Stone......

There are lot of changes, evolutions and emergence of the Natural Stone Power Centres, while in the major consuming markets there are no big changes .and they continue to be the major users and buyers. But, when we consider the natural stone operations from mining, processing and marketing as an integral function in the Stone sector, we have to zero down to only six countries. They are well recognized as the new global stone centers for international marketing and servicing and they are Italy, India, Brazil, Spain, China and Turkey. There are other countries too which continue to playa dominant role in the Stone Sector and they are USA, Canada, South Africa, Saudi Arabia, Norway, Finland, Zimbabwe etc. These countries are also strongly supporting the stone sector, but the natural resources, varieties and suitability of materials for all purposes are limited. There are also certain countries whose stones are becoming significantly popular in the recent years. They are Egypt, Iran, Namibia, CIS countries, some African countries etc. and we can point out each country is bestowed with some stone or other. But, however, I am not narrating about each country and each stone and their potentialities.

If we take Spain, it has got beautiful marble and limestone varieties. When we consider Norway and Finland though they are world renowned in some of the special materials, the varieties are again limited. They are not having global level processing facilities like Italy or Spain. When we focus on USA and Canada, they are the largest world market for natural stone industries and almost all the exporting countries focus their supplies to North America. But, the materials going out of USA and Canada are again not too many. But, still they have many granite varieties suitable for projects and monuments as also they have some marbles and limestones. When we consider processing facilities for building stones, there are only limited factories who, of course have got global standards.

Then we come to South Africa, Zimbabwe and Saudi Arabia. Zimbabwe has only black granites and there are no processing factories. These black granite blocks are exported to many countries. Similarly, South Africa has got about half a dozen stone varieties. But the factories are not big enough to supply to the global market. After considering these countries, we have to necessarily give higher weightage to the six countries.

India in' Top Six

Similarly, France is well known for its limestones and a couple of granite varieties. Their processing factories are limited to monuments and a few building stone factories. After a detailed study of the world granite resources, the capacities and future potentialities and also their emergence as processing centers with fabrication facilities having latest machineries and technologies with competitive advantages, we have to inevitably consider India, Italy, Spain, Brazil, Turkey and China as the World Stone Centres. In this also, there is a kind of perception that Italy which is the world stone capital is fast losing its competitiveness in granite processing, while their marble processing capacities are further increasing. In Brazil, granite varieties are plenty and so also their block exports are also growing world over. They are emerging as granite processing center with local and overseas investments. Their shipments of containers to many countries directly as processed granites also signify their upgradation.

Similarly when we consider China, their emergence as the largest Japanese monument manufacturers and exporters of economically priced granites ranging from the types of Sardinian grey types, Porino pink types and some of the materials similar to South Korean and Japanese has given them a leverage of fast marketing due to their competitive prices and proximity to Japanese market. They have also emerged as one of the largest importers of natural stones from many countries for their own direct consumption and as well as re-exporting to many countries. Many investments from Taiwan, Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore and a few other countries have helped them to grow fast in the natural stone sector. They also have many varieties of marble, sandstone, slate, quartzite etc. The consumption of granites in Chinese domestic market and the export front will continue to grow and they will come with many more new granite varieties.

120 Indian Varieties

Coming to India, we have to rank India mainly for the granite exports followed by marble, sandstone, slate and quartzite. There is a history of nearly over 50 years about the stone exports from India. India continues to introduce many new granite varieties and as on today for both building stones and for monuments there are over 120 varieties, probably the largest varieties in the world. The global market feels that this is the only country from where all dominant granite colours like Black, White, Red, Blue, Green, Yellow, Brown, Violet etc. are available for the world marketing as well as many variegated granites. The range of the qualities unlike China are more expensive due to its uniqueness, beautiful colours and strength. The processing of the Indian stones with the modern factories are spread over the Southern India and Western India including Rajasthan. Therefore, India is Emerging as the largest exporters of dimensional blocks and one of the largest exporters of monuments, building stones and tiles in granite and as well as marble, sandstone and slate. Of course, we cannot compare the Indian marble producing capacity with Italy, Turkey or Spain. But, in the Asian region, India is definitely the largest exporter of marble and calcareous stones.

There are also either marble and granites or only marble and limestones from many countries in the globe, as every country will definitely possess some varieties of natural stones, since it is a natural geological phenomena. But, these six countries will continue to service the global market.

India is also attracting overseas investors in the stone sector through many factories. When we come to only granites both uniformly grained and variegated with movement designs, it looks the race will be always between India and Brazil. But, India has got an edge over Brazil, as the varieties are- more in different colours.

