 02, started counting profits from late October 2014 taking advantage of the price-fall in the international market.

Source: http://print.thefinancialexpress-bd.com/2016/11/08/156152

Government decides to go tough on mobile companies ignoring subscribers’ choice

The government is planning to go tough with mobile operators regarding unwanted activation and renewal of various service packages without the knowledge of subscribers. The Post and Telecommunications Division (PTD), in a letter to the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC), asked the Commission to stop any service package offered by the mobile operators without prior approval of PTD. Mobile operators can ‘offer’ service packages to their subscribers but cannot activate them automatically without the consent of the subscribers, the letter said. The letter also said there should not be any provision for auto renewal of packages. Subscribers must be given the choice of renewing or not renewing such packages, the letter added. The PTD letter also warned that disciplinary action will be taken against the mobile operators if any data package or service gets renewed without appropriate consent of the subscribers. The total number of mobile subscribers in Bangladesh stood at 117.0 million as of August this year. Service packages offered to subscribers through SMS are a big part of the marketing strategy of the mobile operators. However, there have been some concerns that the mobile phone users often subscribe to such packages without proper knowledge of their usages. The PTD high official also said that apart from service packages, the government is also concerned about call-termination problems and is set to take measures for curbing call drops over mobile phones.

Source: http://print.thefinancialexpress-bd.com/2016/11/08/156150

Denim export to US sees 5.8% rise

Bangladesh’s Denim export to the United States has seen a 5.8% jump to USD 299.0 million in the first eight months of the current year compared to the same period a year ago. However, Denim product export to European Union (EU) counties rose by 6.9% to EUR 568.0 million in January-June period of the current year. Denim products contribute about USD 6.0 billion to USD 28.0 billion RMG exports, which is expected to reach USD 7.0 billion by 2021. Of the total amount, EU and US import lion’s share of Bangladesh’s denim products. According to the Office of Textiles and Apparel (OTEXA) data, Bangladesh earned USD 299.0 million, exporting denim products, which was USD 282.4 million in the same period a year ago. In the year 2015, Bangladesh earned USD 439.8 million. According to the data of eurostat, in January-June period of 2016, Bangladesh exported denim products of EUR 568.0 million, which was EUR 531.5 million. Last year, Bangladesh earned EUR 1.18 billion from the denim export. According to the study by Cotton Inc, 71.0% of people in Europe and Latin America enjoy wearing denim, followed by 70.0% in the US, 58.0% in China and 57.0% in Japan. According to the sector people estimation that close to 1.9 billion units of denim jeans were sold in the world in 2015, and by 2021 the yearly sale of jeans will cross two billion units.

Source: http://www.dhakatribune.com/business/2016/11/08/denim-export-us-sees-5-84-rise/

Advanced Chemical Industries (ACI) to set up subsidiary company

Advanced Chemical Industries (ACI) Limited, a listed company with the local bourses, has decided to set up a new subsidiary company named ACI Biotech Limited, said an official disclosure on Monday. Stock Exchange (DSE) web post. The initial capital of the proposed subsidiary company will be BDT 10 million having 80.0% ownership to be held by ACI Limited, said the disclosure. However, setting up of the subsidiary company is subject to approval from the regulatory authorities, it said. ACI Limited was listed with the Dhaka bourse in 1976. The pharmaceuticals sector company belongs to the “A” category. The company’s paid-up capital is BDT 398.37 million and authorised capital is BDT 500 million while total number of its securities is 39,836,729, according to the statistics available with the DSE. The sponsor-directors own 34.8% stake in the ACI while institutional investors own 34.24% and the general public 30.97% as on September 29, 2016. The company’s share price hovered between BDT 403.7 and BDT 416.8 before closing at BDT 409.9 on Monday, thereby advancing 2.32% compared to the previous day.

Source:
http://print.thefinancialexpress-bd.com/2016/11/08/156109
http://www.dhakatribune.com/business/2016/11/08/aci-plans-float-new-subsidiary/

Local and Global Stock Indices

World Commodities

Major Currencies Exchange Rates Movement in Last Seven Days

*CURRENCIES AND COMMODITIES ARE TAKEN FROM BLOOMBERG.