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Mali to miss cotton crop target due to late rains: CMDT

20 October 2015 Comments (0) Africa, Economy, Latest Updates from Reuters

BAMAKO (Reuters) – Mali will miss this year’s cotton production target of 650,000 tonnes as late rains in the Sahel region have struck the start of the harvest, the head of the state-owned CMDT cotton company said on Monday.

Kalfa Sanogo said the heavy rains were damaging stocks of picked fibre and cotton still in the fields. The cotton harvest began last week in the West African country, which ranks as Africa’s second-largest producer behind Burkina Faso.

Mali had targeted production of 650,000 tonnes of raw cotton for the 2015-2016 season, up from output of roughly 550,000 tonnes the previous year.

“We have a serious problem: the rains are continuing at a time when they should stop,” Sanogo told Reuters. “The forecast of 650,000 tonnes will be revised down.”

He declined to provide a revised forecast for national production.

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South Africa’s Woolworths says strike won’t affect operations

19 October 2015 Comments (0) Africa, Economy, Latest Updates from Reuters

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – Workers at a distribution centre for South African retailer Woolworths are on strike over pay, the company said on Monday but the high-end grocery and clothing seller said the strike would not affect operations.

“We can confirm that the National Union of Food Beverage Wine Spirits and Allied Workers at our Midrand Distribution Centre have embarked on protected strike action,” the firm said.

“Business continuity plans are in place for continued operations and our customers should not experience any disruption in the supply of goods to stores.”

The union was demanding wage increases of 110-130 percent for its members, Woolworths said.

Shares in Woolworths were flat at 102.28 rand by 1316 GMT compared with a 0.8 percent fall in the general retailers index.

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Ugandan shilling stronger, helped low dollar demand, tight liquidity

12 October 2015 Comments (0) Africa, Economy, Latest Updates from Reuters

KAMPALA (Reuters) – The Ugandan shilling was slightly firmer on Monday due to subdued dollar demand and tight liquidity in the money markets, traders said.

At 0905 GMT, commercial banks quoted the shilling at 3,668/3,678, stronger than Thursday’s close of 3,675/3,685. Markets were closed on Friday for a national holiday.

“Some players in the interbank are cutting back their (dollar) positions because there’s no demand,” said Ali Abbas, trader at Crane Bank.

“I have also seen some banks doing conversions to get shillings because there’s a bit of (shilling) scarcity.”

The local currency has lost 25 percent against the greenback so far this year and its steep depreciation has prompted the central bank to increase its key lending rate to try provide support and stem price pressures.

The rate now stands at 16 percent after being raised by a total of 500 basis points so far this year.

The central bank is due to make its next announcement on the rate on Thursday and most analysts expect a hike to help curb surging inflationary pressures.

Uganda’s inflation shot up to 7.2 percent year-on-year in September from 4.8 percent in August.

Bank of Africa said in a market note it expected some demand from energy companies, which could give the shilling some depreciation bias, though it will likely remain below 3,700.

(Reporting by Elias Biryabarema; Editing by George Obulutsa and Tom Heneghan, Reuters)

 

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