Thursday, August 11, 2011

20110811 1815 FCPO EOD Daily Chart Study.


FCPO closed : 2988, changed : +51 points, volume : lower.
Bollinger band reading : pullback correction downside biased.
MACD Histrogram : turned upward, seller taking profit.
Support : 2970, 2930, 2900, 2850, 2800 level.
Resistance : 3020, 3050, 3070, 3100 level.
Comment :
FCPO closed recorded gain with decreasing volume participation while overnight soy oil closed nearly unchanged and currently trading higher.
Improved export data and anticipation of continue lower stock and production level for the fasting month lifted crude palm oil futures price trade higher. Market also awaits tonight USDA data from the U.S.
Daily chart formed an up bar candle closed above lower Bollinger band level after market opened 2 tick higher, edge up little higher and move side ways followed by second session upwards surges all the way to closed near the high of the day.
Chart reading remained suggesting a pullback correction downside biased market development testing support and resistance level.
When to buy : buy at support or weakness with quick cut loss and profit target.
When to sell : sell at resistant or strength with quick cut loss and profit target.

20110811 1740 FKLI EOD Daily Chart Study.


FKLI closed : 1473, changed : -2 points, volume : lower.
Bollinger band reading : pullback correction downside biased.
MACD Histrogram : turned upward, seller locking in profit.
Support : 1470, 1458, 1445, 1425 level.
Resistance : 1485, 1500, 1515, 1530 level.
Comment :
FKLI closed recorded small loss with decreasing volume transacted doing about 3.5 points discount compare to cash market that also closed little lower.  Overnight U.S. market closed lower recorded big drop again and Asia markets closed mostly lower while European markets currently trading higher recording substantial gains.
Sentiment seems mixed as Asia markets traded weaker after overnight Dow Jones market drop due to concern Europe will fail to contain its debt crisis pulled down bank shares prices but loss are limited after U.S. Dow Futures market climbed upward by more than 100 points resulted European region market opened and trading higher currently plus some positive corporate earnings announcement.  
Daily chart formed a up bar candle with small upper shadow closed above lower Bollinger band level after market opened lower, recovered upwards once recordings small gain and soften little lower to closed off the high of the day.
Chart reading remained suggesting a pullback correction downside biased market development testing support and resistance level.
When to buy : buy at support or weakness with quick cut loss and profit target.
When to sell : sell at resistant or strength with quick cut loss and profit target.

20110811 1739 Regional Markets EOD Daily Chart Study.

DJIA chart reading :
pullback correction downside biased.


Hang Seng chart reading : 
pullback correction downside biased.


KLCI chart reading : 
pullback correction downside biased.


20110811 1634 Latest Commodities Shiver after US Credit Downgrade Report by Reuters.


Dear All, 
Here is the latest Commodities Shiver after US Credit Downgrade Report by Reuters. Here's the link : Commodities Shiver after US Credit Downgrade Reseach. Enjoy !

20110811 1618 Global Market & Commodities Related News.


US stock futures rise in Asia but Europe will be key
SINGAPORE, Aug 11 (Reuters) - U.S. stock futures rose 1.5 percent on Thursday after a sharp drop in the cash index overnight, limiting Asian share losses, though focus will shift quickly to how European markets hold up to a sovereign debt crisis that has spread to its banking system.
"The market is in a bit of heat-seeking missile mode looking for vulnerabilities around the world, and Europe is obviously in its sights at this point in time," said Grant Turley, senior strategist at ANZ in Sydney.

Corn, soy rise; wheat steady ahead of USDA report
SINGAPORE, Aug 11 (Reuters) - Chicago corn and soybean futures rose on Thursday, while wheat was steady following a 2 percent rally in the last session as the market awaited a key U.S. government report, which is expected to be bullish on grains.
"My view is that we are going to see some corn yield damage which is going to tighten the crop balance even more. That will be supportive for the prices," said Abah Ofon, an analyst at Standard Chartered Bank in Singapore.

World cocoa surplus 325,000 tonnes this season-ICCO
ABIDJAN, Aug 10 (Reuters) - Better than expected cocoa production in West Africa will boost global output to 4.2 million tonnes in the 2010/11 season, creating a surplus of 325,000 tonnes, the International Cocoa Organisation (ICCO) said on Wednesday.
That figure was up from an estimate last month of 187,000 tonnes.
In a Reuters interview during a visit to Ivory Coast, ICCO executive director Jean-Marc Anga also said bad weather in the past weeks would most likely cause global output to fall to 4 million tonnes in the 2011/12 season, bringing the world back into a deficit.

Colombian coffee farmers fret over main harvest
BOGOTA, Aug 10 (Reuters) - Colombia's coffee growers doubt the main harvest later this year will be enough to meet the upper limit of the country's 2011 output target of 9 to 9.5 million bags after heavy rains battered the country.
Bad weather and a tree renovation program have slashed coffee output in 2009 and 2010, and this year looks to come under historical averages for production in Colombia, the No. 1 producer of high-quality Arabica beans.

Cotton trade says focus on demand before USDA data
NEW YORK, Aug 10 (Reuters) - The U.S. Agriculture Department's monthly supply report should show another cut for the drought-stricken U.S. cotton crop, but traders said Wednesday the focus would be fixed firmly on demand in the 2011/12 season.
In a poll by Thomson Reuters, market participants expected domestic cotton production in 2011/12 (August/July) would be reduced to an average of 15.29 million (480-lb) bales, down 15.5 percent from last season's 18.10 million bales.

Brazil cocoa arrivals down 9 pct from last season
SAO PAULO, Aug 10 (Reuters) - Cocoa deliveries from Brazil's main cocoa state Bahia held steady last week, data from Bahia Commercial Association showed, while production from other states showed a decline that may be only temporary.
The Association said it was having problems gathering arrivals data from the northern state of Para, an area whose output has been growing fast, which may be contributing to the drop in deliveries from other states.

Argentine 2011/12 wheat output seen at 12.5 mln T
BUENOS AIRES, Aug 10 (Reuters) - Argentina's 2011/12 wheat harvest is expected to come in at 12.5 million tonnes, the Rosario Grains Exchange said in its first estimate of the crop for the season.
Argentina is global top wheat exporter and Brazil is its biggest market.
In its monthly estimate, the Rosario exchange slightly raised its wheat area to 4.5 million hectares from 4.47 million previously, due to "excellent crop conditions, which help us foresee a good output."  

French farm body ups wheat crop, quality good
PARIS, Aug 10 (Reuters) - French farm office FranceAgriMer on Wednesday raised its estimate of this year's soft wheat crop as yields were better than feared after a spring drought, and also pointed to signs of reasonable quality for flour-making.
The office increased its outlook for the 2011 soft wheat crop to about 33.3 million tonnes, up from 32 million forecast in July, as it raised its average yield projection to 6.6 tonnes a hectare from 6.4 tonnes previously.

China July soy imports climb 24 pct
SHANGHAI, Aug 10 (Reuters) - China's soybean imports rose by nearly a quarter to an eight-month high in July on improving processor margins and higher demand, triggered by measures taken by the world's biggest soy buyer to boost pork supplies.
While China's soybean imports climbed in July, the global market is well supplied on higher output from South America this year and there are expectations of a bumper output in the U.S., the world biggest exporter.

World cocoa surplus 325,000 tonnes this season-ICCO
ABIDJAN, Aug 10 (Reuters) - Better-than-expected cocoa production in West Africa will boost global output to 4.2 million tonnes in the 2010/11 season, creating a surplus of 325,000 tonnes, the International Cocoa Organisation (ICCO) said on Wednesday.
That figure was up from an estimate last month of 187,000 tonnes.
In a Reuters interview during a visit to Ivory Coast, ICCO executive director Jean-Marc Anga also said bad weather in the past weeks would most likely cause global output to fall back below 4 million tonnes in the 2011/12 season, bringing the world back into a deficit.

Brent slips on demand worries as Europe crisis spreads
SINGAPORE, Aug 11 (Reuters) - Brent slipped on Thursday, reversing the previous session's gain of 4 percent, on worries over demand as the European debt crisis  spilled in to France amid a weaker economic outlook for the United States.
"It all appears to be about confidence," said Jonathan Barratt, managing director at Commodity Broking Services in Sydney.

EU hits Libyan oil firm al-Sharara with sanctions
BRUSSELS, Aug 10 (Reuters) - The European Union added a Libyan oil firm and government department to a sanctions blacklist on Wednesday, an EU diplomat said, raising pressure on Muammar Gaddafi in his conflict with Western-backed rebels.
The decision approved by the 27 EU member states freezes assets in the European Union of the al-Sharara oil company and Libya's Organisation for Administrative Affairs and bars EU firms from doing business with them. "It's gone through," the diplomat said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Oil demand growth could stall in 2012 - IEA
LONDON, Aug 10 (Reuters) - Global economic slowdown may stifle oil demand growth next year, the West's energy watchdog said on Wednesday, while warning that tightening supplies could still spur yet more oil price volatility.
The International Energy Agency, adviser to industrialised nations on energy policy, said that although it had not made big changes to its oil demand growth estimates for 2011 or 2012, its predictions were now at the mercy of the global economy's performance in the months to come.

OPEC may meet if price worries members-Iran governor
TEHRAN, Aug 10 (Reuters) - OPEC ministers could hold an emergency meeting if its members start to feel anxious about falling crude prices, Iran's OPEC governor said on Wednesday.
"If oil prices reach a worrying level and members get worried, there is a possibility for negotiation and holding an emergency meeting," Mohammad Ali Khatibi told Iran's official news agency IRNA.

LME copper up on stronger yuan, China trade data
SHANGHAI, Aug 11 (Reuters) - LME copper rose on Wednesday after another equities selloff overnight, as investors picked up commodities, spurred by a stronger yuan and China's strong July trade figures.  
"This move suggests that China feels confident about its economy and about world growth to allow its currency to appreciate and therefore relying less on the export sector and allowing its economy to keep on growing," said Citigroup analyst David Thurtell.

Brazil steel mills' outlook weak, but iron strong
SAO PAULO, Aug 10 (Reuters) - Brazilian steel mills are going through a peculiar and worrying moment: Mining iron ore is making more for them than producing slabs and rods.
And the situation may persist for quite a while longer, causing more stress for investors, who have dumped shares in the sector this year.

Japan July aluminium stocks down 11 pct m/m
TOKYO, Aug 11 (Reuters) - Aluminium stocks held at three major Japanese ports fell 11 percent in July from a month earlier due to slowing imports, trading house Marubeni Corp  said on Thursday.
Marubeni, which collects data from the key ports of Yokohama, Nagoya and Osaka, said aluminium stocks at the ports came to 203,500 at the end of July, down 25,100 tonnes from 228,600 tonnes at the end of June.

