Shree Vallabh Shipping Services

24/07/2017

06/08/2016

Anti-dumping duty on import of steel products

The Directorate-General of Anti-Dumping and Allied Duties (DGAD) has recommended provisional duties of $69-152 per tonne on hot-rolled coil and HR not in coil imports from specific producers in China, Japan, Korea, Brazil, Russia and Indonesia, it is learnt.

According to reports, an inquiry found that the items are being imported into India by some manufacturers in these countries at below normal price.

Meanwhile, the minimum import prices (MIP) for steel products expire on Friday, August 5, 2016. Anti-dumping duties, however, will continue.

06/04/2016

Adani Hazira Container Terminal registers highest throughput of 3,02,755 TEUs in 2015-16

Adani Hazira Port Pvt. Ltd (AHPPL), a subsidiary of Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Ltd (APSEZ), India’s largest port developer and operator, recorded a container throughput of 3,02,755 TEUs (yoy growth of 96 per cent for 2015-16), the highest throughput since the inception of container terminal operations at the port in April 2013.

"This is a remarkable achievement by the Adani Hazira Container Terminal TEAM. Our focus will be to provide operational excellence with the highest level of safety and a customer-centric approach. We thank our customers for supporting us and having faith in us," said Capt. Anil Kishore Singh, CEO of AHPPL.

According to a release, the strategic advantages of Hazira include world class infrastructure to handle container vessels and seamless rail and road connectivity to the cargo catchment centres in south Gujarat, central India and northern Maharashtra.

Maersk, MSC, CMA CGM, OOCL, PIL, Simatech, Emirates, UASC, Perma Shipping, Freight Connection, Caravel, Balaji, Trans Asia and IAL are some of the lines currently offering weekly service to worldwide destinations from Hazira, the release added.

Salient features of Adani Hazira Port

* 2 berths with 637 metres quay length
* Capacity to handle 750,000 TEUs per annum
* 3,381 ground slots
* 4 Post Panamax quay cranes
* 2 Super Post Panamax cranes
* 14 electric RTGCs
* Weekly direct services to worldwide destinations
* Regular rail movement from central India
* On-dock ex-im yard for stuffing/de-stuffing and Customs examination facility

06/04/2016

Mango exports estimated to double

India is expected to export around 1 lakh tonnes of mango to global markets this season, up from the 50,000 tonnes last year. Of this, shipments to Europe are estimated at 1,500-2,000 tonnes as against 600 tonnes in the last season, it is learnt.

In fact, the first consignment of mangoes from India has already left for Europe, sources said.

Following a previous ban imposed by the European Union on Indian mango exports, consignments have to now undergo hot water treatment before they are considered fit for consumption in the European market. Horticulture departments of the mango exporting states, Apeda and others are making sure that there are no issues with the exports.

29/02/2016

Changes in indirect taxes are as under.

1.
Krishi Kalyan Cess proposed to be levied
on all taxable services to finance and
promote initiatives to improve agriculture, with effect from 01.06.2016.

Existing nil
Proposed 0.5%

2.
Services provided by National Centre for
Cold Chain Development under
Department of Agriculture, Cooperation
and Farmer’s welfare, Government of
India, by way of knowledge
dissemination, being exempted from
service tax, with effect from 01.04.2016.

Existing 14%
Proposed Nil

3.
Excise duty on electric motor, shafts,
sleeve, chamber, impeller, washer
required for the manufacture of
centrifugal pump being reduced. More
than 50% of such pumps are used in
agriculture.

Existing 12.5%
Proposed 6%

4.
Concessional 5% Basic Customs Duty as
presently available under project imports
for cold storage, cold room (including for
farm level pre-cooling) being extended for
‘cold chain including pre-cooling unit,
pack houses, sorting and grading lines and
ripening chambers’ also.

Existing 10%
Proposed 5%

5.
BCD on refrigerated containers being
reduced

Existing 10%
Proposed 5%

6.
Excise duty on refrigerated containers
being reduced

Existing 12.5%
Proposed 6%

7.
Excise duty on micronutrients [covered
under S. No. 1(f) of Schedule 1 Part (A)
of the Fertilizer Control Order, 1985 and
manufactured by the manufacturers which
are registered under the FCO, 1985] being
reduced.

Existing 12.5%
Proposed 6%

8.
Excise duty on physical mixture of
fertilizers, made out of chemical fertilizers
on which duty of excise has been paid, by
Co-operative Societies, holding certificate
of manufacture for mixture of fertilizers
under the Fertilizer Control Order 1985,
for supply to the members of such Co- operative Societies, being exempted.

