Ukraine Jul-Aug grain exports 22 pct down y/y
KIEV, Sept 5 (Reuters) - Ukraine's grain exports totalled 1.8 million tonnes in July-August 2011, the first two months of the new 2011/12 season, or 22 percent less than in the same period in 2010, the Ukrainian Agrarian Confederation (UAC), said on Monday.
The local union of traders and producers said in a statement the volume had included about 1.0 million tonnes of barley, 700,000 of wheat and 100,000 of other cereals.
Dry weather starts to hamper Argentine wheat-gov't
BUENOS AIRES, Sept 2 (Reuters) - The wheat crop in parts of Argentina's top producing province is starting to show the impact of dry and chilly weather in recent weeks, the Agriculture Ministry said on Friday in a weekly report.
Argentina, a leading global wheat exporter, has yet to forecast 2011/12 output, but the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) sees production dipping to 13.5 million tonnes from 15 million last season.
Heat adds more stress to U.S. Midwest crops
CHICAGO, Sept 2 (Reuters) - Hot weather in the U.S. Midwest late this week likely added further stress to the filling corn crop and late pod-setting soybeans, an agricultural meteorologist said on Friday.
"It was hot the past two days, it was up to 100 Fahrenheit in central and southern Illinois so there's no doubt there was some late stress on crops," said John Dee, meteorologist for Global Weather Monitoring.
Share of milling wheat in Ukraine crop at 40-45 pct
KIEV, Sept 2 (Reuters) - The share of milling wheat in Ukraine's 2011 wheat harvest as at between 40 and 45 percent, down from the last year 55 percent, analyst UkrAgroConsult said in a report.
Ukraine's Farm Ministry last month said the share of milling wheat had reached 70 percent as of Aug 18 compared to about 60 percent a month earlier. The ministry gave no explanation for the change in the grain quality.
Corn, Soybeans Seen Advancing as Adverse Weather Threatens U.S. Yields (Source: Bloomberg)
Corn and soybeans may rise this week on speculation that a government report on Sept. 12 will forecast smaller U.S. crops after a heat wave in July and dry weather in August eroded yield prospects. Twenty-two of 29 traders and analysts surveyed from Tokyo to Chicago on Sept. 2 forecast that corn will rise for a fifth time in six weeks, and 23 respondents said soybeans will gain for a fourth straight week. On the Chicago Board of Trade last week, corn futures for December delivery fell 0.9 percent to $7.60 a bushel. Soybean futures for November delivery rose 1.6 percent to $14.4575 a bushel, after prices reached the highest since July 2008.
Rice rally losing steam on plentiful supply
SINGAPORE, Sept 2 (Reuters) - Ample global rice stocks and buyers' reluctance to wade into a market many see as overpriced will put the brakes on a rally that saw the staple at 1-1/2 year highs this week and raised concerns about food inflation in Asia.
Speculation over aggressive intervention by the new government in Thailand, the world's biggest exporter, has pushed the benchmark white rice to $615 a tonne, the highest since December 2009, even though demand has remained thin with top importers largely covered.
Global meeting to push for India sugar reforms
NEW DELHI, Sept 2 (Reuters) - Reform of India's tightly controlled sugar sector will top the agenda of an international conference kicking off on Sept. 5, as traders and analysts call for changes to allow the country to become a regular exporter, competing with top producer Brazil.
The New Delhi government, keen to ensure cheap availability of the sweetener and to restrain high food inflation, currently sets the price mills must pay to farmers and buys 20 percent of their output at a big discount for its welfare schemes.
Canada wheat, canola stocks shrink - trade
WINNIPEG, Manitoba, Sept 2 (Reuters) - Canada's stocks of wheat and canola shrank to multi-year lows as of July 31, the result of last year's disappointing harvest and steady demand, according to 14 traders and analysts whom Reuters surveyed.
Statistics Canada will release on Sept. 7 its estimates of crop stocks as of July 31, which is the end of the 2010/11 marketing year.
Robusta coffee slips, Vietnam crop weighs
LONDON, Sept 5 (Reuters) - Robusta coffee edged lower, under pressure from the imminent large crop in Vietnam, while white sugar was steady. U.S. commodity markets were shut Monday for Labor Day.
Brazil plans to slash tax credits on coffee shipments which exporters say distort competition, potentially raising the cost of the beans it sells abroad, government and industry sources said on Friday.
Mauritius' Omnicane to build Kenya sugar factory - report
PORT LOUIS, Sept 5 (Reuters) - Leading Mauritian sugar producer Omnicane is planning to develop a $180 million sugar factory in Kenya to fill a production gap, L'Express newspaper reported on Monday.
