Government may ban Cement exports
New Delhi: The government of India may consider banning cement exports if it brings down prices, Commerce and Industry Minister Kamal Nath said on Wednesday, sending cement shares sliding 1-9 per cent.

Inflation has become a bogey for the UPA government and the Congress party, which heads the coalition and has lost two key state elections with voters angry over high prices of food and other items.

Finance and industry ministry officials have asked cement makers to cut prices and help government fight inflation, but producers earlier said they could not after the duty rise and instead pledged to raise capacity.

However, the government has continued talks with the industry to cool prices.
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Bumper crop in wheat expected
New Delhi: A bumper crop of wheat of around 74 million tonnes is expected this year due to good weather conditions, government officials said on Wednesday.

The forecast is at least one million tonnes more than previous estimates and sharply up from the 2006 output of 69.4 million tonnes.

Wheat prices in the country have shot up due to supply constraints. Last week, the government banned futures trade on wheat and rice, after politicians blamed speculation for fuelling prices and adding to inflationary pressures.

Sharad Pawar agriculture minister, said there was major expansion in area under wheat in Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh and unlike last year when we had three to four weeks of bad weather in February conditions were favourable this time.

Pawar denied media reports the government has asked private players not to procure wheat from the main growing regions this year.
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India may import wheat
However a US trade body has said India would import wheat for the second year in a row in 2007 to build stocks, despite prospects of a bumper crop, a US trade body, US Wheat Associates, said on Wednesday. This is despite Indian government officials saying wheat imports would not be needed in 2007 with output forecast at around 74 million tonnes.

Mark Samson, vice-president for South Asia, US Wheat Associates said India will import up to 3 million tonnes, against 5.5 million tonnes in 2006 due to a demand-supply gap of about one million tones.

India was forced to import wheat for the first time in six years in 2006 after output fell to 69.4 million tonnes from earlier estimates of 72 million tonnes and sparked a price spiral.

Samson said that if India decided to import wheat, then it should buy between May to July when global prices are low because of harvests in most wheat-growing countries.
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Import duties on wine may be cut
New Delhi: Import duties on wine and spirits may be cut to avoid having the issue decided by the World Trade Organization amid heavy pressure from the U.S. and the European Union, according to Commerce Minister Kamal Nath.

Nath's comments came after EU Agriculture Commissioner Mariann Fischer Boel pressed the issue at a meeting in New Delhi.

The EU and the United States have filed complaints with the WTO on the Indian tariffs, alleging they were unfair trade barriers that were keeping foreign countries from competing in India's lucrative alcohol market.

India's basic import duties on wine and spirits-at 100 per cent and 150 per cent respectively--are within the WTO limits, but federal surcharges and state-level taxes take the tariff protection up to 540 per cent in some cases.

US Trade Representative Susan Schwab in Washington said that her government had followed the EU and filed a complaint with the WTO. The European Commission had filed its complaint with the Geneva-based WTO on Nov. 20.

Under the WTO rules, first consultations are encouraged between the member nations. If there is no progress within 60 days, the aggrieved party can ask for a panel to be set up to rule on the dispute whose decision would be binding on both sides. India is one of the largest markets for alcohol in the world with a huge potential to grow, but imports account for a meager share in total consumption.
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