China commodity imports in May beat expectations - 11/06/2012

China's imports of key commodities in May confounded expectations of a fall, with crude oil shipments at a record high and both copper and iron ore imports unexpectedly rising more than 10% from a month ago, data showed on Sunday.

Still, analysts cautioned against drawing excessively optimistic conclusions, as actual demand from users remained weak and the bulk of oil and copper shipments in May was likely to have been moved into storage.

Other data also implied that China's economy is struggling domestically, as prices, output and sales at home flagged while trade stayed buoyant.

China, world's second biggest energy consumer, imported a record 25.48 million tonne, or 6 million barrels per day of crude oil in May, up 18.2% from a year ago. However, implied oil demand inched up only 0.4% in May year-on-year, after April's first yearly decline in over three years.

"For both April and May we reported negative growth in our sales of diesel oil, as industrial fuel consumptions declined," said a fuel marketing official with state-run Sinopec, Asia's largest refiner.

A rebound in Iran crude oil loadings after Beijing and Tehran resolved contract disputes in late March, as well as increases in West African oil imports due to attractive pricing may have contributed to the surge in crude shipments, said a Beijing-based crude oil trader.

Imports of copper, of which China is the world's largest buyer, climbed to 419,741 tonne, 11.9% more than April and 65% above year-earlier level.

The rise surprised traders and analysts who had expected that weak demand, high stocks and strong spot prices on the London Metal Exchange would cut arrivals for a third month.

"I can only think of one reason: Players relocated some copper from the United States to Shanghai and the metal arrived in May," said Xiao Jing, an analyst at Beijing Capital Futures, referring to refined copper.

Commodity prices drop on China and US slowdown worries - 09/06/2012

 Commodities fell a second day, heading for the longest weekly losing streak in 11 years, on concern a slowdown in China and the US, the world's two biggest economies , will cut demand.

Oil fell a second day in New York, heading for the longest run of weekly losses in more than 13 years, on speculation the economies of the US and China, the world's biggest crude consumers, will slow and curb fuel demand. Futures dropped 3.3%.

Oil for July delivery decreased $2.82 to $82 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange, and was at $82.30 at 12:02 pm London time. The contract slipped 0.2 % to $84.82 on Thursday, the lowest close since June 5.

Prices are down 4.9% this month and poised for a sixth weekly decline, the longest losing streak since December 1998. Oil has fallen 17% this year. Copper traders are the most bullish in three months as China, the biggest buyer, reduced interest rates to bolster growth, increasing expectations that prices will rebound from the longest slump in two years.

Stockpiles in warehouses monitored by the London Metal Exchange, the world's largest metals bourse, declined 38% this year. China, which accounts for 41% of global demand, cut interest rates for the first time since 2008 on Thursday after growth slowed for five consecutive quarters.

Commodities headed for the longest weekly losing streak in 11 years after Federal Reserve chairman Ben S Bernanke declined to specify options for further easing and German exports fell. Sugar slipped 15% to 19.74 cents a pound on ICE Futures US in New York this year.

Prices rallied this week as rains disrupted the harvest in Brazil, the world's biggest producer. There was a marginal change in the futures prices of sugar on the NCDEX for all the traded contracts.

COMMODITIES-Fed letdown, China data fears fuel slide - 08/06/2012

Commodities fell on Friday, disappointed by the U.S. Federal Reserve's reticence to jump in and stimulate the world's largest economy amid worries that a surprise Chinese rate cut suggested its economy was performing even worse than expected.

Gold slipped, Brent lost more than $1 and copper dropped 2 percent to snap a two-day rise as the dollar strengthened after U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, in a speech on Thursday, gave no hint that stimulus measures are on the way.

A stronger dollar makes commodities priced in the greenback more expensive, and so less appealing, for investors using other currencies.

Investors had been waiting for signs of a third round of large-scale bond buying by the Fed to revive an economy that is looking increasingly fragile, and especially as Europe's financial woes appear to be worsening.

China's surprise interest rate cut, the first since the global financial crisis since late 2008, had initially perked up financial markets, as it suggested the world's second largest economy was addressing its slowing growth.

But that was before some investors became convinced the government may be trying to pre-empt the impact of a slew of dreadful data due out this weekend.

"The Chinese decision was a bit surprising. Cutting rates did signal that they are pre-empting something that either they know about or just a risk that's clearly ahead of us," said Jeremy Friesen, commodity strategist at Societe Generale in Hong Kong.

Brent crude for July delivery was down $1.41 at $98.52 a barrel by 0421 GMT. It fell as low as $98.26 earlier, dropping for a second straight session and purging weekly gains to trade largely flat from last Friday.

U.S. oil slid more than $2 to a session low of $82.59 per barrel, before cutting losses to trade at $83.07, down $1.75. If it sustains losses, U.S. crude is heading for a sixth consecutive week of decline.

London copper fell 2 percent to $7,348.25 a tonne, also at risk of extending its losing streak to a sixth week.

Gold shed 1.4 percent to $1,567.19 an ounce, falling for a second session and eyeing its second weekly loss in three weeks, after Bernanke's comments dampened gold's appeal as a hedge against easing.

