BSE's new facility will enable MF distributors to place orders directly from their own terminals through a browser-based system, rather than accessing the MF platform through RTAs

After launching its mutual fund (MF) transaction platform, Asia's oldest bourse Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) is considering a new facility which will allow distributors to directly access the new platform in a more efficient manner.

The Exchange is discussing the proposal with market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India and hopes to launch the new facility over the next two to three months, BSE's general manager for market operations, Khushro A Bulsara said.

"There are around 70,000 distributors in the country and even if at least 10,000 of them access this facility, that will be a very encouraging sign," Bulsara told PTI.

Distributors generally access the MF platform through registrar and transfer agents (RTAs). The new facility will enable them to place orders directly from their own terminals through a browser-based system, which will be faster. This will help to enhance the efficiency of transactions by faster realisation, the official said.

BSE launched its MF transaction platform—BSE StARMF—in December on the heels of rival NSE launching its own facility.

As of date, 14 found houses have joined the BSE StARMF platform to offer their schemes.
 

A more-than-proportionate rise in capacity compared to despatches will flood supplies in the market and put downward pressure on prices, says the economic think-tank

Cement prices are expected to remain weak in the March 2010 quarter and decline further in 2010-11, economic think-tank Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE), has said, reports PTI.

"We expect prices to remain weak in the March 2010 quarter and decline further in 2010-11," CMIE said.

As new capacities stabilise, these will effectively contribute to cement production in 2010-11. Another 38.4 million tonnes (MT) of fresh capacity will come on stream during the year. Healthy demand and aggressive capacity addition will boost production by 13% in 2010-11.

However, a more-than-proportionate rise in capacity compared to despatches will flood supplies in the market and put downward pressure on prices. Capacity addition of 21MT during April-September 2009 has already triggered a fall in cement prices in the second half of 2009.

Prices in the north and west zones fell by 3%-8%, while the decline in the southern regions was sharper by 15%-20%, it said.

However, with the onset of the peak construction season, cement dispatches are expected to grow briskly at 12.8%, CMIE said.
 

With the launch of its new packaging technology, Moldtek wants to garner support from FMCG majors

Hyderabad-based pail packager Moldtek Plastics Ltd is entering the food & fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) packaging market, estimated to be between Rs9,000 crore-Rs13,000 crore, with its newly launched ‘In Mold Labels’ (IML) technology.

“The ice-cream packaging market alone is worth more than Rs150 crore and even if we grab 30% of that, we can add Rs30 crore-Rs40 crore of turnover in the next one year,” said A Subrahmanyam, deputy managing director, Moldtek Plastics.

Apart from the domestic market, Moldtek is planning to expand its horizons to the food & FMCG sectors in the Middle East and Asia Pacific regions. Moldtek is also eyeing IML exports to the EU, USA, Japan and other developing countries, due to its low-cost advantage.

IML allows print and labels to be impregnated directly on products with the help of a robot. In this process, the label becomes an integral part of the end product which cannot be torn or scratched off. 

The packaging industry currently uses sticking gum to brand products. IML technology is already popular in the EU and Taiwan. Although this technology was launched by the company eight months back, manufacturers shied away from adopting this packaging technique due to its high cost.

Moldtek Plastics has now re-started its negotiations with major FMCG players like Amul and Hindustan Unilever Ltd. The company claims to have brought down the production cost by 50% but it is too early to predict whether FMCG players will adopt the technology, considering that Moldtek Plastics will be charging a royalty of 10% on IML. Moreover, any hike in raw material costs is likely to increase the production costs as well.

Apart from manufacturing robots in India, the company is also planning to invest Rs12 crore every year for the next three years which would be raised through internal accruals and term loans.

During the quarter to end-December, the company reported a net profit of Rs1.87 crore on total revenues of Rs29.43 crore.