India 2010/11 iron ore exports down 17 pct after revision-trade body
NEW DELHI, Aug 10 (Reuters) - Iron ore exports from India fell 17 percent in the year to March 2011 to 97.6 million tonnes, up from an earlier estimate of 95 million tonnes, on rising costs and slow efforts in southern Karnataka state to resume shipments, a trade body said in a statement on Wednesday.
India, the world's third-largest exporter of the steel-making raw material, exported 117.4 million tonnes in 2009/10, the Federation of Indian Minerals and Industry (FIMI) said.

Kalahari says Husab uranium reserves up 37 pct
LONDON, Aug 10 (Reuters) - Reserve estimates for the Husab uranium project in Namibia have risen 37 percent, Kalahari Minerals  said on Wednesday, the day before its potential Chinese suitor is allowed to return with a revised offer.
AIM-listed Kalahari holds a 43-percent stake in Extract Resources  , owner of the Husab project which is potentially the second-largest uranium mine in the world.

China July copper imports up 9.5 pct, August may fall
HONG KONG, Aug 10 (Reuters) - China's copper imports rose 9.5 percent to a six-month high in July as material purchased during a period of lower prices in May and June arrived at ports, but may decline in August.
Imports were still down 22 percent in the first seven months, suggesting that monetary tightening has slowed demand in the world's top copper consumer, adding to concerns that shaky western economies will knock consumption.

Debt crisis won't hurt copper refiner Aurubis -CEO
HAMBURG, Aug 10 (Reuters) - Europe's largest copper refiner Aurubis  expects no short-term impact on its business from the ongoing sovereign debt crisis, its chief executive said, arguing China's growing appetite will continue unabated.
Global copper demand should remain robust in 2012 as a result, Bernd Drouven told Reuters in an interview on Wednesday, with rising consumption in China compensating for any slowdown in other regions.

China metal imports shine but oil falters
SHANGHAI, Aug 10 (Reuters) - China bought substantially more copper and iron ore in July than June, offering a rosy view of the world's second-largest economy, although surprisingly weak crude imports jarred.
Investors are hoping the economic strength of the world's top commodity buyer will help lift prices pummelled by fears the United States may be recession-bound and by a raging debt crisis in Europe.

Gold eases from record high after CME margin hike
SYDNEY/SINGAPORE, Aug 11 (Reuters) - Gold eased on Thursday from record highs struck earlier in the session after the CME Group raised margins on COMEX gold futures, but turmoil in the global financial markets and fears of slower growth will buoy sentiment.
"We've seen some of it now, but it's difficult to see a great deal of selling, because we are in very, very volatile and uncertain times when markets are moving very violently. Gold has proven too much of an attraction as an alternative investment and the margins may not have as much influence."

20110811 1130 Global Commodities Related News.


GLOBAL MARKETS: Asia stocks down but fall limited by US futures
SINGAPORE, Aug 11 (Reuters) - Asian stocks fell 1-2 percent on Thursday as the fallout from Wall Street's 4 percent drop overnight was limited by a rise in U.S. stock futures, while gold climbed above $1,800 an ounce to a new record, reflecting fears over Europe's worsening financial crisis.
"The market is in a bit of heat-seeking missile mode looking for vulnerabilities around the world, and Europe is obviously in its sights at this point in time," said Grant Turley, senior strategist at ANZ in Sydney.

OIL: Oil falls more than $1 on bleak economic outlook
SINGAPORE, Aug 11 (Reuters) - Oil fell more than $1 in early trade on Thursday, reversing the previous session's gains, on worries that the debt crisis in Europe is spilling in to France amid a weaker economic outlook in the United States.  
A storm of market questions on the financial solidity of a major French bank and talk of an impending downgrade of France's credit rating, all denied by authorities, rattled financial markets

S&P controversy fuels demands for ratings reforms
WASHINGTON, Aug 10 (Reuters) - Concerns about S&P's downgrading of the U.S. credit rating and the resulting global stock sell-off are sparking urgent calls for investigations and reinvigorating ongoing efforts to reform the ratings agencies, which have been under fire since the Enron scandal of 2001.
Representative Maxine Waters, a California Democrat, on Wednesday called for the House Financial Services Committee to hold a hearing on the implications of the S&P downgrade.

Oil falls more than $1 on bleak economic outlook
SINGAPORE, Aug 11 (Reuters) - Oil fell more than $1 in early trade on Thursday, reversing the previous session's gains, on worries that the debt crisis in Europe is spilling in to France amid a weaker economic outlook in the United States.  
Brent crude  fell as low as $105.00 a barrel and traded $1.24 lower at $105.44 by 0023 GMT. U.S. light crude  slumped as low as $81.14 and traded down $1.25 a barrel at $81.64.

US crude and products post surprise draw on week-EIA
NEW YORK, Aug 10 (Reuters) - U.S. crude and oil products stocks posted surprise drawdowns last week as crude imports fell slightly and refinery utilization increased, U.S. Energy Information Administration data showed on Wednesday.
Crude stocks fell 5.23 million barrels to 349.75 million barrels in the week to Aug. 5. Analysts polled by Reuters had projected a 1.5 million barrel build on average.

New Russia oil export duty expected Oct 1 -source
MOSCOW, Aug 10 (Reuters) - Russia is likely to introduce planned cuts in the oil export duty regime on Oct 1, a source close to the government body responsible for the tariff told Reuters, a move it hopes will boost investment in local fields.
The source added that the world's largest oil producer is expected to make a final decision on the details of the duty at the end of this month.

NATURAL GAS: NYMEX - Natgas ends up slightly on warm forecast, technicals
NEW YORK, Aug 10 (Reuters) - U.S. natural gas futures mostly ended slightly higher on Wednesday, underpinned by more technical buying after a three-week slide and warmer extended forecasts for the Northeast and Midwest that should stir more demand.
"I think shorts are losing interest now and getting out, looking for something else, but the market is still mostly range bound," a Houston-based trader said.

EURO COAL: Prices rise, supported by oil
LONDON, Aug 10 (Reuters) - Prompt physical coal prices rose modestly on Wednesday in light trade tracking firmer sentiment on oil.
"Things have moved up a touch today on the back of oil rebounding," a coal trader in Europe said.

COMMODITIES: Gold passes $1,800 on France jitters, oil up too
NEW YORK, Aug 10 (Reuters) - Safe-haven buying lifted gold above $1,800 per ounce for the first time and oil rebounded from six month lows on Wedesday as confidence in the U.S. and euro zone economies eroded fast, while the outlook for Chinese commodities demand brightened.
"The skies would appear to be clear for these safe havens like gold," said Andrew Wilkinson, senior market analyst at Interactive Brokers Group, Greenwich, Conn. With the debt woes spilling over into the world's biggest economics, "we don't know where this thing is going to stop anymore."

20110811 1039 Local & Global Economic Related News.

Malaysia: Production unexpectedly rose in June on manufacturing
Malaysia’s industrial production unexpectedly rose in June as manufacturers increased output, a gain that may ease as faltering growth in advanced economies hurts global demand. Production at factories, utilities and mines climbed 1% from a year earlier after declining a revised 5.6% in May. (Bloomberg)

Australia: Consumer sentiment falls
Australian consumer confidence deteriorated for a fourth straight month to the lowest level in more than 2 years. The sentiment index dropped 3.5% in August to 89.6 from a month earlier, the lowest since May 2009 and marking the longest sustained declined since early 2008. (Bloomberg)


India: Car sales fell in July from a year earlier, the first monthly decline since January 2009, after higher interest rates and production changes at Maruti Suzuki India Ltd. damped deliveries. Automakers sold 133,747 cars in the country last month, a 16% YoY drop, according to data released by the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers in New Delhi. The decline in July was the biggest since November 2008. (Source: Bloomberg)

Singapore: Cuts export growth forecast as global risks rise. Singapore cut its forecast for export growth this year as a struggling U.S. economy and Europe's debt crisis threaten overseas sales, valued at more than half of the island's gross domestic product. Non-oil domestic exports will probably rise 6% to 7% in 2011, less than a previous forecast for shipments to grow 8% to 10%, the trade promotion agency said in a statement. Gross domestic product fell an annualized 6.5% in the second quarter from the previous three months, compared with a preliminary estimate of 7.8%, the trade ministry said separately.

Philippines: Exports fell in June for a second straight month, recording the biggest drop since 2009 as sales of electronics products slumped. Shipments abroad declined 10.2% YoY to USD4.1b after falling 3.1% YoY in May, the National Statistics Office said in Manila. (Source: Bloomberg)


China: Trade surplus rise to USD31.5bn on record exports
China’s trade surplus surged to USD31.5bn, the highest level in more than 2 years, as exports rose to a record. Outbound shipments climbed 20.4% from a year earlier in July while imports also jumped 22.9%. (Bloomberg)

Europe: French credit in crosshairs as Germany enjoys lone status as haven
France’s borrowing costs are rising as Europe’s debt crisis makes investors wary of lending to any nation other than Germany. Investors currently demand about 90bps of extra yield to buy 10-year French debt rather than German bunds, even though both carry AAA grades from the major rating companies. That spread is almost triple the 2010 average of 33, and compares with 17 in the second half of the previous decade. The cost of insuring French debt rose to a record today. Credit default swaps on France trade at 163bps, double the rate to protect German securities. (Bloomberg)

France: Industrial output fell more than estimated in June on lower production of transport materials and electronic goods. Output from factories, mines and utilities decreased 1.6% MoM from May, when it rose a revised 1.9% MoM, national statistics office Insee said. (Source: Bloomberg)

Germany: Inflation accelerated in July on rising energy costs
Inflation in Germany quickened in July after energy costs increased. The inflation rate rose to 2.6% from 2.4% in June. From the previous month, prices climbed 0.5%. (Bloomberg)

UK: Headwinds intensifying as growth outlook cut
Bank of England Governor Mervyn King said headwinds buffeting the UK economy are intensifying “by the day” and officials can expand stimulus if the outlook for growth deteriorates further. While there’s “no reason” for the Monetary Policy Committee to add stimulus for now, “in the committee’s view, the weakness in underlying activity is likely to be somewhat more persistent than previously expected,” King said. (Bloomberg)

US: Mortgage applications climbed last week on refinancing
Mortgage applications in the US surged last week as a drop in borrowing costs led to the biggest gain in refinancing in more than 2 years. The Mortgage Bankers Association’s index increased 22% in the period ended 5 Aug from the prior week while its refinancing measure jumped 30%, the biggest gain since March 2009, as the purchase gauge declined 0.9%. (Bloomberg)

US: Job openings increased in June for a second month
Job openings in US increased in June for the second month, while hiring decelerated, a sign businesses lack the confidence to take on needed staff. The number of positions waiting to be filled rose by 75,000 to 3.1m as hiring fell by 78,000 to 4.1m. (Bloomberg)

US: Bernanke signals Fed dissenters won’t impede more stimulus
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke signaled he may expand record monetary stimulus over the most opposition of his tenure to revive the faltering recovery and reduce unemployment stuck around 9%. The central bank said yesterday that officials “discusses the range of policy tools” to strengthen growth and are “prepared to employ these tools as appropriate” while pledging to keep the benchmark interest rate near zero until at least mid-2013. (Bloomberg)

US stocks slump as Dow Falls to lowest level since September
US stocks tumbled, sending the Dow Jones Industrial Average to the lowest level since September, as banks slumped on concern that Europe will fail to contain its debt crisis and that the economy is faltering. All 10 groups in the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index fell at least 2%. Bank of America Corp. and Citigroup Inc. dropped more than 10%, pacing losses in financial shares, as the costs to protect the government debt of Greece, Italy, Spain and France rose. Walt Disney Co., the largest theme-park company, tumbled 9.1% on concerns that the slowing economy and consumer confidence may hurt its businesses. (Bloomberg)

U.S: Wholesale inventories rose less than forecast in June as distributors kept stockpiles in line with sales. The 0.6% MoM increase in inventories followed a revised 1.7% MoM rise in May. Sales also rose 0.6% MoM in June after dropping the previous month. (Source: Bloomberg)

20110811 1029 Malaysia Corporate Related News.

