In Brief Who’s the best boss?

WINDHOEK – The Agricultural Employers’ Association (AEA) has announced that an award for the Agricultural Employer of the Year will be handed out this year.

The award ceremony will take place in June at the annual AEA congress. All Namibian Agricultural Union (NAU) members are invited to enter this competition through their local farmers’ associations.A cash prize and a floating trophy are up for grabs.SA coal cargo trades at US$49,80 per tonne LONDON – A March loading cape-sized cargo of South African coal traded on Monday at US$49,80 a tonne, FOB Richards Bay market sources said.The buyer and seller were unknown.Earlier on Monday, a March loading South African coal cargo was offered at US$50,25 a tonne, FOB Richards Bay, on electronic trading platform globalCOAL.More buyers have emerged this week for prompt South African tonnes, traders and suppliers said.Last week, almost all the buying interest was from Indian traders seeking handymax cargoes.Liberia says new Mittal deal worth extra US$100m MONROVIA – Liberia has secured an extra US$100 million in a deal renegotiated with top steel maker Mittal Steel which is now worth US$1 billion and hands ownership of a key iron ore port and railway to the state, a minister said.”The Mittal Steel agreement has been able to go up to US$1 billion from the initial amount of US$900 million,” Liberian Information Minister Lawrence Bropleh told Reuters late on Monday.The renegotiated 25-year deal was signed on December 28 but details have been slow to filter out.Lewis sales for Q3 up 15% JOHANNESBURG – South African furniture retailer Lewis said yesterday sales for the third quarter to January 5 increased by 15 per cent compared with the corresponding quarter a year earlier.The firm said like-for-like sales in the period rose by 11 per cent.”Debtor collections remain on budget and the quality of the book continues to be maintained,” Lewis said.In the previous third quarter to January 5 2006, Lewis reported 17 per cent growth in sales and 14 per cent growth in like-for-like sales.Lewis said third-quarter sales growth was consistent with the trend reported for the half year ended September 2006.Nampa-Reuters-AFPAll Namibian Agricultural Union (NAU) members are invited to enter this competition through their local farmers’ associations.A cash prize and a floating trophy are up for grabs.SA coal cargo trades at US$49,80 per tonne LONDON – A March loading cape-sized cargo of South African coal traded on Monday at US$49,80 a tonne, FOB Richards Bay market sources said.The buyer and seller were unknown.Earlier on Monday, a March loading South African coal cargo was offered at US$50,25 a tonne, FOB Richards Bay, on electronic trading platform globalCOAL.More buyers have emerged this week for prompt South African tonnes, traders and suppliers said.Last week, almost all the buying interest was from Indian traders seeking handymax cargoes.Liberia says new Mittal deal worth extra US$100m MONROVIA – Liberia has secured an extra US$100 million in a deal renegotiated with top steel maker Mittal Steel which is now worth US$1 billion and hands ownership of a key iron ore port and railway to the state, a minister said.”The Mittal Steel agreement has been able to go up to US$1 billion from the initial amount of US$900 million,” Liberian Information Minister Lawrence Bropleh told Reuters late on Monday.The renegotiated 25-year deal was signed on December 28 but details have been slow to filter out.Lewis sales for Q3 up 15% JOHANNESBURG – South African furniture retailer Lewis said yesterday sales for the third quarter to January 5 increased by 15 per cent compared with the corresponding quarter a year earlier.The firm said like-for-like sales in the period rose by 11 per cent.”Debtor collections remain on budget and the quality of the book continues to be maintained,” Lewis said.In the previous third quarter to January 5 2006, Lewis reported 17 per cent growth in sales and 14 per cent growth in like-for-like sales.Lewis said third-quarter sales growth was consistent with the trend reported for the half year ended September 2006.Nampa-Reuters-AFP