MCX News for 13-12-2011

Saudi pumps record 10mbpd crude oil in November, OPEC meeting looms

Updated 12:05:00 IST 13 Dec 2011

Saudi Arabia has pumped an amazing 10 million barrels of crude oil per day in November at a time when countries like Iran and Venezuela are calling for reduced output in order to keep oil prices above $100/barrel

India gold sales jump a massive 30% since September

Investment demand for Gold Bars has risen in India and this is despite jewelry sales appearing subdued given the high price of the precious metal and the separate making charges involved with each piece of jewelry. Investors who had purchased Gold Bars two months ago are dipping into their savings yet again and purchasing bars and coins, said traders.

Commodities may rally after Christmas, fundamentals not so bullish

For the coming week in non ferrous complex copper may remain buoyant as rising cancelled warrants and expectation of higher imports in December due to good arbitrage opportunity may lend support to red metal which may test levels of Rs.420/kg.

India turmeric to remain lower on higher stocks, weak exports

Turmeric futures expected to extend downtrend on Tuesday due to higher stocks from the fresh crop, weak export demand and on expectations of higher production in the next year.

source- commodityonline.com

Free Agri Commodity tips on your mobile 28-11-2011

Bullion News

'Think about silver before investing'

When I first discovered why I should buy silver and protect myself from the coming devaluation of our currencies, it still took me a few months to act because there is a lot of misinformation surrounding this precious metal.

'Gold stocks bounce back and outperform silver in 2012'

Gold stocks may have been under performing investor expectations for many months, but that could be changing very soon. Silver had that intermediate top early in the year with a parabolic blowoff move. Since then I've been focusing more on gold. In the near term and into next year it looks like gold is going to outperform silver. The larger gold stocks have been showing better performance than silver stocks and juniors, said Jordan Roy-Byrne in this exclusive interview.

India silver imports to be lower in 2011: Scotia Mocatta

Silver imports into India may be lower in 2011 as higher prices keep buyers at bay, an official of Scotia Mocatta said on Thursday. 2010 imports had stood at around 3030 tonnes.

Why a $1500/oz gold is on the cards

Traders are driving gold prices down in the knowledge that many positions are geared (leveraged) and exposed to margin calls. Other positions are protected by 'stop loss' instructions, so can be triggered by prices moving down through support levels.

Metals News

Commodities weaken on significant negative news flow

Lead has been the weakest metal since the start of the year compared to other metals as China has reduced the usage and production of lead-acid batteries due to environmental issues in the country. I expect prices to remain under pressure for the coming quarter.

'Supply surplus likely to keep tarnish on nickel'

Nickel is heading into a period of structural supply surplus and will also be affected by the vagaries of the global economy, said BNP Paribas in a briefing.

Mineral deposits under ocean not vast enough: Expert

The vast minerals deposits under the ocean is not expected to meet the world demand for metals, according to a study by Mark Hannington, the University of Ottawa’s Goldcorp Chair in Economic Geology.

Japan rolled copper output declines fourth straight month

Japan's October rolled copper output recorded the fourth straight Year-on-Year (YoY) decline, the Japan Copper and Brass Association reported. October output fell by 11.5% YoY to 64,318 tonnes. On a Month-on-Month basis, output is down 8% from September.

Oil & Oilseeds News

China's soybean imports dip on weak demand, high stock piles

On the back of higher stockpiles and weak demand for soybean, the imports of the commodity by China may dip for the first time since 2004.

Soybean farmers to have rust resistant seed variety soon

Soybean farmers may get new variety of genetically modified seeds in near term, which are rust resistant.

Argentina's soy bean production to gain 0.6% for 2011-12

Argentina, the third largest producer of soybean has estimated the production for 2011-12 to increase to around 49.5 million tons (mt) compared to 49.2 million tons in 2010-11, according to Rosario Grain Exchange.

India to import 9 mn tons of edible oil in 2011-12

Vegetable oil imports of India likely to rise by 9 million tons in 2011-12 to meet the growing domestic demand for the commodity, according to Solvent Extractors’ Association (SEA) source:-commodityonline.com 

free forex currency tips on your mobile 11-11-2011

India gold slips from 2-month high

 India gold slipped from its morning high on Wednesday as investors chose to take profits after a rally that took it to a more than two months high triggered by safe haven buying, but traders hoped for bigger falls to stock up for weddings, dealers said.

* The most-active gold for December delivery on the Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX) was 0.08 percent lower at 28,757 rupees per 10 grams, reversing from an earlier high of 28,830 rupees, a level last seen on Sept. 6.

* Physical buying stayed weak as prices were still in the vicinity of the 2-month high, and traders waited for better bargains.

* "Buying is poor as prices are still high... any correction in price will see buying from India re-emerge," said a dealer with a private, bullion-importing bank in Mumbai.

* The wedding season -- traditionally a time of strong demand for gold -- will continue into December in India, the world's biggest buyer of bullion.

* Firm global leads and a weaker rupee kept the downside in prices limited, dealers said.

* The rupee fell to its lowest in more than two weeks on Wednesday after a large company bought dollars, while choppy shares provided little comfort.

