An apex forum of tea companies has urged the centre for deployment of para-military forces at various outposts along the estates in the North Eastern States to protect planters from abduction and extortion bids by insurgent organisations. The Consultative Council of the Plantations Association (CCPA), in a memorandum submitted recently to the union home ministry, has demanded deployment of forces at, among others, the 12 outposts along the border in Assam's Cachar district. The CCPA, which met the joint secretary of the ministry during his visit to the Indo-Bangladesh border near Silchar last week, said in the absence of any resistance, the militants targeted isolated gardens and made quick to their hideouts in North Cachar and Manipur. The forum also asked the government to grant licences of high-calibre modern weapons, including SLRs, to the ex-servicemen whom the tea companies agreed to induct as security men in the gardens. Meanwhile, the IndianTea Association (ITA) has proposed to raise the platoon of Assam Tea Plantation Task Force (ATPTF) in some vulnerable tea estates in the district, a top ITA official told PTI Silchar.

HK spot gold ends unchanged

Hong Kong spot gold ended unchanged on Tuesday for the second day, with sentiment slightly bearish after overnight losses from fund-selling, traders said. Gold bullion ended at US$254.10/60 per ounce on Tuesday, unchanged from New York's previous close on Monday. After falling sharply overnight on fund selling, gold rose to US$254.80/255.20 on physical buying and early buying from Japan, which later turned to selling. ``After TOCOM closed, we saw some Japanese stop-loss selling, but physical buying continued and fresh London buying helped gold to recover a little,'' a trader said. Sentiment about gold was mixed to bearish, a trader said. ``The funds want to push gold lower, but here you have strong physical buying, '' he said. Hong Kong's Gold and Silver Exchange was closed for the morningsession for the second straight day due to heavy rainstorms in the wake of Typhoon Sam. In Tokyo, gold futures ended higher, supported by the yen's fall. The dollar strengthened against the yen, lifted by short-covering after steep US stock gains on Monday. It was quoted at 112.12 yen late in the Asian day compared with 111.60 in New York on Monday.

Saudi wants to keep oil cuts

Saudi Arabia still wants to maintain oil production cuts for a full year until the end of March 2000, a senior Saudi oil official said on Monday. ``The market is rewarding us for the commitment we made to cut production. We want to enhance that reward,'' the Saudi official told Reuters. He said there was a consensus in OPEC of that opinion. OPEC since April has raised oil prices from 22-year lows by implementing about four million barrels a day of supply curbs in tandem with additional reductions by some non-OPEC nations. ``Saudi Arabia and OPEC believe that the cuts should be maintained until March 2000. If we raise theproduction, prices will flip and the gains that have been made will evaporate,'' the Saudi official said. ``We do not expect a significant reduction of stocks until March 2000,'' he added. He said OPEC's September meeting in Vienna would discuss a proposal to set up a panel of experts to monitor the oil markets and recommend intervention to keep prices stable in a band around $18-$20 a barrel. Benchmark Brent blend futures traded on London's International Petroleum Exchange at $21.03 a barrel at 1524 GMT on Monday, up four cents on the day but having earlier achieved a new 22-month high of $21.27 a barrel.

US to impose duties on steel items

The US government moved a step closer on Monday to imposing duties on certain steel products from Japan and South Korea but dropped cases against Germany and Spain. The US International Trade Commission, an independent federal agency, said in a preliminary decision that imports of structural steel beams from Japan and South Korea may injure US producers.Structural steel beams are widely used in the construction of office buildings. US steel makers allege foreign producers were dumping the beams and several other steel products in the US market at below fair market value. Monday's decision clears the way for the commerce department to investigate imports from Japan and South Korea. It effectively stopped the cases against Germany and Spain. If Commerce and the International Trade Commission side with US producers in their final rulings, punitive duties could be slapped on steel beam imports.