The major stone consuming countries like USA, Canada, Europe, Japan, China, Middle East and Far Eastern countries have now fully recognized the Indian expertise and capability in supplying the required qualities and quantities. In the last couple of years, the Indian granite quarries have transformed tremendously by technologically upgrading the productivity and quality. All major quarries in every region are using Diamond Wire, Derricks, Front End Loaders, Excavators and some quarries where the materials are very hard and when they are far away from the dwelling places also use Jet Burners. As a result, India is producing good sizes of blocks in reasonably good shapes and in good qualities.

Market Acceptance

As far as the quality standards are concerned, for over two decades India is producing very good monument blocks from the quarries and we could see the ready acceptance in the very high quality conscious markets like Japan, Germany, European countries and North America. But, the development of the building stone Industry has come to age in the last decade to international standards. The reason for the slow evolution of the building stone industry was mainly due to the innumerable varieties of granites numbering over 90. Since we have uniform grained stones and variegated movement materials, the standardization of the quality parameters depending upon the market acceptance became settled rather slowly, as each market perception is different from the other.

In the Granite Sector, the Indian potentiality with the promotion of selected beautiful materials suitable for monuments, building stones, tiles and for special works have come to be well recognized. Similarly, the growth and the increased volume and value of exports in building slabs and monuments testify that India brand Image has been strongly built up in this sector world over. Every stone is individually branded and many countries have registered them as Indian and International Trade Marks and in many of the foreign Countries the engineering manuals recognize these facts and use the Indian brand names as well.

The excellent quality products and the consistent supply at competitive rates have rightfully placed India at a higher place.

In the Marble, Sandstone, Quartzite and Slate Sector also India has come of age with regular exports of blocks, slabs and tiles and other finish as per the market demand. Particularly after the big seminar and exhibition in Birmingham, U.K. jointly organized by CAPEXIL and the Indian High Commission, London where the leading European architects and businessmen were present, the awareness and demand for all these types of stones have greatly improved. Similarly, in the whole of Europe and North America with the regular promotion of these stones in Stona Fair at Bangalore and India, Stonemart at Jaipur and through the participation of many Indian Companies at Nuernberg, Verona and many fairs in USA etc., the market is looking up for Indian decorative stones.

The Marble, Sandstone, Quartzite, Slate and Limestone Sector has created a vibrant awareness projecting the Indian potentialities and capabilities. One of the very important factors which deserve to be complimented is the number of companies' direct participation in promotion of these stones in various countries by which this growth has been steadily increasing. The presentation of the stone products, the catalogues and websites are very eye-catching.

The technical institutions, colleges and universities end their students regularly to many mines and factories for training and project study. As a matter of fact, the natural stone is the only mineral based product which is going for non-mineral application purely as an aesthetic product just for beautifying and decorating buildings and environment. Therefore, a stone even in rough or finished form can never be commercially equated to a mineral though only at the mining stage the stones are treated as mineral products.

Support Needed

The natural stone industry is a peculiar and tough industry involving risk factors. But, the basic requirements are capital intensive, labour intensive and power intensive. These factors need to be well recognized by the Government and the financial institutions. They must support this natural stone sector with preference, as the stones are normally available in drought prone dry belts of India and offering livelihood and organized jobs for the community around those areas. When we consider the natural stone sector as the second largest exporter after iron ore which is exporting several million tonnes in bulk form, the contribution of the stone industry is definitely creditable and it deserves further encouragement and support of the Government and the financial institutions.

In order to fully energise the natural stone sector, I am sure, the State Governments and the Government of India will together support and strengthen the competitiveness of Indian stones. Definitely in the last two decades, the perception of the Government has greatly changed and there is a flexible entrepreneur friendly approach which is very much welcome. The most important factor that the Indian entrepreneurs in the natural stone sector are looking for international level policy framework and support measures. All the non-competitive disadvantageous factors need to be changed and converted into Indian advantages.

World's largest exporter of cumin????

India is the world’s largest producer and consumer of cumin. Besides India, cumin seed is cultivated in Iran, Turkey and in Syria mainly for exports.

Top 10 exporting countries

What is OPEC????

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC, pronounced /ˈoʊpɛk/ OH-pek) is a cartel of twelve third world countries made up of Algeria, Angola, Ecuador, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, Nigeria, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Venezuela. OPEC has maintained its headquarters in Vienna since 1965,[2] and hosts regular meetings among the oil ministers of its Member Countries. Indonesia withdrew in 2008 after it became a net importer of oil, but stated it would likely return if it became a net exporter in the world again.[3]

OECD means ??????

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD, in French: Organisation de coopération et de développement économiques, OCDE) is an international economic organisation of 33 countries founded in 1961 to stimulate economic progress and world trade. It defines itself as a forum of countries committed to democracy and the market economy, providing a setting to compare policy experiences, seeking answers to common problems, identifying good practices, and co-ordinating domestic and international policies of its members.