Existing 1%
(without
ITC or
6% (with
ITC)
Proposed nil

09/02/2016

Thailand, Indonesia & Malaysia cut rubber exports to boost prices

To boost prices that are trading near six-year lows amid a prolonged global glut, Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia have agreed to withdraw exports of 615,000 tonnes of rubber from March to August, it is learnt.

The three countries, which account for more than 60 per cent of global output, will cut exports by 615,000 metric tonnes in the six months to August 31, 2016.

06/02/2016

As many as 74 drugs, including life-saving ones used for treating cancer and HIV, will see sharp rise in prices as the government has withdrawn customs duty exemption on their imports.

The Central Board of Excise and Customs ( CBEC) last week issued a notification withdrawing exemption of levy of basic customs duty on as many as 74 drugs.

The medicines on which customs duty will now be imposed include the ones used for treating kidney stones, cancer chemotherapy and radiotherapy, life-threatening heart rhythm disorders, diabetes, Parkinson's disease, bone diseases, antibiotic to treat infections.

Besides, drugs used for bacterial infections, leukemia, anesthetic medication, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) or hepatitis B virus cells, allergies, arthritis, lupus and ulcerative colitis might also see spurt in prices.

Also drugs used in blood dilating medicine or for treating menopause, glaucoma, anogenital warts, poisoning by a chemical or pesticide, growth failure in children and adults who lack natural growth hormone would also attract customs duty.

"The withdrawal of exemption from basic customs duty for certain drugs and medicines including life-saving drugs is intended to provide protection to the domestic manufacturing industry and enhance the attractiveness of make in India initiative," KPMG India Partner and Head of Indirect Tax Sachin Menon said.

"An increase has also been made in the customs duty rates of certain life saving drugs such as abciximab, anti-rabies immunoglobin, FSH, procarbazine and saquinavir to 35 per cent," Deloitte in India Senior Director MS Mani said.

These changes signify the intention of the government to promote domestic manufacture of these items as imports would now become more expensive, Mani said.

Menon said the move seems to be in line with the government's objective to rationalise the duty exemptions.

21/01/2016

APSEZ promotes Mundra SEZ in Ahmedabad

Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone (APSEZ) organised a roadshow at the Gujarat Chamber of Commerce and Industry here on December 18, 2015 to promote Mundra SEZ and brief on the infrastructure facilities available at the Port-based location.

The roadshow was inaugurated by the Development Commissioner, Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone (APSEZ), Mr K. L. Sharma, the Director-General of Foreign Trade (DGFT), Rajkot, Mr Suvidh Shah, government officials, industrialists, trade bodies, associations and the APSEZ team.

Mr Sharma briefed on the benefits, features, advantages and the infrastructure at Mundra Special Economic Zone. He further added that Mundra is a one-stop-shop for investors in terms of the availability of ample land for industrial development, with all the required utilities in place with well-planned social infrastructure at the mouth of the India’s largest commercial port. He also described the process for establishing a unit at Mundra SEZ.

Mr Shah, in his speech, described the import and export procedures, with the required documentation part, for making trade easy for importers and exporters in India. Further in his speech he talked about Free Trade Warehousing Zones (FTWZ) in India, wherein the duties are deferred till the actual movement of the goods/cargo to the respective destinations. APSEZ’s FTWZ is one of India’s largest with an standalone area of 168 ha for the ex-im business.

A presentation on Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone was also made.

APSEZ is the largest multi-product SEZ spread over an area of 8,312 ha, having various industrial parks, viz. textile, food and solar. It is a one stop shop for entrepreneurs carrying out business activities. Utilities such as power (4,620 MW power plant is already operational), water (200 MLD desalination plant is planned in a phased manner, of which 47 MLD is already operational), and CETP (71 MLD is the planned capacity in a phased manner, of which 2.5 MLD is already operational).

APSEZ has close proximity to international maritime trade routes and India’s major production and consumption centres.

To name a few, national and multinational companies have shown interest in establishing facilities in light and heavy engineering cluster, chemical cluster, warehousing activity, and textile and food cluster.

Entrepreneurs present at the roadshow have shown preliminary interest in Mundra SEZ for manufacturing and service units. Trade bodies and associations in various sectors will also be promoting Mundra SEZ, said a release.

Open house discussion, round table meetings with Mr Sharma and Mr Shah were also organised for clients/industrialists/investors to get detailed clarifications on the policies and procedures, duty payment and specific queries related to particular industry and products, the release said.

