Online sugar trading starts
New Delhi: Futures trading in sugar has started after a long lull, courtesy the Bajaj group-promoted Esugarindia. The company has started its screen-based online trading for 140 members through its website, www.esugarindia.com. The futures exchange will provide the much-needed hedging and price discovery mechanism to the Rs 30,000-crore industry, it is believed. "The company at present has around 30 sugar mills from Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra along with 110 brokers, commission agents and traders," say company officials. "Initially, the trading will be 30-day futures, but no target has been set for volumes to be generated."

Expressing confidence on the success of the exchange, the officials say the company is even in a position to generate 90-day futures. "All that was needed was for mills to take into account their monthly release quota announced by the government on a quarterly basis." This is India's first demutualised exchange wherein the ownership, management of operations and participation are all demutualised, which means controls vest in separate and independent groups.
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Trade agreements with Latin America under way
New Delhi: The Indian government will frame agreements with Latin America. This will lead to preferential trade and free trade agreements with all the countries in the region. The ball started rolling when it signed an FTA with Mercusor and moves are on to enter into similar agreements with the Association of Central American States and the Association of Caribbean States in Latin America, says joint foreign secretary Harish Dogra.

Dogra says the question whether these framework agreements should take the form of a PTA or FTA will be decided by the commerce ministry. Along with PTA/FTA with Latin America, proposals for avoidance of double taxation agreement and bilateral investment protection agreement as well as easing of the visa restrictions on businessmen going to the region would also have to be pursued, says Dogra. "The current moves for a FTA/PTA with all the countries in Latin America had no bearing on the proposed free trade area of the Americas for which negotiations were due to be completed by December 2005 and which would impact India's exports to the region."
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