Risky assets out of favour before Europe leaders meet
SINGAPORE, June 23 (Reuters) - The U.S. dollar rose and Asian stocks fell on Thursday with investors reluctant to buy riskier assets ahead of a European leaders meeting which could be dominated by talk of Greece's debt crisis, and after the Federal Reserve cut its growth forecasts for this year and next.
"The key in this environment is really just low leverage," Adrian Foster, head of financial market research at Rabobank, told Reuters Television.
U.S. corn slides to 6-week low as selloff continues
SINGAPORE, June 23 (Reuters) - U.S. corn futures fell 1.6 percent on Thursday, dropping to a six-week low, while wheat lost 0.2 percent to trade near its lowest in almost 11 months as long liquidation, sparked by Black Sea wheat continued to hammer the grain markets.
"The thing with corn is that at what point does the market think it is overdone," said Brett Cooper, senior manager of markets at FCStone Australia.
Farm commods regulation best left to G20 finmins-UK
PARIS, June 22 (Reuters) - Britain supports efforts to improve regulation of commodity markets and it will be up to G20 finance ministers, rather than farm ministers, to come up with concrete measures on this, the UK agriculture secretary said.
Caroline Spelman also said boosting agricultural output remained the priority to curb food price volatility, in comments casting doubts that G20 farm ministers gathered in Paris on June 22-23 will make any real inroads on the issue of regulation.
Hungry world needs sun to shine on US corn crop
CHICAGO, June 23 (Reuters) - Rarely have the inches of rainfall in Iowa or the hours of sunshine in Ohio been more pivotal to soaring global food prices and inflation than they will be this summer.
The U.S. Midwest needs good crop weather to produce a corn crop bountiful enough to fill export demand and to help rein in galloping inflation in countries like China and India.
Paraguay farmers see 2010/11 soy crop at 8.4 mln T
ASUNCION, June 22 (Reuters) - Paraguay's 2010/11 soy harvest came in at a record 8.4 million tonnes, in line with the government's forecast, a research institute representing farming and exporting groups said on Wednesday.
Paraguay is the world's No 4 soybean exporter, though it trails far behind neighboring agricultural giants Brazil and Argentina. The small country's economy is highly dependent on increasing oilseed exports for economic growth.
Brazil cocoa arrivals nudge higher after pause
BRASILIA, June 22 (Reuters) - Deliveries of cocoa to warehouses in Brazil picked up again in the last week following a dip a week prior, data from the commercial association of the top cocoa state Bahia showed.
Output from the mid crop harvest which began last month, rose in both Bahia and outlying cocoa states.
China to import up to 5 mln T corn in 2011-USGC
LONDON, June 22 (Reuters) - China is expected to import up to five million tonnes of corn in 2011, the U.S. Grains Council said on Wednesday.
Speaking on the sidelines of the Agriculture Investment Summit, USGC president and CEO Thomas Dorr said China had already purchased around 1.25 million tonnes of corn this year and was expected to meet the bulk of its 2011 import needs from the coming 2011-12 new crop.
Ivorian cocoa prices rise on thinning supply-farmers
ABIDJAN, June 22 (Reuters) - Cocoa farm gate prices in Ivory Coast's cocoa growing regions were mainly higher last week, following San Pedro port prices, as buyers anticipated supply tightening with the mid-crop tapering off, farmers and exporters said on Wednesday.
An accurate average price for the centre-western growing region of Daloa was not available at the Coffee and Cocoa Bourse (BCC), but farmers said buyers were paying at 650 CFA francs per kg, up from 600 CFA francs the previous week, anticipating lower supply as the April-September mid-crop tails off.
Ukraine weather forecaster sees grain crop rising
KIEV, June 22 (Reuters) - Ukraine's grain harvest is set to rise to 42.5-44.5 million tonnes this year from 39.2 million tonnes in 2010, Mykola Kulbida, the head of the country's weather forecasting centre, said on Wednesday.
He said the harvest was likely to include 18-19 million tonnes of wheat and 13-14 million of maize. Ukraine harvested 16.8 million tonnes of wheat and 11.9 million tonnes of maize in 2010, a season affected by drought.
Demand for sustainable cocoa to surge-Fairtrade
ABIDJAN, June 22 (Reuters) - Global demand for sustainable cocoa that pays a stable price to farmers and protects the environment is set to surge well over fivefold to more than 200,000 tonnes a year by 2020, Fairtrade said on Wednesday.
Alex Assanvo, global product manager of the Fairtrade Labelling Organisation, told Reuters on a visit to top cocoa grower Ivory Coast that his projection was partly based on targets set by chocolate maker Mars which appear increasingly likely to be met.
