Farmers burn palm oil fruit<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Farmers involved in a nucleus-estate-and-
\nsmallholder project in Grogot, East Kalimantan are burning their
\npalm oil fruit because the palm oil refinery of state-owned PT
\nPerkebunan VI cannot accommodate their products.<\/p>\n
F.X. Suadiyana, chief of the local plantation office, was
\nquoted by Antara as saying in the East Kalimantan capital city of
\nSamarinda on Tuesday that plantations in Grogot produce on
\naverage 50 tons per day because construction work on the
\ncompany's second processing plant is lagging behind the
\noriginally scheduled completion date of last December.<\/p>\n
He said the local administration has ordered the company to
\nextend operations from 20 to 22 hours per day and to increase its
\nprocessing from 20 to 40 tons per hour, so that it can
\naccommodate the palm oil fruit produced by farmers. (riz)<\/p>\n
Textile machinery showcase<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): More than 200 textile and garment machinery
\ncompanies from 20 countries will take part in the third
\nInternational Textile and Garment Machinery Exhibition.<\/p>\n
The exhibition will be held from May 26 to May 30 at the
\nJakarta Fair ground.<\/p>\n
PT Peraga Nusantara Jaya, the organizer of the exhibition,
\nsaid in the statement here Tuesday that the participants from the
\nUnited States, Austria, Belgium, India, Germany, Japan and Hong
\nKong will display their latest products.<\/p>\n
The exhibition, which will be opened today by Minister of
\nIndustry Tunky Ariwibowo, is aimed at promoting improvement in
\nthe quality and quantity of Indonesia's textile products to make
\nthem more competitive on the world market, the statement said.
\n(yns)<\/p>\n
United Tractors' profit up<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): PT United Tractors, the heavy machinery unit of the
\nAstra group, reported a 32.3 percent increase in its net profits last
\nyear to Rp 35.72 billion (US$16.6 million).<\/p>\n
The company reported to its annual shareholders meeting on Tuesday
\nthat the large profit increased the net earnings per share to Rp 1,035
\nlast year from Rp 782 in 1992.<\/p>\n
The shareholders meeting approved the management's proposal to
\ndistribute 30 percent of the net profits or Rp 10.35 billion as
\ndividends to its shareholders. (vin)<\/p>\n
U.S. $13b aid bill approved<\/p>\n
WASHINGTON (Reuter): A US$13.6 billion foreign aid bill has
\nbeen approved by a House of Representatives committee, which
\nrestricts assistance to Turkey and eliminates funds for an arm of
\nthe International Monetary Fund.<\/p>\n
The 1995 fiscal year bill, which was more than $400 million
\nbelow the administration's request, contained $900 million the
\nadministration requested for Russia and other former Soviet
\nrepublics, and the annual $3 billion for Israel and $2.1 for
\nEgypt.<\/p>\n
The House Appropriations Committee bill includes a provision
\nwithholding 25 percent of Turkey's $364 million in military aid
\nuntil the administration reported on Turkey's domestic human
\nrights practices and efforts to resolve the Cyprus conflict.<\/p>\n
The bill, which now goes to the full House, includes about
\n$619 million in military aid to be divided on a 7-10 ratio
\nbetween Greece and Turkey.<\/p>\n
It deleted $100 million requested by the administration for an
\nIMF arm, the Enhanced Structural Adjustment Facility, which helps
\nthe poorest countries.<\/p>\n
Copper at 16-month highs<\/p>\n
LONDON (Reuter): Copper prices hit 16-month highs on Tuesday,
\nbuoyed by a fresh wave of speculative fever and traders said more
\nincreases were in store.<\/p>\n
\"It is best not to stand in the way of a runaway train,\" said
\na dealer on the London Metal Exchange (LME).<\/p>\n
Rising copper prices are part of a general euphoria sweeping
\ncommodity markets as investors switch money from shaky bonds and
\nequities.<\/p>\n
They bring windfall profits for producers like Chile, Peru and
\nZambia, but pain for consumers, though traders say the impact on
