The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh News : Another empty vessel leaves Kakinada port

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Monday, Oct 29, 2007
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Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh

Another empty vessel leaves Kakinada port

Correspondent

Prime Minister’s stand on ban draws flak from shipping trade

Kakinada: Vexed with the unfruitful wait for over 13 days, another vessel has left the anchorage port on Saturday without taking a single grain of the 5,000 tonnes of rice contracted.

There is no change in the situation at the port and relief has been given to only three partly-loaded vessels to get loaded with the balance rice that have irrevocable commercial letters of credit, opened prior to October 9. Meanwhile, the reported stance of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh against lifting of the ban on non-basmati rice exports has come as a rude shock to the shipping trade.

Last resort

The Prime Minister understood to have categorically told the group of Andhra MPs and Ministers that called on him on Saturday that continuance of ban was essential to maintain the buffer stocks required for the public distribution system. The rice exporters are now trying to seek recourse to law as a last resort.

Suresh Kumar Sarma, president of the Kakinada Customs, Clearing and Forwarding Agents’ Association, has expressed the apprehensions that the quality of rice stocks lying in the godowns may deteriorate.

“The stock lying in port area does not have domestic parallel market and support exporter from losing heavily. Despite making several representations to DGFT and Commerce Ministry, the outcome was nil.

The Prime Minister’s firmness on the ban is more distressing,” he said while expressing his anguish over the present state of affairs.

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