US Cotton Traders eye growing Market Share in BD

US cotton traders seek to raise their market share in Bangladesh by 33 per cent in the next five years, buoyed by the growing textile industry, especially the spinning sector, which largely depends on imported cotton. They also urged the Bangladesh government to scrap the age-old fumigation rules on the import of US cotton to save both time and money and to increase the flow of quality cotton supply. The US has grabbed 11 per cent of Bangladesh’s total cotton import last year and the share actually increased three times since 2015, according to executive director of Cotton Council International [CCI] Bruce A Atherley. Bangladesh imported 7,85,000 bales of cotton from the US in 2018, up from 2,26,000 bales in 2015. Mr Atherley is leading a high-level US cotton industry delegation that came to Dhaka on the occasion of fourth Bangladesh Cotton Day. Bangladesh, a market of 2.0 million cotton bales, is very important for the US traders due to the spectacular growth of its textile industry over the last 20 years. Bangladesh imported 8.2 million bales of cotton in 2018, according to Bangladesh Textile Mills Association. Some 37.06 per cent of the total cotton bales was imported from Africa, 26.12 per cent from India, 11.35 per cent from the Commonwealth of Independent States [CIS] countries, 11.14 per cent from the US, 4.65 per cent from Australia, and 9.65 per cent from other countries. The US industry traders noted that the US can supply more reliable and high quality cotton to Bangladesh spinners.

Source: https://today.thefinancialexpress.com.bd/trade-market/us-cotton-traders-eye-growing-market-share-in-bangladesh-1571852229

 Aromatic Rice Exports rises

Fragrant rice exports from Bangladesh have gradually been increasing thanks to rising demand for such item in the globe, according to traders. The exports could be increased significantly if the government provides necessary incentives like that of competitor countries. However, Bangladesh exported above 22,400 tonnes of rice worth US$ 17.7 million in the last Financial Year [FY’19] of which 100 per cent were fragrant rice, according to the Export Promotion Bureau [EPB] and the Bangladesh Rice Exporters Association [BREA]. It was 11,000 tonnes worth US$ 7.13 million in FY’18, EPB data showed. Exports of fragrant rice increased by 149 per cent in FY’19 than that of FY’18 [in value]. The local traders exported aromatic rice to UAE, KSA, Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Bhutan, Canada, Switzerland, UK, France, Germany, Finland, Greece, Hong Kong, Ireland, Italy, Jordan, Japan, Lebanon, Maldives Nepal, New Zealand, Myanmar, Mauritius, Malaysia, Kuwait, Liberia and South Africa.

Source: https://today.thefinancialexpress.com.bd/last-page/bb-updates-beftn-system-1571768162

 Govt readies answer to ILO Complaints

The government has finalized a draft response to the complaints against it over the violation of the International Labour Organization [ILO] conventions, according to officials. A number of countries filed the complaints at the International Labour Conference [ILC] held in Geneva in June this year. Labor and law ministries and stakeholders have jointly finalized the response that includes the recent progress in amending the labor law. The law conforms to the ILO conventions to avert the situation for forming a commission of inquiry against the country. At the concluding ILC session, worker delegates of Italy, Pakistan, South Africa, Brazil and Japan suggesting forming such a commission. Bangladesh was not following ILO convention 87 on freedom of association and right to organize, convention 98 on right to bargain collectively and convention 81 on labor inspection. EPZs workers are more protected and facilitated as well as getting more benefits under existing EPZ laws, rules and regulations and provisions, the draft explained.

Source: https://today.thefinancialexpress.com.bd/trade-market/govt-readies-answer-to-ilo-complaints-1571852159

 Two bodies to work on closing gap with IFRS

The country’s audit watchdog has formed two working groups to set accounting rules in line with the International Financial Reporting Standards [IFRS] to further standardize the accounting practices here. The Financial Reporting Council [FRC] Bangladesh, an independent oversight body, has formed the groups as companies deviate from the accounting standards in preparing their financial statements. Local accountants prepare financial statements by applying different methods of accounting, guided by their ill-motives in many cases. Many follow the direct cash flow method of accounting with some others going by the indirect method. The regulators concerned like the Bangladesh Bank and the Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission [BSEC] instruct the companies time to time to include or exclude some financial matters that impact the financial statements. Such instructions also go against the IFRS. The two groups would work on three IFRS principles-9, 15 and 16.The IFRS 9 deals with the accounting for financial instruments. The IFRS 15 provides guidance on accounting for revenue from contracts with customers. The IFRS 16 provides guidance on accounting for leases.

Source: https://today.thefinancialexpress.com.bd/first-page/two-bodies-to-work-on-closing-gap-with-ifrs-1571853392

 DSE Turnover hits Five-month Low

The turnover on the Dhaka bourse came down to Tk 2.71 billion on Wednesday, hitting five months low, as investors were reluctant to make fresh investment in stocks. Turnover, a crucial indicator of the market, dipped further by 6.0 per cent over previous day’s mark of Tk 2.88 billion. It was the lowest single-day transaction since May 15, this year, when the turnover totaled a record low of Tk 2.56 billion. According to Market analysts, institutional investors mostly followed ‘wait-and-see’ approach amid liquidity crunch while small investors were not confident enough to inject fresh fund, taking the market turnover to five months low. The institutional investors are in hands-off position as they fear of the liquidity pressure in coming days amid soaring interest rates in the Banking sector. The market index ended marginally higher after sharp decline in the previous day as bargain hunters showed their interest in fundamentally sound stocks. DSEX, the prime index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange, went up by 17.94 points or 0.38 per cent to settle at 4,726, after losing 53 points in the previous day. The DSE Shariah Index also gained 3.83 points to close at 1,084. However, the DS30 index, comprising blue chips, fell 1.54 points to finish at 1,659. Among the major sectors, engineering posted the highest gain of 1.40 per cent, followed by power with 0.80 per cent, telecom 0.30 per cent and Banking 0.30 per cent. The Non-Bank Financial Institutions and food sectors lost 1.50 per cent and 0.60 per cent respectively.

Source: https://today.thefinancialexpress.com.bd/stock-corporate/dse-turnover-hits-five-month-low-1571851589

Soft launching of EXIM Finance [HK]

Export Import Bank of Bangladesh Limited softly launched its wholly owned subsidiary EXIM Finance [Hong Kong] Limited recently in a program at Holiday Inn Golden Mile Hotel, Kowloon, Hong Kong, according to a statement. EXIM Finance [Hong Kong] Limited will provide LC advice, LC confirmation, export bill collection, financing against accepted import and export bills, discounting of export bills and related services.

Source: https://today.thefinancialexpress.com.bd/stock-corporate/soft-launching-of-exim-finance-hk-1571851631

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