* Global gold inched up on fears the euro zone debt crisis could engulf Italy, despite news that Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi would resign, which was initially seen as clearing the way for a new leader to act more aggressively to tackle the country's debt problems.

* Berlusconi said he would leave office after parliament approved a budget law that included reforms demanded by Europe as Italy's failure to fix its debt problems would have a far bigger impact on the euro zone than difficulties in Greece. Source:- moneycontrol.com

Target for MCX crude Nov at Rs 4,855-4,880:

Ramaswamy, head commodities at Ventura Securities has come out with a report on crude oil. He says, “Crude looks to be continuing on the upside now, therefore one could remain long in crude oil."

He is expecting targets of Rs 4,855 to Rs 4,880 for intraday with a stop loss of Rs 4,770.

According to an atomic power agency report, the rising tensions of the Iran nuclear programme has further pushed the commodity and so his target is close to USD 98 per barrel.

"With regards to copper, it’s a buy in the range of Rs 390 to Rs 392,"said Ramaswamy. He says, we could expect price levels of Rs 396 to Rs 398 on an intraday perspective, with a stop loss of Rs 388. Source:- moneycontrol.com   

Bullion News

Why gold is stable and will always be stable

Something that you often hear about gold, as a monetary asset, is that the supply of gold – the amount of gold in the world – increases by about 2% each year due to Gold Mining activities, writes Nathan Lewis, of New World Economics. We don't really consume gold. Most of the gold that has ever been mined (the US Geological Survey estimates 85%) still exists today as bars, coins and jewellery. Even the small bit that is used in industry is often recycled

Buy gold in November or watch prices go higher

Gold prices have broken above the $1750 level and COMEX gold is currently trading around $1790/oz. Traditionally, the November-December season has been bullish for gold.

China gold imports gain 470%, more buying expected

China's imports of Gold from Hong Kong, leapfrogged by 470% in September as per data released by the Hong Kong government. Chinese imports from Hong Kong are considered a good indicator of overall Chinese demand since the Chinese government does not release official figures..

Metals News

Scrap copper supply tightens in China’s Guangdong province

Scrap copper market in Guangdong province, the major centre for copper scrap, is facing a tightness in supply because of strict customs crackdown. Most refined copper production in the region uses scrap copper as the primary raw material and as such a decline in the raw material may provide support to copper prices.

COMEX copper falls as Italian debt takes centrestage

COMEX copper fell on Tuesday as the euro pared gains and political uncertainty increased after Italy's Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi lost his parliamentary majority, piling pressure on him to resign.

Mixed trend in LME prices; Copper regains 0.57% to $7820per ton

Base metals and steel billets futures traded on a mixed trend at the London Metal Exchange on Tuesday. LME Copper price pushed up 0.57% to $7820per ton as compared with its previous close of $7775 per ton.

Oil & Oilseeds News

Palm Oil certification: RSPO faces a bleak future

The future of Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) appears bleak as the Malaysian Palm Oil Association (MPOA)had warned the certification association on the low uptake of certified palm oil by the members.

India witnesses surge in agricultural commodity trade volumes

Agricultural commodity futures trading in India has witnessed a surge in the first six months of fiscal year 2011-12 registering a growth of 55.45% at Rs 9,32,792 cr.

Will MSP hike in pulses, oilseeds negatively affect prices

The India government, in a bid to incentivize production of oil seeds have decided to give a fillip in the form of MSP hike for mustard seed and several other commodities. Also, the government hiked the MSP for wheat, but not to the same extent that it decided in case of mustard seed.So, will the hike in MSP for mustard seed affect its prices negatively on the NCDEX? If yes, when and to what extent? Will the hike in MSP’s for oil seed would be at the cost of wheat production? Sudha Acharya, oil seed/pulses analyst with Kotak Commodities gives the answers to Rakesh Neelakandan of Commodity Online in an interview.

MCX Tips- 04-Nov.-2011

Gold targets $2350 as Wave 5 begins, $1680 critical

It’s been several weeks since I’ve written about Gold and we have had a wild ride since the $1910-$1920 highs in August. At the time as we approached I forecasted a major correction was due and we were shorting the rise from $1862-$1910 prior to a huge $208 drop that took place over just a few days. We covered our short at $1725 and then Gold rallied back to a double top at $1920 and then fell back to $1531.

India festival season to see blossoming of silver demand

The October-December quarter is expected to bring 250-300 tonnes of silver demand from India alone, a 50% increase over 2010 levels. Gold, which is significantly more expensive in nominal terms, especially after fears of a European Debt Crisis contagion event, is expected to see a smaller 30-40% increase in demand.

'Gold price to pullback to $1,900/oz levels'

Michael Berry turns his high-powered analysis toward the European debt crisis and what it means for gold in this exclusive interview.

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• ‘Silver hits record levels of mine production since 2004’
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• Gold falls into bad times on both fundamentals and technicals
• MCX Gold and Silver fundamental outlook for November 2, 2011
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• Royal Canadian Mint launches gold exchange traded receipts
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• 'Gold poised for a move significantly higher'
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