Omnicane chief executive officer Jacques d'Unienville said the sugar factory will be situated in the south of Kenya's port city of Mombasa and will initially access 17,000 acres of sugar cane.
Indonesia's Aug Sumatra coffee exports fall 31 pct y/y
BANDAR LAMPUNG, Sept 5 (Reuters) - Indonesia's robusta coffee bean exports from the main growing area in southern Sumatra fell 31 percent to 17,938.38 tonnes from the same month a year ago, as stock levels decreased, government trade data showed on Monday.
Indonesia is the world's fourth largest coffee producer after Brazil, Colombia and Vietnam, and the world's number two robusta coffee producer after Vietnam.
Brazil hillside coffee could see frost early Saturday
BRASILIA, Sept 2 (Reuters) - A high altitude zone in Brazil's southeastern coffee belt could see patches of frost by dawn on Saturday, weather forecaster Somar said on Friday, but any freeze would likely be patchy and affect a small area.
Meteorologist Cassia Beu told Reuters the area most at risk was the Pocos de Caldas area of top coffee state Minas Gerais, usually the coolest part of the coffee belt in the world's top grower. Temperatures there could fall to 0 Celsius.
Little improvement seen as Cuban coffee harvest begins
HAVANA, Sept 2 (Reuters) - The Cuban coffee harvest has begun in eastern Cuba, accountable for 85 percent of production, with little indication output will significantly improve over last season's dismal 6,000 tonnes of semi-processed beans.
"Santiago de Cuba, the biggest coffee producer in the country, began this year's harvest today," official Radio Rebelde reported on Friday, without providing further details.
Sugar crop in key India state seen at record despite rains
MUMBAI, Sept 2 (Reuters) - Recent heavy rainfall in India's top sugar producing Maharashtra state will not hurt the cane crop, which is still expected to yield a record 9.3 million tonnes of sugar, a senior state government official said on Friday.
"Rainfall at this stage is beneficial for the crop's vegetative growth. We are expecting better cane yields," Anil Bansode, joint director at the state's sugar commissioner's office, told Reuters on Friday.
Cocoa Declines to $3,144 a Ton in London Trading, Erasing Earlier Advance (Source: Bloomberg)
Cocoa for December delivery fell 2 pounds, or 0.1 percent, to 1,949 pounds on NYSE Liffe in London by 12:40 p.m. local time, erasing gains earlier today of as much as 0.3 percent.
Coffee Peaking as Cargoes Carrying Brazilian Beans Surge: Freight Markets (Source: Bloomberg)
The rally that drove arabica coffee prices up 50 percent in a year may be ending as record production in Brazil, the highest output in a decade in Central America and a rebound in Colombia’s crop boost exports. Brazil, the world’s largest grower, may produce up to 3.78 million metric tons (63 million bags) of beans next year, a jump of as much as 37 percent, London-based broker Marex Spectron Group says. Central America will reap the most since the 1999- 2000 season, the U.S. government forecasts. While that won’t be enough to boost shipping rates, it may send coffee down 13 percent to $2.50 a pound in the first quarter and $2.20 in the second, a Bloomberg survey of seven analysts and traders showed. Arabica, the most-consumed variety, more than doubled since June 2010 as rain curbed output in Colombia, the second-biggest producer, and Brazilian stockpiles fell to their third-smallest in a half-century, USDA data show.
ABN Amro Bank NV and VM Group forecast a surplus for the season that begins Oct. 1. Futures are 7 percent below the 14-year high reached in May, and Kraft Foods Inc. and J.M. Smucker Co. have cut prices.
Colombia sees mining reforms finished by year-end
MEDELLIN, Colombia, Sept 2 (Reuters) - Colombia's mining reforms including restructuring the fast-growing sector and changes to the law should be completed by the end of the year, Energy Minister Carlos Rodado said on Friday.
The world's No. 4 coal exporter is undertaking major reforms to its mining sector after a series of accidents and growing criticism over how the industry is managed hit one of Colombia's most dynamic growth sectors.
Euro Coal-Prices rise slightly, only one buyer seen
LONDON, Sept 2 (Reuters) - European prompt physical coal prices rose by around $1.00 on Friday on buying by one major utility.
Dark spreads - the coal-fired power generation margins for electricity - have been firm for the past two months, but the recent, steady spot buying by one utility has no connection to the generation margins, utility sources said.
U.S. coal use down 5 pct from previous week - Genscape
HOUSTON, Sept 2 (Reuters) - U.S. coal consumption fell 5 percent in the past week as hurricane-turned-tropical-storm Irene cut power to millions, Genscape said on Friday.
