| Importers want their goods shipped
thro' country craft The Food
Importers Association in Colombo insists that
their consignments be shipped through country
craft and not break bulk vessels.
They give a number of reasons, the primary one
of which is that smaller shipments as brought in
by these boats that will enable importers to
dispose of their inventories faster and eliminate
the need for expensive warehousing and spoilage.
This "will benefit the consumer", says
the President of the Association, Rex Fernando.
The Association at an emergency meeting held
last week decided that all members of the
Association insist on the cargo being shipped
through the country craft which come from
Tuticorin.
In a letter to. 'The Island' Mr. Fernando
says: "This decision has been taken in view
of the shipments through country craft is the
safest, cheapest and quickest so far and one
which helps to give the common man at the
cheapest price, their consumer needs".
Fernando adds these craft have been plying
between the Indian port and Colombo and is a
century old mode of transport which had been used
by the Association membership. Besides it is
claimed this mode of shipment is economical and
safe.
A spokesman for Mercantile shipping which
started the use of bigger vessels to ply between
Tuticorin and Colombo says, their mode of
transport is far superior to that of the country
craft. Additionally they are able to offer
freight rates, the spokesmen said, at US$ 4 less
than the prevalent rates.
It is said that two other local shipping
companies are to start a Tuticorin Colombo
service through break bulk vessels.
The Mercantile spokesman said that a second
ship had brought 750 tons of cargo from
Tuticorin. In reference to The Island Business
Page story about break bulk vessels taking over
this service, the General Secretary of Coastal
Mechanised Sail Vessel Owners' Association says
in a communication to The island: "The break
bulk vessel with a capacity of 1800 tons that
arrived recently let Tuticorin Port with merely
185 tons as Sri Lankan importers as well as
Indian exporters as inclined to use sailing
vessels.
The faxed communication from the Association's
General Secretary says: "We are now
concentrating and planning ways and means to
deliver the cargo more safely than before to our
consignees. If we are provided with an additional
berth for the exclusive use of our vessels for
berthing 4 to 6 vessels, we would be in a
position to serve our customers in a better way
to their satisfaction.
The sailing vessels were embargoed from coming
into Colombo in view of security considerations.
But later it was lifted and restricted entry was
permitted into Colombo Port.
Newest high rise to hit Colombo
skyline
Scheduled to open in October,
the Landmark is the latest high rise to hit the
Colombo skyline. The 12-storey building, located
on Galle Road, Kollupitiya, houses a shopping
mall, offices, four floors of apartments and a
rooftop penthouse. It also features a wide and
expansive ground floor space with the entrance
facing Galle Road, and a corner area with a
separate entrance earmarked for a bistro.
Four escalators service the
shopping mall covering the first three floors
while two reserved high-speed elevators cater to
apartment and office occupants on seven floors.
Central air conditioning, 200 phone lines with a
dedicated tower atop the building reserved
basement and above ground parking for 85
vehicles, round the clock security, private
entrances and lifts for the use of office and
apartment occupants give the Landmark building
the practicality and convenience desired by
corporate and city clientele.
Automated fire detection and
sprinkler systems coupled with CCTV monitoring,
video phones at entrances makes the Landmark
especially comfortably secure for residents as
well as businesses.
While all of these make the
building commendably modern, it's the final
details and the attention given to them that make
it special.
The jobbies on each floor are
marble and granite, the reflective glazing is St.
Gopain (makers of BMW windscreens): the ceilings
are of thermally and acoustically dampened
brushed alumnium; all in all, the effect is
nothing less than singularly stunning.
"The Landmark isn't for
those who are merely looking for space in
Colombo. It's for those who want an address that
reflects their style and sophistication; a place
that not only is prestigious but is also elegant
and refined. The apartments, and especially the
rooftop penthouse display more than a touch of
luxury. While the offices and shopping mall space
is for lease, the apartments and rooftop
penthouse is for sale. Obviously, we are aiming
at clients who entertain guests and business
associates a lot and need a place that's
convenient and within the city and which helps
them project the right image", said Mr. Shan
Wickremasinghe, manager of the Landmark property.