SapuraCrest, Kencana respond to merger queries
SapuraCrest Petroleum and Kencana Petroleum have responded to several queries from Bursa Malaysia regarding the proposed merger of the two companies. In its reply to the local bourse yesterday, both companies said the issue price of RM2 for each Integral Key SB (IKSB) share was determined after taking into consideration the total share consideration of approximately RM10bn (for both Kencana and SapuraCrest) and the total share capital base of approximately 5bn IKSB shares of RM1.00 each. IKSB, a special purpose vehicle of Mayban Ventures, last month offered to merge SapuraCrest and Kencana into one entity for a total consideration of RM11.85bn. (StarBiz)

AZRB reaches financial close on RM1.5bn KLORR
Ahmad Zaki Resources (AZRB) has reached financial close with Bank Pembangunan Malaysia for the RM1.5bn KL Outer Ring Road (KLORR) project, industry sources say. This could indicate that AZRB is finalizing details of the concession agreement with the government and that work on the project could commence soon. Financial close is the last hurdle before funds can be drawn down to commence work on a project. AZRB was given the letter of intent to undertake the project back in 2008, building the 40km stretch from Sg Long to University Islam Antarabangsa in Gombak, linking up with the South Klang Valley Expressway and Kuala Lumpur-Kuala Selangor Expressway. (Financial Daily) Please see accompanying report

AirAsia X picks IPO adviser
Long-haul budget carrier AirAsia X has chosen Morgan Stanley as its adviser for its proposed initial public offering (IPO) for which listing plans, targeted for next year, were underway, said AirAsia group chief executive officer Tan Sri Tony Fernandes. Khazanah expressed interest to take up a 10% stake in AirAsia X at the signing ceremony of the landmark airline deal on Tuesday which saw Malaysia Airlines (MAS) and AirAsia's major shareholders - Khazanah and Tune Air SB - swapping shares and signing a collaboration pact. (StarBiz)

L&G to develop RM1.5bn project in Sri Damansara
Bandar Sri Damansara developer Land & General (L&G) plans to step up the development of its remaining 67 acres of land in the prime township. The first of these projects would be a RM1.5bn high-rise condominium development on a 42-acre site to be launched by the end of this year, according to its managing director Low Gay Teck. Meanwhile, the remaining 25 acres left in the township would be developed into a mixed integrated commercial development. (Financial Daily)


Mah Sing: To buy potential lands yielding RM7b GDV. Mah Sing Group Bhd is targeting land acquisitions which could potentially yield RM5b to RM7b in gross development value (GDV) compared to 10 landbanking transactions in 2010 with combined GDV of approximately RM4b. (Source: The Malaysian Reserve)

Maxis: Partners Alcatel-Lucent to deploy first 100G core transmission network in Asia Pacific. Maxis Bhd, with Alcatel-Lucent as a strategic supplier, will be deploying the first 100G single carrier with optical coherent energy network solution commercially deployed in the Asia Pacific. With that, Maxis will be able to address growing bandwidth requirements and data usage driven by smartphones, tablets, modems and fiber-to-the-premises services. (Source: Bernama.com)

Aviation: Airport tax hike. Malaysian Airports Holdings Bhd (MAHB) is raising tax to cover rising operating costs and finance airport expansion. The airport operator has proposed that the tax at the country's 39 airports it manages, excluding low cost carrier terminals (LCCT), be raised by RM14 for international travelers from Sept 15. The travelers will have to pay RM65 from RM51 (RM45 for airport tax and RM6 for security charge) now. (Source: The Sun)

Plantation: Planters see minimal impact by pay rise. The cost of production (COP) and profit margins among oil palm plantation companies will be minimally affected by the Malayan Agricultural Producers Association's (MAPA) decision to increase the wages of some 157,270 general plantation workers nationwide. (Source: The Star)

Construction: RM2b cable car link. The country's first proposed mainland-to-island cable car will be built in Port Dickson as part of the RM2b PD Waterfront project. The cable car project, spanning 750m, will link the new PD Waterfront township with Pulau Arang, an uninhabited island to boost tourism. (Source: The Star)  

20110811 1020 Renewable Energy Related News.


SPAIN HYDRO, IRRIGATION RESERVES EBB BUT ABOVE AVG
MADRID, Aug 9 (Reuters) - Spain's reservoirs had less water than a week ago to generate hydro power and irrigate crops, official data showed on Tuesday, but reserves were still well above average in the major importer of gas and grain.
Hydropower reservoirs were full enough to produce 13,579 gigawatt-hours, down 326 GWh on the week , the Ministry for the Environment and Rural Affairs said.

SUNPOWER, FIRST SOLAR PLANTS WIN ENVIRONMENT DEALS
NEW YORK, Aug 9 (Reuters) - First Solar  and SunPower Corp  reached agreements with environmental groups to help protect endangered animals around two of the largest planned solar power plants in the United States, the companies said on Tuesday.
The agreements help clear the way to build First Solar's 550-megawatt Topaz solar farm and SunPower's 250-MW California Valley Solar Ranch plants in the Carrizo Plain in San Luis Obispo County.

CHINA JULY POWER OUTPUT AT 425.2 BLN KWH, UP 13.2 PCT
BEIJING, Aug 9 (Reuters) - China produced 425.2 billion kilowatt hours of electricity in July, up 13.2 percent year on year, according to figures from the National Bureau of Statistics released on Tuesday.
The monthly figure amounted to an average of 13.7 billion kWh a day, up from 13.2 billion kWh in June.
China has so far managed to avoid the crippling power shortages predicted earlier this year, with heavy rainfall cutting air conditioner use and replenishing hydropower plants.

VESTAS SAYS TO SET UP BRAZIL ASSEMBLY PLANT BY Q4
COPENHAGEN, Aug 8 (Reuters) - Danish wind turbine maker Vestas  is to establish its first assembly plant in Brazil and expects it to be operational in the fourth quarter.
"The investment is included in Vestas's CAPEX program for 2011," Vestas Wind Systems A/S said on Monday.
The assembly plant and a new service operations cluster will be situated in a new 10,000 square metre facility, including building and land, in Fortaleza, Ceara.

INT'L POWER SIGNS WIND POWER DEAL IN ONTARIO
LONDON, Aug 8 (Reuters) - International Power , 70 percent owned by French utility GDF Suez , said it has signed power purchase agreements(PPA) for two wind farms in Ontario, Canada.
IPR-GDF SUEZ North America has secured 20-year PPAs with the Ontario Power Authority for all the output from the 99 megawatt Erieau and East Lake St. Clair wind projects, the company said on Monday.

SHOWA SHELL, SAUDI ELECTRICITY START SAUDI SOLAR PLANT
KHOBAR, Saudi Arabia, Aug 8 (Reuters) - Japan's Showa Shell Sekiyu KK  and Saudi Electricity Co (SEC)  have started a 500-kilowatt (kW) solar power plant in Saudi Arabia, an executive at the Saudi state utility said on Monday.
The pilot plant, located on Farasan island, southwest Saudi Arabia, is expected to reach full capacity later this month, Amer al-Swaha, head of Independent Power Producer (IPP) projects at SEC, said.

JAPAN'S TOHOKU TO GET MORE POWER AS DEMAND NEARS CAPACITY
TOKYO, Aug 8 (Reuters) - Japan's Tohoku Electric Power Co  said on Monday it has secured an additional 300 megawatts of power supply from Tokyo Electric Power Co (Tepco)  to avoid rolling blackouts as demand threatens to rise near available supply capacity.
The company said it would receive up to 1,100 MW of power from Tepco, raising its power supply to 12,760 MW. In late morning, demand rose as high as 12,230 MW as temperatures rose.

BLACKSTONE TO INVEST $3.5 BLN IN GERMAN WIND FARMS
FRANKFURT, Aug 5 (Reuters) - U.S. private equity group Blackstone  said it would invest 2.5 billion euros ($3.5 billion) in two offshore wind farms in German waters, boosting the emerging industry in the North Sea.
"This is a long-term commitment for us," Sean Klimczak, Blackstone's managing director, told journalists in Berlin on Friday.

FIRMS PLAN SCOTTISH OFFSHORE WIND DEMONSTRATION SITE
LONDON, Aug 5 (Reuters) - Swedish utility Vattenfall, French energy services firm Technip  and a Scottish renewable energy group said they had applied to build a wind turbine demonstration plant of up to 100 megawatts (MW) off the coast of Aberdeen.
The wind farm will host up to 11 offshore wind turbines, which the three parties expect will contain more than one model to showcase new turbine types in realistic conditions.

JAPAN'S TOHOKU LOST 1,000 MW HYDRO POWER DUE TO RAIN
TOKYO, Aug 5 (Reuters) - Tohoku Electric Power Co  said its 29 hydro power plants had been halted since late July when heavy rain in the Fukushima and Niigata prefectures of northern Japan damaged them, cutting its generation capacity by 1,000 megawatts from the pre-rain levels on July 27.
It is  unclear when the plants will be fixed and restart, a company spokesman said on Friday.
But the northern utility has not and does not immediately plan to add extra fossil fuel generation to make up the loss as the neighboring utility, Tokyo Electric Power Co , is supplying surplus power.,

GERMAN UTILITIES LAUNCH OFFSHORE WIND SERVICE BASE
FRANKFURT, Aug 5 (Reuters) - German utilities E.ON  and RWE  said on Friday they will launch an offshore wind service base on the islands of Helgoland with a third partner, WindMW, boosting the emerging sector off the North Sea coast.
The Berlin government plans to have 10,000 megawatts (MW) of offshore wind power capacity installed by 2020 among wide-reaching plans to replace closed nuclear facilities with green energy.