11/01/2016

Oil imports from Iran declines to 208,300 bpd in 2015

Imports of crude oil from Iran declined to 208,300 barrels per day (bpd) in 2015 from 276,800 bpd in 2014 because refiners have reduced purchases early in the year in order to keep inward shipments within the limits of sanctions, preliminary tanker arrival, sources said.

Western sanctions against Iran limit the Persian Gulf country’s oil exports to 1-1.1 million bpd, which curbed India’s annual purchases to 220,000 bpd.

India’s imports in December surged nearly 70 per cent from the previous month to 233,100 bpd, the highest in six months, but were still down by a third from a year ago, according to sources.

Meanwhile, the reduced offtake from Iran had helped Saudi Arabia to increase supply of crude to India.

29/12/2015

Cheap imports harming India’s rubber industry: UPASI

United Planters Association of Southern India (UPASI) has said cheap imports are harming the rubber industry. It wants the government to introduce safeguards to protect domestic players.

The Association said that among all the rubber producing countries, India had shown maximum negative decline of 21 per cent in production.

Mr N. Dharmaraj, President of UPASI, attributed this trend to low prices and high production cost compared to other rubber producing countries.

He added that the below 600,000-tonne projected production for 2015-16 was due to large producing areas being abandoned because of unremunerative prices.

Mr Dharmaraj said, "In 2014-15, import was 76 per cent of production and 43 per cent of consumption. At the end of October 2015, the stock with growers was only 66,000 tonnes, an insignificant quantity considering that there are 1.2 million growers involved in growing natural rubber."

UPASI said that imposition of maximum bound import duty of 25 per cent was a welcome move as substantially lower international prices has not resulted in lower imports.

"With damage to domestic industry being evident, government should play its role as regulator and introduce safeguards to limit imports. The recommendations of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on the rubber industry in India have clearly stated that uncontrolled imports are harming the growing domestic industry," added Mr Dharmaraj

28/12/2015

APSEZ receives 4 quay cranes & 3 RTG cranes for new ACMTPL terminal in Mundra

Adani Ports & SEZ Ltd (APSEZ) has announced that on December 14, 2015, it received the first set of terminal equipment (4 RMQCs and 3 RTGs) for the new terminal ACMTPL, which commenced construction in August 2014. The new Super Post-Panamax quay cranes are 24 across and are all equipped with twin lift spreaders. The equipment was brought in by ZPMC vessel ZHEN HUA25 that berthed at ADANI CMA MUNDRA TERMINAL PVT. LTD (ACMTPL). Offloading commenced on December 17 and was successfully completed on December 22, 2015.

Commented Mr Ennarasu Karunesan, CEO of APSEZ - Mundra & Tuna Ports, "We at Adani Group share our Chairman’s vision of achieving 200 million tonnes cargo by 2020. This expansion will help us take one more step closer to our vision as it will augment Mundra’s capacity from the current 3.6 million TEUs to 4.4 million TEUs. It will also facilitate bringing in more containers through Mundra Port to and from India’s northern hinterland."

The new terminal will be the fourth container terminal at Mundra and the 3rd terminal operated by the Adani Group. The terminals at Mundra include:

* Adani Mundra Container Terminal (AMCT)

* Adani International Container Terminal (AICTPL) - JV with TIL

* Adani CMA Mundra Terminal (ACMTPL)

* Mundra International Container Terminal (MICT)

Adani Port and SEZ is a natural gateway to the rich landlocked northern and central hinterland. It has a vast hinterland comprising west, north and central India that constitutes a large portion of the total country’s trade. Besides, the Port is connected through excellent rail network which facilitates time and cost saving because of the distance advantage to and from the northern hinterland, highlighted a release.

21/12/2015

Importers need not submit Forms 15CA & 15CB as CBDT eases rules

Payments for imports will no longer require submission of Forms 15CA and 15CB after the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) eased rules for furnishing information on payments to non-residents as part of the overall expansion of the list of specified payments to 33 transactions from the earlier 28 in order to facilitate an investor-friendly environment, sources said.

According to an official release, the changes would be applicable from April 1, 2016.

"Rule 37 BB of the Income-tax Rules has been amended to strike a balance between reducing the burden of compliance and collection of information under Section 195 of the Income-Tax Act, 1961," the release said.

The CBDT said that the new transactions to be excluded from reporting would include advance payments against imports, payment towards imports settlement of invoice, imports by diplomatic missions, and intermediary trade and imports below Rs 5 lakh.

Certificate from a chartered accountant in Form 15CB would only be required for payments of over Rs 5 lakh in a year to non-residents which are chargeable to tax, it added.