2merkato

The Ethiopian Commodities Exchange (ECX) is to offer 80 more full membership seats according to members. The seats will be offered to traders who have had limited membership rights so far. The additional seats will be sold in auction in November.

The auction will only be made open to those who have been involved in trading at the ECX.

The volume of commodities exchanged via the Ethiopian Commodities Exchange (ECX) exceeded 500,278 tonnes in 2003. It was announced yesterday that trading for this last Ethiopian fiscal year has shown an increase of 128% over the 223,000 tonnes traded last year, in a report given by Dr. Eleni Gebre Medhin, CEO of ECX at the Sheraton Addis.

The commodities exchange market saw a marked increase in trade and sound financial showing to match expanding operations in 2003 (Ethiopian Calendar) said Dr. Eleni.

Two Indian leather development institutions said they were determined to make Ethiopia one of the top 10 countries in the world in shoe and leather manufacturing in three to five years.

Central Leather Research Institute (CLRI) and the Footwear Design and Development Institute (FDDI), Indian government institutions, are going to work with the Ethiopian Leather Industry Development Institute (ELIDI).

The Indian institutions said they would transfer technology and help accelerate the growth of earnings from Ethiopia's leather and leather products export.

Istanbul Gas Cylinder Manufacturing Plc of Turkey is going to start distributing liquid petroleum gas (LPG) as of next week. The company is a joint venture with TIRET, the Amhara Endowment Fund.

Istanbul Gas has taken a one hectare plot of land out of 130 owned by TIRET in Sheno, Ahmara Regional State, for filling cylinders with LPG.

Istanbul Gas has already imported 22,000 tonnes of gas from Sudan and four depots through which 6,000 cylinders will be filled, Nuzet Erdogan, owner and general manager of the company, said.