KANSAI ELECTRIC CURBS WIND FARM OVER NOISE CONCERNS
TOKYO, Aug 5 (Reuters) - A utility in western Japan said on Friday it will limit planned operations at its first wind farm to take account of residents' concerns about noise, highlighting a snag in the nation's efforts to encourage renewable energy.
Kansai Electric Power Co  said it would cut the capacity of the wind farm on Awaji Island, about 70 km (40 miles) west of Osaka, to 14 megawatts using seven turbines, and limit nighttime operations to four of the turbines.

CHINA EYES 26 GW NEW ON-GRID WIND POWER BY END 2012 - PAPER
BEIJING, Aug 5 (Reuters) - The Chinese government will approve 26 gigawatts (GW) of grid-connected wind power generating capacity in its first centralised industry development plan, the China Securities Journal reported on Friday.
For wind power projects not included in the plan, access to grid networks and power price subsidies from a renewable power fund would not be considered, the report said, citing an unnamed source.

BLACKSTONE TO INVEST BLNS IN GERMAN WIND FARM - FT
LONDON, Aug 5 (Reuters) - Blackstone  is set to announce its largest renewable energy deal with the investment of a combined 2.5 billion euro ($3.5 billion) into the construction of Germany's biggest ever offshore wind farm, the Financial Times said on Friday.
The newspaper said the U.S. private equity firm group will announce on Friday that it has secured financing for an 80-turbine wind farm in the North Sea, which it plans to complete constructing by 2013.

FIRST SOLAR PROFIT FALLS, CUTS 2011 FORECAST
NEW YORK/LOS ANGELES, Aug 4 (Reuters) - First Solar Inc  posted lower-than-expected quarterly profit and cut its 2011 forecast as slack demand in Europe hit prices for its thin-film panels.
Global solar module demand has suffered this year as declines in subsidies in key European markets hurt sales, even as First Solar and rivals such as Suntech Power Holdings Co Ltd  and Trina Solar Ltd  expand production.

SEMPRA TO EXPAND COPPER MOUNTAIN SOLAR PLANT
NEW YORK, Aug 4 (Reuters) - Sempra Energy  said on Thursday that it plans to expand its Copper Mountain Solar power plant, the largest in the United States, and would sell the electricity to Pacific Gas and Electric Co .
The plant, in Boulder City, Nevada, will add another 150 megawatts in photovoltaic solar capacity and will be built by First Solar .
Sempra and First Solar built the first Copper Mountain project, which was completed last year and has a capacity of 48 MW. The companies previously built a 10 MW plant in Boulder City that went into operation in 2008.

VESTAS GETS 47 MW WIND TURBINES ORDER FROM INDIA
COPENHAGEN, Aug 4 (Reuters) - Danish wind turbine maker Vestas  has won an order from the fiercely competitive Indian market for turbines with total capacity of 47 megawatts (MW), the company said on Thursday.
The order from Indian generator maker Powerica Ltd is for 26 of Vestas' V100-1.8 MW turbines for the Vandiya Power Wind Farm project in the state of Gujarat, Vestas Wind Systems A/S said in a statement.

ENEL GREEN POWER ADDS 16 MW WIND CAPACITY IN SPAIN
MILAN, Aug 4 (Reuters) -  Italy's biggest renewable energy company, Enel Green Power (EGP)  has started up a new 16 megawatt wind farm in Spain as it expands in the Spanish renewable energy market, EGP said on Thursday.
Capacity at EGP , controlled by Italy's biggest utility Enel , is keenly watched by investors. It has driven a 35 percent jump in EGP's core earnings in the first half of 2011.

BRIGHTSOURCE TO OFFER SOLAR-PLANT ENERGY STORAGE
LOS ANGELES, Aug 3 (Reuters) - BrightSource Energy Inc on Tuesday said it was now able to store the energy its solar thermal power plants produce, allowing them to function during after the sun sets.
The company, which filed with U.S. securities regulators for an initial public offering earlier this year, said it is combining its power tower solar thermal technology with molten salt storage.

20110811 1019 Biofuels Related News.


DATAGRO MAKES DEEPEST CUT TO BRAZIL SUGARCANE CROP
SAO PAULO, Aug 9 (Reuters) - Analysts Datagro made the deepest cuts yet to its estimate of the sugarcane crop in top grower Brazil, warning on Tuesday the outlook could worsen even further after a recent frost.
A series of downgrades to what was once expected to be a record crop helped propel global sugar prices back near their record highs last month. Datagro's estimate is the most pessimistic yet -- and the most recent, suggesting conditions may have deteriorated. Prices spiked earlier in the day.

FRENCH DUCK FAT PUTS GOURMET SPIN ON BIODIESEL
PARIS, Aug 5 (Reuters Life!) - Duck fat has a rich history in French cuisine as the key ingredient in savoury cassoulets and confits, but now industrious farmers are turning the grease into biodiesel and biogas.
A farm cooperative based in St. Aquilin, a rural village in the southwestern region of the Dordogne, is powering a tractor and two other vehicles with biodiesel made from duck fat and hopes to convince others to do the same.

US ETHANOL OUTPUT HIGHER THIRD WEEK IN A ROW
KANSAS CITY, Mo., Aug 3 (Reuters) - U.S. ethanol production rose for a third straight week as profit margins remained attractive despite narrowing.
The Energy Information Administration said on Wednesday that U.S. ethanol production totaled 878,000 barrels per day (bpd) for the week ended July 29, up 4,000 bpd over the previous week.

20110811 1018 Global Market Related News.


Asian Stocks Drop Amid Europe Crisis, Stronger Yen (Source: Bloomberg)
Asian stocks fell, driving a regional index lower for the seventh time in eight days as concern Europe will fail to contain its debt crisis pulled down bank shares, while the yen trading near a record high against the dollar soured the earnings outlook for exporters. Canon Inc. (7751), the world’s biggest camera maker by market capitalization, dropped 2 percent in Tokyo. Toyota Motor Corp. (7203), the largest global carmaker by market value, declined 1.6 percent. Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc. (8306), Japan’s biggest lender by market value, fell 1.7 percent. BHP Billiton Ltd. (BHP), the world’s biggest mining company, slid 2.5 percent as metal prices slumped in New York and London.
The MSCI Asia Pacific Index dropped 1.3 percent to 121.19 as of 9:26 a.m. in Tokyo today, as the cost of protecting the government debt of Greece, Italy, Spain and France rose. About six times as many stocks declined as advanced on the gauge, which last week entered a so-called correction after falling more than 10 percent from its May peak.

Central Bankers Race to Protect Growth in 72 Hours of Decisions (Source: Bloomberg)
Central bankers are racing to shield their economies from fiscal tightening and lopsided currency swings that threaten a new global recession. In the 72 hours after a Group of Seven conference call on Aug. 7, the Federal Reserve pledged to keep interest rates near zero through at least mid-2013, the European Central Bank intervened in bond markets and the Bank of England indicated it’s ready to add more stimulus if needed. Japan signaled renewed concern about the yen and Switzerland yesterday stepped up its fight to curb an “overvalued” franc. “Central bankers have so far been the tower of strength,” said Stefan Schneider, chief international economist at Deutsche Bank AG in Frankfurt. “Lawmakers have done everything to destroy belief in their ability to solve the problems they’re facing.”

GLOBAL MARKETS-World stocks claw back ground on Fed rates pledge
LONDON, Aug 10 (Reuters) - World shares clawed back more ground on Wednesday as investors rattled by a run of heavy losses took comfort from the Federal Reserve's pledge to keep interest rates near zero for two more years.
"Low interest rates support equity markets, but it is just a relief rally. There are too many uncertainties out there,"

Shares rebound after Fed pledge to keep rates low
LONDON, Aug 10 (Reuters) - World shares bounced back strongly from recent losses on Wednesday as investors took comfort from the Federal Reserve's pledge to keep interest rates near zero for two more years.  "Selling by short-term investors seems to have run its   course," said Kenichi Hirano, a strategist at Tachibana Securities in Japan.  Goldman Sachs said a third round of asset-buying quantitative easing from the Federal Reserve was likely following Tuesday's statement.

Emerging-Market Stocks Rise Most in Four Weeks on Fed Pledge, Oil Price (Source: Bloomberg)
Emerging markets stocks rose for the first day in seven after the U.S. Federal Reserve pledged to keep interest rates at a record low for at least two more years. The MSCI Emerging Markets Index rose 1.3 percent to 980.74 at 4:30 p.m. in New York, the biggest gain in four weeks, after earlier rising as much as 2.8 percent. Brazil’s Bovespa Index gained for a second day as oil companies followed crude higher. Chile’s Ipsa gauge climbed 2.5 percent. China’s Shanghai Composite Index climbed 0.9 percent while Taiwan’s Taiex Index jumped 3.3 percent and Indonesia’s Jakarta Composite Index advanced 3.4 percent. The Federal Reserve pledged in a statement yesterday to keep interest rates at a record low at least through mid-2013 to revive a recovery that’s “considerably slower” than anticipated, adding that policy makers are prepared to use additional tools “as appropriate.”

U.S. Wholesale Inventories Climbed in June at Slowest Pace in Seven Months (Source: Bloomberg)
Inventories at U.S. wholesalers climbed in June at the slowest pace in seven months as distributors kept stockpiles in line with sales. The 0.6 percent increase in inventories followed a revised 1.7 percent rise in May, Commerce Department figures showed today in Washington. Economists projected a 1 percent gain, according to the median forecast in a Bloomberg News survey. Sales also rose 0.6 percent in June after dropping the previous month. Wholesalers may be trying to limit the amount of unsold merchandise on hand after the U.S. economic expansion slowed in the first half of this year. To help bolster the economy, Federal Reserve policy makers yesterday pledged to keep their benchmark interest rate at a record low at least through mid- 2013.