Use of coal for the week to Thursday fell 2 percent from the same week of 2010, the power industry data monitor said.
Crude Oil Extends Drop on Signs of Slowing U.S. Economy, Rising Stockpiles (Source: Bloomberg)
Oil extended declines in New York as investors speculated that signs of a weakening U.S. economy and increasing crude stockpiles indicate fuel demand will falter in the world’s biggest consumer of the commodity. Futures slid as much as 3.8 percent before a report today that may show service industries grew at the slowest pace in more than a year. Crude supplies at Cushing, Oklahoma, the delivery point for West Texas Intermediate oil, rose 2.4 percent on Sept. 1 from Aug. 31, according to DigitalGlobe Inc. London- traded Brent widened its premium to U.S. prices. “Oil benchmarks slipped again as fears of slowing global growth weighed on demand sentiment,” Mark Pervan, head of commodity research at Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd. in Melbourne, said in a note today. “Oil prices should primarily take direction from equity markets, so expect further selling pressure this week as markets remain jittery ahead of major policy discussions.”
Brent dips under $111 on US recession fears
LONDON, Sept 5 (Reuters) - Brent crude oil fell below $111 a barrel on Monday, as fears of another U.S. recession slowing fuel demand overshadowed concerns that a tropical storm may shut down some U.S. offshore oil production.
"Oil is falling on worries over weak demand, unemployment and talk of a double-dip recession," said Eugen Weinberg, head of commodities research at Commerzbank in Frankfurt.
China revises up July crude oil imports by 1.23 mln T
BEIJING, Sept 5 (Reuters) - China has revised up its July crude imports by 1.23 million tonnes to 20.66 million tonnes (4.87 million bpd), customs officials told Reuters on Monday.
China imported 1.23 million tonnes of crude oil in July from Russia via a spur of the Siberian ESPO pipeline, which was not included in data released on Aug. 22, the officials said.
Russia 2011 oil production seen above 500 mln tonnes
MOSCOW, Sept 3 (Reuters) - Russia will produce more than 500 million tonnes of oil in 2011, while also steering its coal industry towards developing Eastern world rather than "stagnating" West, Energy Minister Sergei Shmatko said on Saturday.
"This year we will likely beat (2010 results) as in the first half of this year we have produced around 350 million tonnes," Shmatko told Russia 24 TV channel in an interview.
China CNOOC plans Oct Huizhou refinery turnaround
BEIJING, Sept 5 (Reuters) - China National Offshore Oil Corp (CNOOC), parent of CNOOC Ltd , will shut down its 240,000 barrel-per-day Huizhou refinery in south China for up to 40 days of repair work from early October, two industry sources told Reuters on Monday.
The refinery processes mostly crude oil from Penglai 19-3, China's largest offshore oilfield operated by U.S. firm Conocophillips which the Chinese government ordered last Friday to shut down due to oil spill issues.
Japan refiners resume marine shipments after storm
TOKYO, Sept 5 (Reuters) - Marine shipments from nine oil refineries halted due to a tropical storm late last week have resumed, company officials said on Monday, with the storm having crossed Japan's main island to the north and passed into the Sea of Japan.
Tropical depression Talas, downgraded over the weekend from a tropical storm, caused flooding and landslides in western Japan, leaving 24 people dead and several dozen missing, local media said on Monday.
Iron Ore-Key indexes cling to 4-mth high, spot gains capped
SHANGHAI, Sept 5 (Reuters) - Gloomy outlooks for the U.S. economy and the euro zone kept spot iron ore prices steady on Monday, despite increased buying from Chinese steel mills that helped drive global indexes to a four-month high.
Steel mills in China, the world's top steel producer and iron ore consumer, are expecting steel demand to pick up in September and October, the traditional peak season for consumption, as construction activities accelerate and other industrial sectors boost production.
Indian state seeks to tax big iron ore profits
BHUBANESWAR, India, Sept 3 (Reuters) - India's biggest iron ore producing state has sought a new tax on mining profits and a higher royalty on steel feedstock, underlining a growing push from provincial governments and the steel industry to keep natural resources at home.
The chief minister of eastern Orissa state, which accounts for about a third of India's iron ore production, wrote to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh this week, saying mining firms' gains should be taxed because they were benefiting "beyond any measure of reasonable returns".
Liberia expects to ship first post-war iron, gold soon
PERTH, Sept 2 (Reuters) - Liberia is poised to reap the rewards of its mineral riches once again, with the first shipment of iron ore produced since the end of its decades-long civil war expected later this year and gold production due to resume in as soon as six months.