Sugar prices seen strong near term, to fall in Q4
BRUSSELS, June 22 (Reuters) - Sugar futures prices are expected to stay fairly strong in the near term on worries over Brazilian output and port congestion, but prices should ease in the fourth quarter as new harvests roll in.
A rally to 2-1/2-month highs had been driven by worries over shipping bottlenecks in top producer Brazil, mainly centred on a terminal at Santos due to big orders from China, as well as delays in number two exporter Thailand.
Oil slips over $1 as dollar gain overshadows stocks draw
SINGAPORE, June 23 (Reuters) - Oil fell more than $1 on Thursday, reversing the previous session's gains, as a rise in the dollar overshadowed a surprise draw in gasoline stockpiles in the world's top consumer U.S.
"The Fed comments suggest that it will be more of the same for a long time," said Jonathan Barratt, managing director of Commodity Broking Services. "Growth, in terms of employment and the economy, will remain stagnant for some time and that is not a good thing."
India silver imports tumble in May as prices fall
MUMBAI, June 22 (Reuters) - Imports of silver into India, the world's biggest buyer, in May tumbled by a third to 200 tonnes from April as buying interest tapered off after prices declined 20 percent, a trade body head told Reuters on Wednesday.
"There are no buyers now, buying was absent from second week of May.... Much will depend on the monsoon rains," said Prithviraj Kothari, president of the Bombay Bullion Association, adding June and July are generally slack for the precious metals business.
Copper retreats as dollar lifted by lack of stimulus hint
SINGAPORE, June 23 (Reuters) - Copper drifted lower on Thursday as the dollar strengthened after the U.S. Federal Reserve gave no hint of further monetary support even as it acknowledged the world's top economy was recovering more slowly than it had expected.
The absence of any sign that the Fed would provide more stimulus when its current $600-billion bond-buying program expires at the end of June helped boost the dollar against the euro and a basket of currencies.
Lion Corp in talks for strategic investor for steel business
KUALA LUMPUR, June 23 (Reuters) - MALAYSIA'S Lion Cop said on Thursday it had commenced preliminary discussions with various parties over a strategic investment in its steel businesses.
"The company wishes to emphasize that these discussions are at an exploratory stage and accordingly, there can be no certainty that it will lead to a more definitive and conclusive understanding between the parties," Lion Corp said in a statement to the stock exchange.
Japan smelters agree copper TC/RCs at $85/8.5 cents-sources
TOKYO, Jun 23 (Reuters) - Mitsubishi Materials Corp , Japan's third-biggest copper smelter, said it had struck a deal with BHP on midyear copper treatment and refining charges, without giving any details.
Two trading sources told Reuters that Japanese smelters had struck the deal at $85 per tonne and 8.5 cents per pound. A source said at least one company agreed the term for two years starting on July 1.
Minmetals sees potential restart, sale of nickel mine
SYDNEY, June 23 (Reuters) - China's Minmetals has received interest from outside parties to operate its mothballed Avebury nickel mine in Australia, MMG, the company's Australian subsidiary, said on Thursday.
The mine was shut down at the height of the global financial crisis due to low world nickel prices, which fell below $10,000 a tonne, less than half the current price.
Rio Tinto sets July-Sept iron ore prices for China steel mills -sources
SHANGHAI, June 23 (Reuters) - World No.2 iron ore miner Rio Tinto Ltd has asked some Chinese steel mills to pay $2.7234 per dry metric tonne for iron ore fines and $3.0109 per dry metric tonne unit for lump ore for the July-September period, sources familiar with the situation told Reuters.
An iron ore buying official at a mid-sized steel mill in northern China said the company had received the pricing details from Rio Tinto on Tuesday.
China copper imports may rise in 2nd half-Aurubis
HAMBURG, May 22 (Reuters) - China's copper imports are likely to rise in the second half of 2011 after a fall in past months as the country uses up its domestic stocks, Aurubis , Europe's biggest copper producer, said on Wednesday.
Imports into the world's top copper buyer in May fell to 149,235 tonnes from April's 160,236 tonnes and by 46.7 percent from May 2010, a breakdown of the May data by the General Administration of Customs showed on Tuesday.-
Gold ends 4-day winning streak, sterling gold at record
TOKYO, June 23 (Reuters) - Gold fell on Thursday, snapping a four-day winning streak, as the dollar gained after the Federal Reserve gave no hint of further stimulus, but gold priced in sterling hit a record high as the British currency sagged on views of more easing.
"The market will likely remain in narrow ranges around current levels with the topside capped until fresh factors emerge to prompt funds to aggressively want to buy gold," said Yuichi Ikemizu, branch manager for Standard Bank in Tokyo.
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