Downgrade Doesn’t Matter as Bond Investors Show Faith in Fed After S&P Cut (Source: Bloomberg)
The $9.4 trillion U.S. government bond market is proving Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke matters more than Standard & Poor’s. Even though the U.S. is poised to run a budget deficit of $1.6 trillion and S&P removed the nation’s AAA rating, investors are lending the government money at record low rates. Five days after the first downgrade to AA+, the Treasury sold $24 billion of 10-year notes to yield 2.14 percent. When the U.S. was running budget surpluses from 1998 through 2001, Treasuries of similar maturity yielded an average of 5.48 percent. For all the conflict between Congress and President Barack Obama’s administration over the debt ceiling and deficits, bond investors say they are more influenced by interest rates, the economy and inflation. Because of the dollar’s preeminent place as the world’s reserve currency, the U.S. enjoys a “funding advantage,” S&P said in its Aug. 5 report.

Bernanke Indicates Fed Dissenters Won’t Impede Additional Asset Purchases (Source: Bloomberg)
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke signaled he may expand record monetary stimulus over the most opposition of his tenure to revive the faltering recovery and reduce unemployment stuck around 9 percent. The central bank said yesterday that officials “discussed the range of policy tools” to strengthen growth and are “prepared to employ these tools as appropriate” while pledging to keep the benchmark interest rate near zero until at least mid-2013. Three policy makers dissented from the decision for the first time since Bernanke, 57, became chairman in 2006. “Bernanke will push through QE3 if the economic conditions warrant it,” said Steve Lear, who helps manage $150 billion at J.P. Morgan Asset Management. The first two rounds of so-called quantitative easing totaled $2.3 trillion yet have left the Fed with a recovery that officials yesterday judged to be “considerably slower” than anticipated.

Bernanke Borrows From Carney’s Stimulus Playbook With Interest-Rate Pledge (Source: Bloomberg)
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke has taken a page from Bank of Canada Governor Mark Carney’s stimulus playbook by choosing to specify a date for his pledge to keep borrowing costs low. The Fed yesterday said it would hold its benchmark interest rate near zero for at least through mid 2013, replacing an earlier promise to keep it there for “an extended period.” Two years ago, Carney made a similar promise to keep rates low for 15 months, conditional on the inflation outlook. Carney’s commitment was aimed at adding stimulus to the economy at a time when short-term interest rates were already close to zero, the Bank of Canada said. The pledge influences longer-term borrowing costs because investors know that policy rates won’t rise during the time frame specified by the central bank.

Bernanke’s Interest-Rate Timeframe Draws Most Negative Votes in 18 Years (Source: Bloomberg)
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke’s plan to hold interest rates near zero through at least mid-2013 provoked the most opposition among voting policy makers in 18 years as central bank consensus frayed. The Fed chief achieved unanimous support on the Federal Open Market Committee in 2008 when he lowered interest rates to near zero, and in 2009 when he launched $1.73 trillion in bond purchases. Last year, his plan to buy another $600 billion in assets drew one dissent. Yesterday, three policy makers dissented from the decision to apply a specific date to the Fed’s low rate pledge for the first time. Bernanke’s move shows that a Fed chairman can govern with more than two opposing votes, opening the door to bolder action if necessary, said Roberto Perli, a former economist in the Fed’s Division of Monetary Affairs, which helps craft the language of the FOMC statements.

U.S. Stocks Slump as Dow Falls to Lowest Level Since September on Europe (Source: Bloomberg)
U.S. stocks tumbled, sending the Dow Jones Industrial Average to the lowest level since September, as banks slumped on concern that Europe will fail to contain its debt crisis and that the economy is faltering. All 10 groups in the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index fell at least 2 percent. Bank of America Corp. and Citigroup Inc. dropped more than 10 percent, pacing losses in financial shares, as the costs to protect the government debt of Greece, Italy, Spain and France rose. Walt Disney Co. (DIS), the largest theme-park company, tumbled 9.1 percent on concerns that the slowing economy and consumer confidence may hurt its businesses. The S&P 500 fell 4.4 percent to 1,120.76 at 4 p.m. in New York. The benchmark gauge jumped 4.7 percent yesterday as the Federal Reserve said it would keep borrowing costs at an all- time low and was prepared to use a range of tools to bolster the economy. The Dow declined 519.83 points, or 4.6 percent, to 10,719.94.
About 15 billion shares changed hands at 4:15 p.m., almost twice the three-month average, Bloomberg data show.

U.S. productivity falls in Q2, wage growth slows
WASHINGTON, Aug 9 (Reuters) - U.S. non-farm productivity fell in the second quarter as economic activity slackened, while a moderation in the pace of wage growth suggested inflation pressures will remain contained.
Productivity slipped at a 0.3 percent annual rate, the Labor Department said on Tuesday, after falling at a 0.6 percent pace in the first quarter. Unit labor costs grew at a 2.2 percent rate, which was slower than the 4.8 percent pace in the January-March period.

US STOCKS-Futures dip after snap-back rally
NEW YORK, Aug 10 (Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures fell on Wednesday after a sharp snap-back rally in the last session as investor fears about the economy and high levels of public debt looked set to generate more volatile trading.
Stocks zigzagged on Tuesday after the U.S. Federal Reserve promised to hold interest rates low for at least two years before the S&P 500 index rallied 5 percent into the close. But the Fed's statement also underlined the struggling economy and was a reminder that markets would likely remain choppy.

China’s Trade Surplus Surges to $31.5 Billion as Exports Exceed Estimates (Source: Bloomberg)
China’s trade surplus surged to $31.5 billion, the highest level in more than two years, as exports rose to a record. Outbound shipments climbed 20.4 percent from a year earlier in July, compared with the 17 percent median forecast in a Bloomberg News survey of 25 economists. Imports jumped 22.9 percent, the customs bureau said on its website today. The surplus exceeded a median forecast of $27.4 billion. The world’s biggest exporting nation faces the threat of weakening demand as developed nations from Europe to the U.S. and Japan struggle to rein in their debt burdens. The U.S. Federal Reserve countered a global rout in stocks by pledging yesterday to keep interest rates at a record low through mid- 2013 and to use additional measures “as appropriate.”

Japanese Machinery Orders Rise for a Second Month on Rebuilding Demand (Source: Bloomberg)
Japan’s machinery orders rose for a second month in June as companies increased spending to restore businesses and production disrupted by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami. Factory orders, an indicator of capital spending in three to six months, rose 7.7 percent in June from May, the Cabinet Office said today in Tokyo. The median forecast of 27 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News was for a 1.7 percent increase. The report follows production and export data suggesting that the corporate sector has been recovering faster than expected from the March disaster. Now, the nation's recovery is at risk as stocks plunge and a yen near a postwar high threatens exporters' profits.

Japan’s Finance Chief Signals Concern About a Yen Near Intervention Level (Source: Bloomberg)
Japan’s Finance Minister Yoshihiko Noda said that one-sided moves in the yen can hurt growth as the currency strengthened against the dollar to close to the level where authorities intervened last week. “Recent one-sided movements in the currency market risk hurting the economy’s recovery from the earthquake,” Noda said in parliament in Tokyo today, reiterating remarks made on Aug. 4 when authorities sold the yen. The government may include measures to help companies combat the strong yen in its next reconstruction package, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano said. A global stock rout that has erased more than $6 trillion off equities in the past two weeks has bolstered the yen’s appeal as a safe haven, undoing intervention that helped the currency weaken past 80 last week. Policy makers may struggle to reverse the trend with more unilateral yen sales after last week’s action prompted criticism from the European Central Bank, according to economist Naoki Iizuka.

Nikkei 225 Falls to Five-Month Low Amid Concern Europe Crisis Is Spreading (Source: Bloomberg)
Japanese stocks declined, with the benchmark Nikkei 225 (NKY) Stock Average headed for its lowest close in almost five months, as concern Europe will fail to contain its debt crisis damped the outlook for exporters’ earnings. Mazda Motor Corp. (7261), the car maker most dependent on Europe, slumped 3.8 percent. Toyota Motor Corp., the largest global carmaker by market value, declined 1.8 percent. Canon Inc., the world’s biggest camera maker by market capitalization, dropped 1.9 percent. Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc. fell 1.9 percent on speculation rising bond yields will raise the borrowing cost for lenders. The Nikkei 225 fell 1.8 percent to 8,875.24 as of 10:10 a.m. in Tokyo, poised for its lowest close since March 15. The Topix slid 1.6 percent to 764.41, with more than three stocks falling for each that rose.

Yen Strengthens on Concern Over Europe Debt Crisis, Slowing Global Growth (Source: Bloomberg)
The yen rose to its highest level in five months against the euro as concern Europe’s debt crisis is spreading boosted demand for the safest assets. The euro fell against 12 of its 16 major counterparts as relative borrowing costs climbed for France, Europe’s second- biggest economy, signaling investors are wary of lending to any nation other than Germany. Australia’s dollar slid against the greenback and yen as Asian stocks slumped and before a report forecast to show the country’s jobs growth slowed. “Investors are hesitant to take any risk because of the shock from the European sovereign crisis and concern over a slowdown in global growth,” said Junichi Ishikawa, a Tokyo- based market analyst at IG Markets Securities Ltd. “Money is flowing into safer assets like gold, bonds and the yen.”

North, South Korea Trade Artillery Salvos (Source: Bloomberg)
South Korea said North Korea fired artillery salvos near a disputed sea border that was the scene of a deadly shelling in November, a charge North Korea denied. South Korea returned fire after North Korea lobbed three shells into the waters near Yeonpyeong Island about 1 p.m. yesterday and shot back again around 7:46 p.m. when two more shells landed in the ocean, said an official from the defense ministry in Seoul who declined to be identified, citing military policy. North Korea denied firing any artillery and accused its neighbor of using construction blasting in nearby Hwanghaenam Province as a pretext for confrontation, according to a report from the state-run Korean Central News Agency.
The incident came a month after both nations said they would try to revive multilateral talks on North Korea’s nuclear- weapons program, signaling an easing of tension between the two rivals that has been an irritant to U.S.-China ties over the past year. The so-called Northern Limit Line dividing their western border in the Yellow Sea has been a source of repeated conflict since the 1950-1953 civil war ended in a cease-fire.

European Stocks Tumble to Two-Year Low as SocGen, BNP Lead Rout in Banks (Source: Bloomberg)
European stocks fell to a two-year low amid speculation the region’s debt crisis is spreading and as the Federal Reserve’s plan to hold interest rates failed to ease concern that the economic recovery is stalling. Societe Generale (GLE) SA, France’s second-biggest lender, plunged 15 percent as a measure of banks tumbled the most in two years. Kloeckner & Co. SE sank 26 percent as earnings trailed projections. EON AG plummeted the most on record, dragging Germany’s DAX Index down the most since 2008, as the nation’s largest utility said it will eliminate more than 10 percent of its workforce and cut dividends. The benchmark Stoxx Europe 600 Index slid 3.8 percent to 223.5 at the 4:30 p.m. close in London, erasing an earlier advance of 2.2 percent. The measure entered a bear market on Aug. 8 and has declined 23 percent from this year’s high on Feb. 17 on concern that Europe will fail to contain its sovereign- debt crisis and that the U.S. economic recovery is faltering.