\ninflation so far is muted.<\/p>\n
Copper hit a high of US$2,335 a ton on Tuesday, up 22 percent
\nin the last month and 45 percent from its low last year.<\/p>\n
A strong U.S. economy and signs of revival in Europe have
\nsparked more buying of copper and a fall in stocks overhanging
\nthe market.<\/p>\n
Fears of drought this summer in U.S. grain growing areas has
\nspurred a rush into Chicago futures markets and this fueled a
\nrise in the Commodity Research Bureau index, a widely-watched
\ninflation barometer, to 3.5-year highs on Monday.<\/p>\n
Japan, U.S. resume talks<\/p>\n
TOKYO (Reuter): Japan and the United States broke a three-
\nmonth deadlock and agreed to reopen stalled bilateral trade
\nnegotiations, Foreign Minister Koji Kakizawa said.<\/p>\n
\"Today we agreed to resume the framework talks after informal
\ndiscussions,\" Kakizawa told a news conference on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
Earlier, Japanese and U.S. officials met for four days in
\nWashington to discuss resuming the talks, which have been stalled
\nsince February.<\/p>\n
The two countries have disagreed over on how to open Japan's
\nmarkets and reduce its huge trade surplus with the United States.<\/p>\n
German trade surplus rises<\/p>\n
WIESBADEN (AFP): A surplus in the German trade balance grew by
\n27.5 percent in March from the figure in February to 7.4 billion
\nmarks (US$4.48 billion), provisional official figures showed.<\/p>\n
A deficit on the current account, which also includes services
\nand invisible exports, meanwhile fell to 0.9 billion marks from a
\nprovisional 4.8 billion marks in February, the federal
\nstatistical office, which published the figures, said.<\/p>\n
The current account had shown a surplus of 1.3 billion marks
\nin March 1993.<\/p>\n
For the first quarter of 1994, the balance showed a surplus of
\n19 billion marks which was about double the 1993 first-quarter
\nsurplus of 9.6 billion marks.<\/p>\n
The current account remained in deficit for the first quarter,
\nat 8.2 billion marks, compared to a 1993 first-quarter deficit of
\n6.8 billion marks.<\/p>\n
In March, Germany imported goods worth 53.8 billion marks and
\nexported goods valued at 61.2 billion marks. Imports rose by 10.4
\npercent from the figure in March 1993 and exports by 14.0
\npercent.<\/p>\n
India to have futures mart<\/p>\n
BOMBAY (Reuter): The Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) is to launch
\na new broad-based 200-share index in what is seen as the first
\nstep towards the introduction of index-based futures, officials
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
The new index to be launched on Friday is expected to
\neventually replace the current 30-share BSE index which critics
\nsay is unfairly weighted in favor of a few blue chip stocks.<\/p>\n
\"This will lead to index-based trading, but we're still
\nworking on the details,\" BSE executive director A.N. Kolhatkar
\ntold Reuters.<\/p>\n
Index-based futures would replace the carry forward system, or
\nbadla as it is known in India, which was banned six months ago.<\/p>\n
Asit Mehta, head of Nucleus Financial Services, who first
\nsuggested the system, said index-based futures trading would
\nsolve the bourse's problems of liquidity, inadequate hedging
\nopportunities and the cumbersome settlement mechanism.<\/p>\n
India's 22 bourses have desperately searched for a replacement
\nto badla and index-based futures though not the ideal solution,
\nis the only viable alternative, analysts said.<\/p>\n
Sales down in Japan<\/p>\n
TOKYO (AFP): Sales at Japanese supermarkets in April fell two
\npercent to 1.27 trillion yen (US$12 billion), the 20th year-on-
\nyear drop, an industry group said.<\/p>\n
The decline in sales at 8,275 outlets was chiefly due to
\nfalling commodity prices, the Japan Chain Stores Association
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
Sales of foodstuffs dropped 2.5 percent from a year earlier,
\nwhile those of clothing went down 5.9 percent, the association
\nsaid.<\/p>",
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