Government approves sugar exports for first time since 2009

ISLAMABAD/DUBAI: Pakistan has approved the export of sugar for the first time in nearly three years, spurred by an expected surplus of more than 1 million tonnes, but the move is unlikely to affect the global market, which has priced in rising output in other countries. Pakistan was forced to import about 1.2 million tonnes of sugar in 2010 after production fell to 3.1 million tonnes from the 2009/10 crop year, when many farmers switched to more profitable crops. “The government has approved the export of 100,000 tonnes of sugar, but the modalities of export have not been worked out yet,” Khizer Hayat, a spokesman of the state-run Trading Corporation of Pakistan, told Reuters, referring to white sugar. “We are waiting to see...

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Stocks rise as U.S. jobs gain outweighs fears over Greece

Asian shares rose on Monday as surprisingly robust U.S. jobs data bolstered investor risk appetite, overshadowing worries about a lack of progress in Greek debt restructuring talks that are vital to containing the euro zone debt crisis. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 0.6 percent to its highest in more than five months, after the index recorded a fifth successive weekly gain last week. Japan’s Nikkei average opened up 1.2 percent. Major stock indexes closed on Friday at multi-month highs, as sentiment was bolstered by U.S. job creation which far exceeded expectations last month and a surprise acceleration in the U.S. services sector to its highest in nearly a year. In the euro zone, the private...

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Posted in: BUSINESS