More demand, so prices move up
There was more general demand, which caused
prices to move up. The quantity on offer this
week increased 14% to 5.6 million kilos against
4.9 million kilos that came up for sale last
week. Low Growns were well sought after and
prices increased for most leafy grades. Middle
East markets were active for all categories on
offer. Buying for Saudi Arabia, Syria, Turkey and
Israel was particularly strong. The bottom end of
the market was fully firm in spite of little or
no activity for Russia/CIS. High and Mid Growns
too enjoyed fair demand. The best Westerns came
in for special inquiry and recorded sharp price
gains. A range of the improved below best teas
moved up in value, but the plainer teas lost some
of last week's gains. Uvas continued to loose out
in value with quality on the decline. The bottom
end of the market held steady and some of the
cleaner teas were dearer this week.
The Tea Board and the CTTA's attempt to secure
assistance from the Treasury to tide over the
Russian currency crisis did not meet with
success. Yet, there were two significant positive
factors that emerged. The first was the proactive
action by both bodies, which went a long way
towards focusing attention on an industry wide
problem. The resulting understanding of the
situation helped the industry come to terms with
the various aspects of this complex issue.
Secondly even though tangible benefits did not
result from the Industry's initiative; bankers
had a greater understanding of the environment in
which the traders were operating. And that their
own clients problems were not unique. Race Riots
reported in Sumatra are not likely to disrupt
Indonesia's tea trade. Around 30% of the
country's Black Tea comes from the Island, but
most labour is not Chinese. The situation should
be monitored as last time the problem spread to
Jakarta.
The Tea Trade
Assistance for
Russian tea shipments
Representatives of the Tea
Trade together with the officials of the Tea
Board as well as the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce
had several discussions with Commercial Banks,
the Central Bank and the Treasury.
It is understood that the
Central Bank and the Treasury have appealed to
the Commercial Banks to be flexible in providing
credit to exporters who are facing cash flow
problems on account of non-receipt of payment for
teas supplied to Russia. The Banks have indicated
that they have restricted credit only for
shipments to Russia and they continue to provide
enhanced credit to the customers to service all
their markets, based on the credit worthiness of
the client.
The Government took a positive
step by requesting the Sri Lanka Export Credit
Insurance Corporation (SLECIC) to put into
operation immediately, a special export credit
insurance scheme for exports to Russia. This will
enable exporters, who suspended shipments of tea
to Russia, to re-commence their trade with
Russia. The scheme is expected to come into
operation by next week. The premium will be paid
by the respective exporters and the Sri Lanka Tea
Board.
Renewed activity from the
buyers operating for Russia will have a positive
impact on auction prices.
- John Keells
Even with Russia's absence fair
demand for tea
Inspite of a larger quantity of
5.6 million kgs compared with 4.9 million kgs
last week together with the continued absence of
buying for Russia, there was fair demand at this
week's auction although somewhat selective. It
was apparent that demand was focussed on the
better teas in all three elevational categories
and quite often these teas sold at higher prices
compared with last week. However, the poorer teas
met with limited support and coupled with the
larger weight on offer the poorer teas that were
difficult of sale remained unsold.
With the good teas selling well
and quite often dearer and a selection of poorer
teas remaining unsold, the overall auction
average is unlikely to change dramatically on
last weeks total average of Rs. 125.68. Of
course, what should be stressed is that if the
poorer teas were sold at heavily discounted
prices, the total auction average would have been
considerably lower which is a point of concern.
We would therefore like to reiterate our comments
made last week that particularly at this juncture
with the absence of the single biggest market for
our teas, it is very important that we do not
have a surfeit of poor teas especially during the
larger auctions to follow during October and
November. In fact, over the auctions of 2nd
September and 9th September, inspite of the total
weight on offer being under 5 million kgs each
week almost 20% of the teas remained unsold at
the sale of 2nd September 1998 and just over 12%
was unsold at the sale of 9th September 1998.
A meeting was convened by the
Secretary to the Treasury on Monday the 14th of
September 1998 at which the Sri Lanka Tea Board,
the Colombo Tea Traders' Association, the
Bankers, the Central Bank and SLECIC were
represented to discuss the current crisis in the
Tea Trade arising out of the problems in Russia.
According to reports we have gathered, it was not
possible for the Central Bank or the Treasury to
give any guarantees to the Banks. SLECIC however
was requested to look into the possibility of
formulating a scheme whereby non settlement of
bill on future tea exports to Russia could be
adequately covered. The Banks were also requested
to try and assist the exporters particularly in
respect of current overdue bills taking into
consideration the exceptional circumstances.
- Forbes Warker
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