GRi Business, Economics & Finance 10 – 06 - 2003
Ghana’s overall
mineral proceeds has increased
Inter-bank exchange
rates of the cedi
Active
session but low trading on Ghana Stock Exchange
The recovery in the price of
gold accounted for the improvement in revenue, Kweku Andoh Awotwi, Acting President of
the Ghana Chamber of Mines, said in a report he submitted at the 75th Annual
General Meeting of the Chamber in
Awotwi, however, painted a gloomy
picture of the mining sector when he gave the breakdown of the performance of
the minerals. Gold production suffered a 14 per cent decline between 1999 and
2002 although the gold output of countries in the rest of
He warned that
Diamond production fell by nine
per cent between 2001 and 2002 and suffered a 14 percent decline in revenue due
to lower unit prices. Bauxite exports also fell by 9.5 per cent with a revenue
decline of 14 per cent as a result of lower unit prices for the mineral in 2002
compared to 2001.
Manganese output increased
marginally to 1,132,000 tons, while prices fell by 0.2 per cent from an average
of $23.36 per ton in 2001 to an average of $21.96 per ton in 2002.
Awotwi said the output of the bulk
minerals, manganese and bauxite, suffered primarily, because of the poor state
of rail network that links the mines in Awaso and Nsuta in the Western Region to the port in Takoradi and the low capacity of vessels that load the
mineral.
Ashanti Goldfield Company (AGC)
continues to be the industry leader, accounting for 46 per cent of the
country's gold production representing a marginal increase of one per cent over
the 2001 figure of 45 per cent.
Awotwi spoke against the charging of
Value Added Tax (VAT) on mineral exploration activity and explained that it was
a deterrent to attracting exploration investment into the country since it is
becoming a "high risk investment."
He said delay in passing the
Mining Bill into law was discouraging investments in the sector while
investment capital continues to flow to other mining countries.
He appealed to the government to
reconsider any attempt to increase the royalty paid by the mining companies
since such royalties add extra fixed costs to project cost even before their
commencement.
Awotwi said mining was an energy
intensive economic activity hence the need for government to address the high
tariffs mining companies pay, coupled with the competitive rates for energy
requirements.
He highlighted efforts being
made by miners to check environmental degradation mentioning guidelines, to
ensure proper handling of hazardous goods meant for the industry and donation
of 20,000 seedlings towards the President's Special Initiative (PSI) on
Forestry.
"According to the Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA), the industry achieved over 75 per cent compliance with
the mining environment regulations and standards in 2002.
"With the introduction of
the reclamation bonds, 1.5 million dollars and 240 million cedis
in cash in addition to 4.8 million dollars in bank guarantees and insurance
have been posted for the reclamation bonds."
Joyce Wereko-Brobby,
Chief Executive of the Chamber, stressed that mining companies attached
importance to the promotion of good environmental practices to win public
confidence.
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Inter-bank
exchange rates of the cedi
Currency Buying Selling
U.S. Dollar 8,582.55 8,753.64
Pound
Swiss Franc 6,519.01 6,646.60
Canadian Dollar 6,311.76 6,436.84
Danish Kroner 1,354.25 1,380.99
Japanese Yen 72.63 74.05
South African
Euro 10,056.71 10,253.13
CFA Franc 15.33 15.63
Naira 68.14
69.50
ECOWAS WAUA 12,206.47
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Active
session but low trading on Ghana Stock Exchange
Accra (Greater Accra) 10 June
2003 - Total shares traded on the Ghana Stock Exchange on Monday dropped
sharply to 94,000 from Friday's close of 182,000 despite recording an active
trading session.
The GSE All-Share Index however
opened the week gaining 5.99 points stronger at 1,911.87 points from the
1,905.88 points at the previous close. This put the change for the year to date
at 37.02 percent as against 36.59 percent registered earlier.
Market capitalisation edged up
slightly to ¢8,157.24bn from the ¢2,721.75m issued shares. It closed trading
last Friday at ¢8,142.88bn. On the broader market, seven equities saw upward
price appreciations with Guinness Ghana Limited recording 99 cedis rise.
It opened trading priced at
¢2,301 but closed the day at ¢2,400. British American Tobacco (BAT) went up by
¢10 to finish at ¢1,910 while Ghana Commercial Bank (GCB) closed at ¢5,611
gaining ¢8 in the process.
The other gainers were Accra
Brewery Limited (ABL) ¢5 to end at ¢456, Fan Milk Ghana Limited ¢1 to close at
¢2,302 and Ghana Breweries Limited ¢2 to ¢552.
Mobil Oil Ghana Limited gained
two cedis to finish at ¢20,002.
The following are the last
prices of listed equities in cedis:
ABL 456 + 5
AGC 28,500
ALW 4,000
BAT 1,910 +10
CFAO 72
CPC 630
EIC 5,005
FML 2,302 +1
GBL 552 +2
GCB 5,400 +8
GGL 2,400 +99
HFC 1,900
MGL 258
MLC 400
MOGL 19,950 +2
PAF 750
PBC 380
PZ 2,040
SCB 36,051
SPPC 390
SSB 7,200
SWL 285
TBL 5,300
UNIL 6,754
CMLT 460
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