The OECD originated in 1948 as the Organisation for European Economic Co-operation (OEEC), led by Robert Marjolin of France, to help administer the Marshall Plan for the reconstruction of Europe after World War II. Later, its membership was extended to non-European states. In 1961, it was reformed into the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development by the Convention on the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. Most OECD members are high-income economies with a high Human Development Index (HDI) and are regarded as developed countries (Chile being the only OECD member which is also a member in the organisation of developing countries, the Group of 77).

The OECD's headquarters are at the Château de la Muette in Paris, France.

BRIC means??????

BRIC (Brazil,Russia, India and China) refers to the Big Four countries that are deemed to all be at a similar stage of newly advanced economic development.

A very good site for knowing financial jargon

http://www.keralabanking.com/html/what_is_a_repo_rate_.html

What is floating rate???????

Any interest rate that changes on a periodic basis. The change is usually tied to movement of an outside indicator, such as the prime interest rate. Movement above or below certain levels is often prevented by a predetermined floor and ceiling for a given rate. For example, you might see a rate set at "prime plus 2%". This means that the rate on the loan will always be 2% higher than the prime rate, which changes regularly to take into account changes in the inflation rate. For an individual taking out a loan when rates are low, a fixed rate loan would allow him or her to "lock in" the low rates and not be concerned with fluctuations. On the other hand, if interest rates were historically high at the time of the loan, he or she would benefit from a floating rate loan, because as the prime rate fell to historically normal levels, the rate on the loan would decrease. also called adjustable rate.

What is basis point????

A basis point (often denoted as bp) is a unit related to the change in an interest rate, and it is equal to 1/100th of a percentage point.That is 1 bp = 0.01%

It is frequently, but not exclusively, used to express differences in interest rates of less than 1% pa. For example, a difference of 0.10% is equivalent to a change of 10 basis points (e.g. a 4.67% rate increases by 10 basis points to 4.77%).

Basis points avoid the ambiguity between relative and absolute discussions about interest rates by dealing only with the absolute change in numeric value of a rate. For example, if a report says there has been a "1% increase" from a 10% interest rate, this could refer to an increase either from 10% to 10.1% (relative, 1% of 10%), or from 10% to 11% (absolute, 1% plus 10%). If, however, the report says there has been a "10 basis point increase" from a 10% interest rate, then we know that the interest rate of 10% (the "basis", if you will) has increased by 0.10% (the absolute change) to a 10.1% rate.

What is LIBOR???

LIBOR stands for London InterBank Offered Rate, which is a guide world-wide for the rate banks use to lend to each other. In the U.S., it is usually not far off from the Fed Funds rate.

As a result of the 2007 Banking Liquidity Crisis, banks have become afraid to lend to each other, and so LIBOR has risen independently of the Fed Funds rate. The Fed is trying to lower LIBOR so banks can get back in the business of lending to each other, but it hasn't been working as well as the Fed would like. In fact, LIBOR may not return to its normal cozy relationship to the Fed Funds rate until the financial markets stabilize. (See Fed Governor Kroszner Says Credit Crisis May Not Be Over, 10/22/07)

How It Affects You

Most adjustable rate mortgages and credit card interest rates are based on LIBOR. As rates reset, the high LIBOR makes the monthly payment also higher. This will cause a financial hardship to you, if you have that type of mortgage. Even if you don't, and you pay your credit card in full each month, a higher LIBOR rate will reduce liquidity in the economy.









The London Interbank Offered Rate (or LIBOR, pronounced /ˈlaɪbɔr/) is a daily reference rate based on the interest rates at which banks borrow unsecured funds from other banks in the London wholesale money market (or interbank market). Alternatively, this can be seen from the point of view of the banks making the 'offers', as the interest rate the banks will lend to each other, that is 'offer' money in the form of a loan for various time periods (maturities) and in different currencies.

LIBOR rates are widely used as a reference rate for financial instruments such as

• forward rate agreements
• short-term-interest-rate futures contracts
• interest rate swaps
• inflation swaps
• floating rate notes
• syndicated loans
• variable rate mortgages^[1]
• currencies, especially the US dollar (see also Eurodollar).

They thus provide the basis for some of the world's most liquid and active interest-rate markets.

For the Euro, however, the usual reference rates are the Euribor rates compiled by the European Banking Federation, from a larger bank panel. A Euro LIBOR does exist, but mainly for continuity purposes in swap contracts dating back to pre-EMU times. LIBOR is an estimate and not interred in the legally binding contracts of an LLC. It is however specifically mentioned as a reference rate in the market standard International Swaps and Derivatives Association documentation, which are used by parties wishing to transact in over-the-counter interest rate derivatives.

LIBOR is used by the Swiss National Bank as their reference rate for monetary policy