Achchuveli Industrial Zone phase-ii planned at Rs.100mn: Minister
Marching ahead with plans to industrialise the Northern Province, Industry and Commerce Minister Rishad Bathiudeen said the next phase of the development of Achchuveli Industrial Zone is planned at a cost of Rs.100 million.
The minister made this statement at the inauguration ceremony of the fifth edition of COMPLAST Sri Lanka 2018, the complete plastics exhibition held in parallel with COMEXPO 2018, the complete manufacturing expo, at BMICH, yesterday.
“My officials are working on the next stage of this project at present. This large scale industrial zone is a pioneering project for the development of the Northern Province,” Bathiudeen said. “I invite all industrial participants here today to start manufacturing at Achchuveli Industrial Zone and reap maximum benefits.”
The Achchuveli Industrial Zone is the largest mixed industrial zone in the Northern Province spanning over 65 acres. The Rs.100 million investment by the government is for the phase-ii of the zone which targets 15 acres.
Meanwhile, Minister Bathiudeen went on to say that India has greatly contributed to the development of the Northern Province.
Oil markets have entered a brief period of calm but a storm might be looming later this year when new U.S. sanctions are poised to slash supplies of Iranian oil, the International Energy Agency said yesterday.
“The recent cooling down of the market, with short-term supply tensions easing, currently lower prices, and lower demand growth might not last,” the IEA, which oversees the energy policies of industrialised nations, said in a monthly report.
Oil prices have rallied close to US$80 per barrel, their highest since 2014, on concerns about supply shortages but cooled in recent weeks as Libya regained some lost production and Washington signalled it could give Asian buyers of Iranian oil some exemptions from sanctions for next year.
However, the United States said it was still seeking to force Iran’s oil customers to stop purchases completely in the long run.
Iran is OPEC’S third-largest producer, with output at around 4 million barrels per day (bpd) or 4 percent of global supply.
“As oil sanctions against Iran take effect, perhaps in combination with production problems elsewhere, maintaining global supply might be very challenging and would come at the expense of maintaining an adequate spare capacity cushion,” the IEA said.