France’s AAA Credit Affirmed by S&P, Moody’s (Source: Bloomberg)
France’s top credit grade was affirmed by Standard & Poor’s, Moody’s Investors Service and Fitch Ratings as relative yields on the nation’s debt climb on concern that Europe’s sovereign debt crisis is intensifying. The outlook on France is stable and its AAA ranking is “warranted,” Moritz Kraemer, S&P’s managing director of European sovereign ratings, said today in a Bloomberg television interview. Francesco Meucci, a spokesman for Moody’s, said in a telephone interview the country’s Aaa grade is “stable.” Fitch spokesman Brian Bertsch said France is rated AAA with a stable outlook as per its May 31 statement. The extra yield investors demand to buy 10-year French debt rather than German bunds, has jumped to 87 basis points, even though both carry AAA grades from the major rating companies. That spread is almost triple the 2010 average of 33, and compares with 17 in the second half of the previous decade. The cost of insuring French debt rose to a record today.

France in Crosshairs as Germany Enjoys Lone Status as Haven: Euro Credit (Source: Bloomberg)
France’s borrowing costs are rising as Europe’s debt crisis makes investors wary of lending to any nation other than Germany. “There is only one sovereign in Europe, and that is Germany,” said Stuart Thomson, who helps oversee about $120 billion as a portfolio manager at Ignis Asset Management in Glasgow. “Everything else is a credit and trades like a credit, even France.” Investors currently demand about 90 basis points of extra yield to buy 10-year French debt rather than German bunds, even though both carry AAA grades from the major rating companies. That spread is almost triple the 2010 average of 33, and compares with 17 in the second half of the previous decade. The cost of insuring French debt rose to a record today.

Greek Lessons for Italy and Spain: Papaioannou and Vayanos (Source: Bloomberg)
The crisis in the euro region is spreading to Italy and Spain, triggering emergency purchases of those countries’ bonds by the European Central Bank. Further ECB support is likely to be conditional on progress by those nations in fulfilling pledges to accelerate fiscal consolidation and carry out structural reforms. But can Italy and Spain succeed in overhauling their economies, and how should institutions such as the ECB and the European Union help catalyze change? Some answers can be found by examining the pitfalls exposed by the rescue of Greece, where the problems are the most acute.

King Says BOE Can Expand Stimulus If Needed as Economic Weakness Persists (Source: Bloomberg)
Bank of England Governor Mervyn King said headwinds buffeting the U.K. economy are intensifying “by the day” and officials can expand stimulus if the outlook for growth deteriorates further. While there’s “no reason” for the Monetary Policy Committee to add stimulus for now, “in the committee’s view, the weakness in underlying activity is likely to be somewhat more persistent than previously expected,” King told reporters in London today as the bank released its quarterly inflation report. King said inflation may undershoot the bank’s 2 percent target and the U.K. has “flexibility” to adjust policies if growth is weaker than expected. His assessment follows moves by other central banks to bolster economies. The Federal Reserve plans to keep its key rate at a record low at least through mid-2013, the European Central Bank has resumed bond purchases and the Swiss central bank wants to weaken the franc.

Italian Yields Fall at $9.4 Billion T-Bill Sale After ECB Purchases Bonds (Source: Bloomberg)
Italy sold 6.5 billion of bills ($9.3 billion) today and borrowing costs fell from the previous sale after the European Central Bank began buying the country’s bonds, leading to a plunge in yields this week. Italy sold its one-year bills to yield 2.959 percent, down from 3.67 percent at last auction on July 12. Demand was 1.94 times the amount on offer, compared with 1.55 times last month. The yield on the country’s benchmark 10-year bond has dropped 100 basis points this week as the ECB began purchasing Italian and Spanish bonds. Prior to the ECB action, the countries’ yields had surged to euro-era records on concern the countries would become the next victims of the region’s debt crisis. Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi agreed to speed up austerity and balance the country’s budget in 2013, a year earlier than planned, to secure the ECB’s support.

New Zealand Dollar Extends Gain Against U.S. Currency, Erases Earlier Loss (Source: Bloomberg)
The New Zealand dollar extended gains against the U.S. currency. The so-called kiwi traded at 81.65 U.S. cents as of 10:47 a.m. in Sydney from 81.12 yesterday in New York.

FOREX-Dollar down after Fed, Swiss franc dented by SNB
LONDON, Aug 10 (Reuters) - The dollar fell on Wednesday after the U.S. Federal Reserve's pledge to keep rates near zero for two years, while the Swiss franc staged only a limited fall after more official steps to try to stem its rapid ascent to record highs.
Traders said the Swiss National Bank's measures to boost Swiss franc supply would do little to halt exceptionally strong demand for the safe-haven currency, while confirmation of a long period of low rates would keep the dollar weak.

FOREX-Dollar weak after Fed; Swiss franc dips on SNB
LONDON, Aug 10 (Reuters) - The dollar stayed weak on Wednesday after the U.S. Federal Reserve said it would keep rates near zero for two years, while the Swiss franc inched down on the back of further official steps to try and turn back its rise.
"The market initially thought they had intervened (in spot), but they haven't," said Peter Kinsella, currency strategist at Commerzbank.

20110811 1016 Global Commodities Related News.


Corn (Source: CME)
US corn futures end unchanged due to uncertainty about how much USDA will reduce its crop estimate in a monthly report Thursday. Many traders expect a cut of at least two bushels an acre from the government's July yield forecast of 158.7 bushels an acre due to a damaging heat wave last month. "People are just kind of being a little careful" putting on new positions in the market ahead of the report, says Alan Brugler of Brugler Marketing & Management. CBOT December corn ends flat at $6.88 1/2 a bushel.

Wheat (Source: CME)
US wheat futures finish stronger on expectations the government will cut its output estimate in the monthly crop report Thursday. Analysts, on average, predict the USDA will peg the spring wheat harvest at 550M bushels, down 0.2% from its July estimate and 11% below last year, according to a Dow Jones survey. Traders were buying back previously sold positions in front of the report. CBOT September wheat rose 13 1/4c to $6.85/bushel, KCBT September gained 22c to $7.85 and MGE September climbed 20 1/2c to $8.37 1/4.

Rice (Source: CME)
US rice futures finish higher on worries the USDA will tighten its outlook for domestic supplies in Thursday's highly anticipated crop report. Rice has come under stress in some areas from hot weather this summer and excessive rains in the spring. The risk for inventories to tighten looks high as the USDA has signaled problems by reducing its acreage-and-supply estimates in previous reports. Global supplies could tighten as well, with an Indian court delaying 1M tons of exports until next month. CBOT September rice rises 17 1/2c to $16.94 1/2 per hundredweight.

U.S. wheat rises for 2nd day, soy rebounds on Fed move
SINGAPORE, Aug 10 (Reuters) - Chicago wheat gained more ground on Wednesday, rising 1.7 percent, while soybeans bounced back and corn rose more than 1 percent, lifted by the U.S. Federal Reserve's promise to keep interest rates low for at least two years.
"I think the Fed statement will give a boost to overall commodity markets as it is more like injecting confidence into the markets," said Ker Chung Yang, analyst at Phillip Futures in Singapore.

Rice from town near Tokyo is radiation-free, tests show
TOKYO, Aug 10 (Reuters) - Samples of rice grown in a town near Tokyo showed no radioactive materials when tested, officials said on Wednesday, a relief for farmers preparing to ship Japan's traditional food staple.
Concerns over food safety have grown after radiation from the smashed Fukushima Daiichi power plant has leaked across northern and eastern Japan since March, the world's worst nuclear crisis in 25 years.

Philippines sees H1 farm output up; rice up 14 pct
MANILA, Aug 10 (Reuters) - The Philippines' rice and corn production rose to record volumes in the first half on favourable weather, boosting overall farm output with annual growth likely at more than 4 percent in the period, agriculture officials said on Wednesday.
Unmilled rice output in January to June rose 14.4 percent from a year earlier to a record 7.58 million tonnes, slightly below an earlier forecast of 7.6 million tonnes for the period.

Vietnam aims to halve rice losses after harvest
HANOI, Aug 10 (Reuters) - Vietnam, the world's second-biggest rice exporter, has introduced new requirements for grain processing and storage to help halve the post-harvest loss rate to 5-6 percent of output, the official Vietnam News Agency reported on Wednesday.
The trade ministry has been re-licensing rice exporters to meet the Oct. 1 deadline and has so far granted the permit to 44 firms, and five more would be licensed soon, Deputy Trade Minister Nguyen Thanh Bien was quoted by the agency as saying.

Japan rice worries a blow to collective psyche
TOKYO, Aug 10(Reuters Life!) - News that local governments around Japan will test rice for radioactive caesium came as a blow that rocked the nation's collective psyche, threatening to make its beloved traditional staple the latest in a long list of forbidden foods.
Announcement of the testing last week came amid public fears over radiation in food in the wake of the world's worst nuclear crisis in 25 years at the Fukushima plant in northeastern Japan, with excessive levels of radiation found in beef, vegetables, tea, milk, seafood and water.

Monsanto plans farm trials for drought-tolerant corn
ST. LOUIS, Mo., Aug 9 (Reuters) - Monsanto Co.  will begin farm trials of its drought-tolerant corn seed next spring, marking the global seed giant's first roll-out of seeds genetically engineered for harsh environmental conditions.
The introduction comes as drought and searing heat this summer have withered crops across the U.S. South.

Rains pose threat to wheat quality in west Europe
LONDON, Aug 9 (Reuters) - Persistent rains are beginning to raise serious concerns about the quality of wheat crops in Germany and to a lesser extent in Britain, while results in top EU producer France have been variable but generally satisfactory, analysts said on Tuesday.
"We still do not have an accurate view of the crop scene, but there is growing belief that a larger proportion than expected of this year's German harvest will be feed wheat, and damage is expected," one German analyst said.
 
Iraq sees drought affecting wheat crop for 3 years
BAGHDAD, Aug 9 (Reuters) - Global warming could mean Iraq faces another three years of drought and rising heat that threatens to keep production of its strategic wheat crop at below previous level of 2 million tonnes, government officials said.
Agriculture ministry officials and Iraq's grain board had said they expect the country's wheat crop for 2010/11 to be around 2 million tonnes, but a delay in rainfall kept average production this year at 1.73 million tonnes.
 