Liberia, one of the world's poorest countries, is still recovering from the 1989-2003 war that decimated its mining industry which, before 1990, contributed over 25 percent to GDP.
Nigeria sees first iron ore output in 2012
PERTH, Sept 2 (Reuters) - Nigeria expects the first significant iron ore production next year from its Itakpe iron ore deposits as it looks to to reduce its dependence on oil and gas revenues, a government official said Friday.
"Unfortunately, once we found oil, all the attention went to oil and we neglected (other areas)... mining is one of the key areas that we want to diversify into," Olusegun Aganga, minister of trade and investment, told Reuters at a mining conference in Perth, Australia.
Japan Q4 aluminium premium seen at $118/T -source
TOKYO, Sept 2 (Reuters) - The premium for primary aluminium shipments to Japan in the October-December quarter has been set at $118 per tonne for at least one deal, an industry source directly involved in the talks said on Friday, marking the first decline in three quarters.
"We have agreed for premiums of $118 for part of our needs," said the source, adding that the portion agreed was less than half of his company's purchases.
Indian state seeks to tax big iron ore profits
BHUBANESWAR, India, Sept 3 (Reuters) - India's biggest iron ore producing state has sought a new tax on mining profits and a higher royalty on steel feedstock, underlining a growing push from provincial governments and the steel industry to keep natural resources at home.
The chief minister of eastern Orissa state, which accounts for about a third of India's iron ore production, wrote to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh this week, saying mining firms' gains should be taxed because they were benefiting "beyond any measure of reasonable returns".
Ghana H1 2011 gold output up 3 pct-chamber of mines
ACCRA, Sept 2 (Reuters) - Ghana's gold production rose 3 percent in the first half of 2011 to 1,497,023 ounces from 1,455,234 ounces a year ago, the West African nation's chamber of mines said on Friday.
Revenues during the same period jumped 31 percent to $2.2 billion from $1.68 billion.
METALS-Copper slides on weak U.S., China data
SHANGHAI, Sept 5 (Reuters) - Copper prices fell on gloomy U.S. payroll data and a historic low for an index of the Chinese services sector, as doubts grew over growth in the world's largest economies.
"U.S. non-farm payroll figures, continued debt woes in the euro zone and the low HSBC China services PMI in August are all dampening sentiment today," Minmetals Futures analyst Zhuo Guiqiu said.
PRECIOUS-Gold edges lower; growth worry supports
SINGAPORE, Sept 5 (Reuters) - Spot gold edged lower, retaining most of its gains from the previous session, as a dismal growth outlook after the U.S. jobs data supported safe-haven interest in bullion.
"Even if you take out the effect from the Verizon strike, it is still a lousy number and people are concerned that growth is not there any more," said Dominic Schnider, head of commodity research of UBS Wealth Management in Singapore.
Copper Declines to One-Week Low as Slowing Economies May Cut Into Demand (Source: Bloomberg)
Copper fell to a one-week low in London on speculation slumping economies will reduce demand. An index of investor confidence in the euro region declined to a two-year low this month, Limburg, Germany Sentix said today. The MSCI World (MXWO) Index of shares fell 2.1 percent today. “It’s more just the feeling that the macro outlook is weaker,” Jim Lennon, global head of commodities research at Macquarie Group Ltd. in London, said by phone.
Gold Rises Above $1,900 an Ounce as Growth, Debt Concerns Enhance Demand (Source: Bloomberg)
Gold, trading above $1,900 an ounce, may advance toward a record on speculation Europe’s debt crisis will worsen, damping economic growth and driving investors to protect their wealth. Gold for immediate delivery was little changed at $1,902.05 an ounce as of 6:57 a.m. Singapore time. The metal touched $1,903.48 earlier, within 0.6 percent of the all-time high of $1,913.50 reached Aug. 23. Futures for December delivery in New York were at $1,905, up 1.5 percent from their close on Sept. 2. Floor trading in the U.S. was closed yesterday for the Labor Day holiday. “Fear continues to dominate European markets with the debt crisis center of attention,” Lachlan Shaw, an analyst at Commonwealth Bank of Australia, wrote in an e-mail. “The gold price rose to near record highs as investors embraced safe-haven assets.”
Baltic index at near 9-month high, rally extends
LONDON, Sept 2 (Reuters) - The Baltic Exchange's main sea freight index, which tracks rates to ship dry commodities, rose to its highest in nearly nine months on Friday after surging iron ore and coal export business to Asia sustained a rally in recent days.
Brokers said a growing ship glut was set to cap dry bulk freight rate gains in the coming months.
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