Milder weather to bolster U.S. Midwest crops
CHICAGO, Aug 9 (Reuters) - Benign weather in the U.S. Midwest this week of moderate temperatures and periodic rains should boost the region's soy crop which has begun its pod-setting phase, a meteorologist said Tuesday.
Corn, as it begins filling kernels, should likewise get a helping hand from Mother Nature, though damage done to the crop by a sizzling hot July could be irreversible.

Nestle First-Half Sales Hit By Soaring Swiss Franc (Source: CME)
Food giant Nestle SA fell victim to the soaring Swiss franc, which pushed first-half sales down by 12.9%. However, when adjusted for the currency impact, the company posted 7.5% growth in sales, powered by new products and strong emerging markets. Despite fears of an economic slowdown, Nestle, the world's largest food manufacturer by sales, also gave a relatively bullish forecast for the full year. And it suggested it is on the hunt for acquisitions, even after spending 4.5 billion francs in the first half alone, including two large purchases in China. Nestle, which makes KitKat, Purina and Haagen-Dazs, said sales in the first half of the year were CHF41.0 billion, down from CHF47.1 billion for the same period last year, in large part due to the Swiss franc. [Nestle restated last year's first-half figures to reflect the sale of eye-care provider Alcon.] Profit was CHF4.7 billion, down from CHF5.45 billion for 2010's first half.
However, when the impact of currency as well as acquisitions and divestitures are stripped out, Nestle's sales grew by 7.5%, above its long-term target of 5% to 6%. Despite economic uncertainty, Nestle expects full year growth to be close to 6% this year. The Swiss franc, which has gained 24% against the euro and 32% against the dollar in the last year, has been an enormous drag on Swiss exporters. However, in the case of Nestle, the impact is largely a translation effect. While it reports financial results in Swiss francs, Nestle's sales in Switzerland amount to just 2% of its overall sales. Instead, it mostly buys raw materials and produces its products in the currencies in which it operates. "Forex has a big impact on translation, but it has only a small impact on our operations," said Finance Director James Singh. "We are a conglomeration of local currency operations."
When the currency impact is stripped out, Nestle showed a strong performance in a half that was marked by natural disasters, political instability and continuing increases in raw material costs. It has fared well due to the strength of its emerging markets and because a stream of innovations and extra advertising allowed it to raise prices and partially offset higher prices for many of its key raw materials, including coffee and cocoa. Underlying growth in its emerging markets was 13.3%, compared to 4.4% in developed markets. Its strategy of re-packaging developed world products, such as Nescafe, into cheaper versions for low-income shoppers in the developing world helped sales growth. Such products represented 5 billion francs in sales in the half, up 13.3% over last year. Trading in North America was subdued; in particular, its U.S. bottle water brands, which include Poland Spring, continue to struggle against private label competition as well as pressure from environmental groups there.
Nestle's Japanese operations, meanwhile, have recovered fully from the earthquake there, said company executives. Singh signaled that Nestle is still on the hunt for acquisitions, after spending CHF4.5 billion already this year, although its preference is for relatively small targets. "We are looking for M&A opportunities all over the world," he said. Nestle also said that its new BabyNes machine, which it launched earlier this year in Switzerland, is going well, although it declined to say if it would roll it out elsewhere. BabyNes is similar to Nestle's Nespresso coffee machine, featuring pre-mixed capsules of baby formula that slip into a slot in the machine and spew out heated baby formula. The machine, which costs CHF249 ($335), raised objections from some activists, who feared it might dissuade mothers from breastfeeding. On BabyNes's website, Nestle clearly says the machine is only for women who choose not to nurse their babies.

Brazil's Conab Cuts Forecasts For Corn, Wheat On Bad Weather (Source: CME)
Brazilian government crop forecasting agency Conab reduced its production and export forecasts for wheat and corn, as a severe winter in southern Brazil brought frost and untimely rains. In its latest monthly report, Conab estimated Brazil's 2010-11 corn crop at 56.34 million metric tons, down from a forecast of 57.12 million tons published in July. The agency trimmed its estimate for corn exports to 7.5 million tons from 8 million tons. Conab also said it now sees Brazil's 2011-12 wheat production at 5.28 million tons, down from a previous estimate of 5.45 million tons. The forecast for wheat exports was slashed to 900,000 tons from 1.45 million tons. Bad weather was largely responsible for both revisions.
Conab's corn forecast includes the winter crop, which is still being harvested after planting was delayed earlier in the year. Excessive rainfall during tillage, plus a severe frost during late June in the southern states of Parana, Mato Grosso do Sul and Sao Paulo, have limited the winter crop's potential, Conab said. The same frost also likely hurt any wheat that was flowering and forming grains in the three states, Conab said. A crop analyst with the agency said the latest report didn't take into account subsequent bad weather, including a freeze last week caused by a cold front that lingered over southern Brazil for several days. Much of the wheat crop in the top-producing states of Parana and Rio Grande do Sul is at a development stage at which it can be harmed by low temperatures, experts say.

Regional Grain Reserves Needed To Tame Prices - IFPRI (Source: CME)
There is a strong need to create strategic regional grain reserves to keep food prices in check, the director general of the International Food Policy Research Institute, Fan Shenggen, said. Fan's comments come as global corn prices have doubled and wheat prices are up around 70% from a year ago. Regional emergency reserves should be created with contributions from large exporters, Washington-based Fan said at an international food conference here. The reserves should be located within exporting and importing countries, such as Bangladesh, and said such reserves should be managed by an institution such as the World Food Program. The Association of South East Asian Nation's plans to set up an emergency reserve for rice with South Korea, Japan and China is a step in the right direction, Fan said. He also said that subsidies on biofuels must be reduced, as they affect production of food crops and compromise food security.
During the 2000-2007 period, biofuels accounted for 30% of the increase in the weighted average grains price and in the last four years their contribution in the price rise may be even higher, he noted. He also said it is a matter of concern that, despite rapid economic growth, the current state of food security in Asia is under stress. Fan said both China and India have clocked impressive rate of economic growth but 24% and 43% of Asia's undernourished people live in these two countries respectively and the high level of poverty is persisting. He said 13 Asian countries, including India, Nepal and Bangladesh, have alarming levels of hunger among their population. There is tremendous pressure on the Chinese government to control food prices, which have increased 15%-17% compared with a year ago, contributing to a high inflation rate, he said.
Fan also pointed to the urbanization of poverty in South Asia due to migration from rural areas. He said the rural population in Asia will start to decline from 2015, and the urban population will exceed the rural population by 2028. He said around 87% of the world's 500 million small farms--with an area of less than 2.0 hectares--are in Asia. Size of these holdings are still declining. Climate change and rising sea level are also having an adverse impact on agriculture. Asia's irrigated rice output may fall by 10.47% and 30% of Vietnam's rice area will be lost by 2050 compared with the year 2000, he said.

Japan’s Rice Crop Tested for Contamination (Source: Bloomberg)
Japan’s rice harvest is a time of festivities celebrated even by the emperor as farmers reap the rewards of four months of labor in a 2,000-year-old tradition. Not this year, with radiation seeping into the soil. Farmers growing half of Japan’s rice crop are awaiting the results of tests to see if their produce has been contaminated by radiation from Tokyo Electric Power Co.’s wrecked Fukushima atomic plant. Rice, used in almost all Japanese meals and the key ingredient in sake, is being tested before the harvest starts this month. Radiation exceeding safety levels was found in produce including spinach, tea and beef. Shigehide Ohki, a 61-year-old farmer near Tokyo, this week passed the first hurdle after a preliminary round of tests showed no trace elements of radioactive cesium, the main source of concern. Losing his crop of about 80 tons of rice would “destroy” him, he said.

Sugar jumps in bounce from macro sell-off
NEW YORK/LONDON, Aug 9 (Reuters) - Sugar futures surged on Tuesday along with most of the complex in a modest rebound after the U.S downgrade.
"The markets are parabolic. People took a lot of risk and now they're just waiting. The world's (been) coming to an end the last couple days and today we get a reprieve," said Nick Gentile, head of trading for Atlantic Capital Advisors. 11:28 10Aug11 -VEGOILS-Palm oil up 1.6 pct after Fed move.

Datagro makes deepest cut to Brazil sugarcane crop
SAO PAULO, Aug 9 (Reuters) - Analysts Datagro made the deepest cuts yet to its estimate of the sugarcane crop in top grower Brazil, warning on Tuesday the outlook could worsen even further after a recent frost.
A series of downgrades to what was once expected to be a record crop helped propel global sugar prices back near their record highs last month. Datagro's estimate is the most pessimistic yet -- and the most recent, suggesting conditions may have deteriorated. Prices spiked earlier in the day.

Dull, dry weather clouds Ivorian cocoa crop prospects
ABIDJAN, Aug 9 (Reuters) - Meagre rains and overcast weather last week in Ivory Coast's cocoa growing regions were generally bad for the development of the forthcoming 2011/12 main cocoa crop, farmers said on Tuesday.
Traders are now watching the development of the next cocoa main crop after a record 2010/11 crop estimated at up to 1.6 million tonnes, not including an estimated 100,000 tonnes expected to be smuggled out through Ivory Coast's neighbours.

Russia switches to beet sugar refining
MOSCOW, Aug 9 (Reuters) - Russia is finishing its imported raw sugar refining season and is gradually switching to processing domestic sugar beets, the Russian Sugar Producers Union industry lobby said on Tuesday.
The number of refineries, which are processing beets in the south of the country rose to nine this week from seven last week, it said in a statement. Two more refineries have started stockpiling beets.

Euro Coal-Prices weaker, players stay on sidelines
LONDON, Aug 9 (Reuters) - Prompt physical coal prices fell on Tuesday in light activity as growing turmoil on financial markets took its toll and players stayed on the sidelines.    
August is the annual low point for coal trading activity, because many participants are on holiday and end-users are usually covered and do not need fresh cargoes until September or October.

James River Coal sees higher shipments in second half, shares up
Aug 9 (Reuters) - U.S. miner James River Coal Co  indicated that shipments in the second half of the year would be higher than the first half and said it expects higher activity in the domestic thermal coal market, sending its shares up 3 percent.
The company, which operates in the Central Appalachia and Midwest regions, shipped 5.3 million tons of coal in the first two quarters of fiscal 2011 and expects to ship 11.6-12.2 million tons in the year.

Asia Coal-Australia thermal coal prices steady
PERTH, Aug 9 (Reuters) - Australia's thermal coal prices remained flat around the $120 per tonne level in the week to Monday as demand in the region failed to strengthen.
Thermal coal on the globalCOAL Newcastle index, a benchmark for Asia, for the week to date was $120.18 per tonne on Monday, down from $120.50 a week earlier.    

Australia Newcastle coal exports up about 1 pct in week
PERTH, Aug 9 (Reuters) - Thermal coal shipments from Australia's Newcastle port were relatively steady, up just under one percent to 2.557 million tonnes in the week ended Aug. 8, the Newcastle Port Corporation said on its website on Tuesday.  
The vessel queue at the port dipped to five ships and the average waiting time for vessels also fell slightly to just under 9 days.

Brent over $106 on promise of low US interest rates
LONDON, Aug 10 (Reuters) - Brent crude climbed above $106 a barrel on Wednesday after the U.S. Federal Reserve's promise to extend near-zero interest rates for two more years weighed on the dollar and helped reverse a steep fall in oil.
"The impact of the Fed move will likely fade by week's end," MF Global analysts wrote in a note. "The Fed's move to keep rates depressed for so long is likely because the central bank realises that growth will be tepid for some time to come. This scenario does not bode well for commodities, especially base metals and energy."

China July oil use second-lowest this yr; may pick up
BEIJING, Aug 10 (Reuters) - China's implied oil demand picked up a marginal 0.4 percent  from June to record the second-lowest level in 2011, as refiners curbed production amid slower-than-expected summer fuel sales, but rose 7.7 percent from a year earlier.      
Fuel consumption in the world's No.2 consumer has been losing some steam since May, with growth easing off the double-digit expansion seen since last year on climbing crude costs that pinch refining margins and China's credit tightening moves.

Oil demand could plunge if slowdown hits-IEA
LONDON, Aug 10 (Reuters) - Oil demand growth would almost stall next year if the global economy were to experience another slowdown, the West's energy watchdog said on Wednesday.
The International Energy Agency, adviser to industrialised nations on energy policy, said that although it had not made big changes to its oil demand growth estimates for 2011 or 2012, its predictions were now very dependent on how the global economy performed in the months to come.

U.S. oil stocks post surprise drop, API data shows
NEW YORK, Aug 9 (Reuters) - U.S. crude and product stocks posted a surprise drop last week, as imports fell and refiners processed more oil, weekly data from oil industry group American Petroleum Institute showed on Tuesday.
Crude stocks fell by a sharp 5.2 million barrels, compared with analysts' forecast for a 1.5 million barrel build. Crude imports fell 143,000 barrels per day to 9.19 million bpd.

Libya turmoil weighs on European oil groups
VIENNA/MILAN, Aug 10 (Reuters) - The civil war in Libya shut off oil supplies to Austrian energy group OMV  and Italian refiner Saras  in the second quarter, taking a toll on profit and clouding the outlook in the region.
OMV said the unrest in Libya would continue to halt its production there for the rest of the year while Saras, which swung to a net loss, said it had reduced runs at its atmospheric distillation units due to the shortfall.

U.S., OPEC cut world oil demand growth on economy
WASHINGTON/LONDON, Aug 9 (Reuters) - Global oil demand will grow less than previously projected this year, according to forecasts on Tuesday from the U.S. and OPEC, as a worsening economic outlook will curb consumption in developed countries.
The cut by the U.S. Energy Information Administration and a more pessimistic forecast by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries were in line with reductions by other forecasters such as investment bank Barclays Capital, as slowing growth hits consumers and businesses.

Crude Oil Falls as European Debt Concerns Counter Decline in U.S. Supplies (Source: Bloomberg)
Oil declined in New York as concern that the European sovereign debt crisis is worsening countered the largest crude-stockpile drop since December in the U.S., the biggest consumer of the commodity. Futures slid as much as 2.1 percent after U.S. equities fell and costs to protect French debt reached a record. The European Central Bank bought Italian and Spanish bonds to help reduce borrowing costs, according to people familiar with the transactions. Switzerland’s central bank said it will “significantly” increase the supply of liquidity to lenders. “It’s a confidence game at the moment,” said Jonathan Barratt, a managing director of Commodity Broking Services Pty in Sydney, who kept his forecast for New York crude to average $100 a barrel this year. The Energy Department data is what “we should focus on but the market isn’t going to look at it. People are more inclined to look at what’s happening in the equity market,” he said.

Novelis sees aluminum demand, consumer growth
NEW YORK, Aug 9 (Reuters) - Aluminum products maker Novelis expects strong demand from the auto industry to offset softness in the U.S. beverage can business and a pullback by European electronics consumers, its chief executive said on Tuesday.
Phil Martens said fiscal second-quarter results could be slightly better than a year ago as the company forges ahead with plant expansions to handle expected growth in aluminum consumption.

Iron Ore-Shanghai rebar rises after Fed's pledge, iron ore weaker
SHANGHAI, Aug 10 (Reuters) - Shanghai rebar futures rose on Wednesday after the U.S. Federal Reserve pledged to keep interest rates near zero for at least two years, stemming a global equity rout, but gains were limited as investors remain wary on the long-term outlook.
The most active rebar futures for January on the Shanghai Futures Exchange  rebounded to a high of 4,819 yuan  ($749) per tonne, up 1.1 percent from the previous close, after hitting its weakest since March 24 on Tuesday. The contract ended 0.52 percent higher at 4,790 yuan per tonne.

China July iron ore imports up 6.8 pct from June
BEIJING, Aug 10 (Reuters) - China's imports of iron ore rose 6.8 percent to 54.55 million tonnes in July, with restocking and an increase in seaborne supplies taking the figure to its highest point in four months, data from the country's customs authority showed on Wednesday.  
With crude steel output still hovering above 1.9 million tonnes a day, China's mills have been keen to replenish their iron ore inventories after letting them dwindle in the last few months, but imports remain quite a bit short of their record.  

China July daily steel output falls 4 pct from June
BEIJING/SHANGHAI, Aug 9 (Reuters) - China's daily crude steel output fell 4.3 percent to 1.913 million tonnes in July from the record hit in the previous month, according to figures released by the National Bureau of Statistics on Tuesday.
The data showed that China produced a total of 59.3 million tonnes of crude steel in July, down 1 percent from June, with much of the decline attributed to a slump in demand for high-end flat steel used in automobiles and household appliances.

Australia's Port Hedland July iron ore shipments 17.533 mln tonnes
SYDNEY, Aug 9 (Reuters) - Iron ore shipments from Australia's Port Hedland, one of the world's largest export terminals, declined by 5.5 percent to 17.53 million tonnes in July from 18.55 million tonnes in June, data released by the port authority showed on Tuesday.    
Shipments to China, the ports biggest destination, dropped to 12.62 million from 13.88 million tonnes in June.

Singapore's SMX to launch iron ore futures on Friday
SINGAPORE, Aug 10 (Reuters) - The Singapore Mercantile Exchange will launch its iron ore futures contract on Friday, its interim chief executive said, as the bourse taps into a growing market to hedge prices of the steelmaking raw material.
It will be the world's second iron ore futures contract after two exchanges in India launched the first in January. Unlike the Indian contracts, which are denominated in rupees and are limited to domestic players, the SMX contracts will be priced in U.S. dollars and open to global investors.

China July daily steel output falls 4 pct from June
BEIJING/SHANGHAI, Aug 9 (Reuters) - China's daily crude steel output fell 4.3 percent to 1.913 million tonnes in July from the record hit in the previous month, according to figures released by the National Bureau of Statistics on Tuesday.
The data showed that China produced a total of 59.3 million tonnes of crude steel in July, down 1 percent from June, with much of the decline attributed to a slump in demand for high-end flat steel used in automobiles and household appliances.

China July iron ore imports up 6.8 pct from June
BEIJING, Aug 10 (Reuters) - China's imports of iron ore rose 6.8 percent to 54.55 million tonnes in July, with restocking and an increase in seaborne supplies taking the figure to its highest point in four months, data from the country's customs authority showed on Wednesday.  
With crude steel output still hovering above 1.9 million tonnes a day, China's mills have been keen to replenish their iron ore inventories after letting them dwindle in the last few months, but imports remain quite a bit short of their record.  

China July copper imports rise 9.5 percent on month
HONG KONG, Aug 10 (Reuters) - China's imports of unwrought copper and semi-finished copper products rose 9.5 percent on the month to a six-month high in July as material purchased during a period of lower prices in May and June arrived at ports.
Imports increased to 306,626 tonnes in July after posting a 9.9 percent rise in June, but were still down 10.6 percent from July 2010, data from the General Administration of  Customs showed on Wednesday.

Price falls cut copper scrap supply in China
HONG KONG, Aug 9 (Reuters) - Sharp price falls in copper prices on Monday and Tuesday are cutting copper scrap supplies in the Chinese spot market, boosting buying for the expensive alternative, refined copper, trading sources said on Tuesday.
Prices for spot copper in China, the world's top consumer of the metal, are down 7 percent so far this week to about 64,750 yuan ($10,061) per tonne due to a dive in global prices. Last week, prices fell 3.7 percent between Monday and Friday.

UK copper thieves risk death, injury -industry body
LONDON, Aug 9 (Reuters) - Rising copper theft in Britain's power sector has caused six fatalities as well as big financial losses in the past 18 months, an industry official said on Tuesday, warning of the dangers thieves face by trying to cash in on high metal prices.
So far this year two people have died while trying to steal copper cables. One of them, a 16-year-old boy, was electrocuted while raiding a Leeds sub-station last month, said Tim Field, press and public affairs executive at the Energy Networks Association, on Tuesday.

China July refined copper, nickel production hits record
HONG KONG, Aug 9 (Reuters) - China's production of refined copper in July rose 0.2 percent from the previous month to hit a record for the second straight month due to attractive margins, but analysts say output may stay flat in August.
Refined copper output rose to 478,000 tonnes in July, breaking the previous record of 477,000 tonnes in June, data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed on Tuesday.

METALS-Copper perks up on Fed, weak dollar, China imports
LONDON Aug 10(Reuters) - Copper rose on Wednesday, as the Federal Reserve soothed panicked financial markets, the dollar fell and imports of the metal into top consumer China reached a six-month high last month.
Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange  rose 1.5 percent to $8,840 a tonne by 1000 GMT, after losing 0.6 percent in the last session.

PRECIOUS-Gold climbs post-Fed but rebounding stocks curb gains
Aug 10 (Reuters) - Gold rose on Monday, rebounding after the last session's drop from record highs, as concerns over U.S. and euro zone debt lingered and after the Federal Reserve said U.S. interest rates would stay near zero for at least two years.
The metal was below the all-time peak of $1,778.29 an ounce it hit on Tuesday as equities recovered from the heavy losses they suffered early this week, but prices remain elevated.

Gold Exceeds $1,800 as Investors Seek ‘Ultimate Collateral’ on Debt Crisis (Source: Bloomberg)
Gold extended a rally to an all-time high, topping $1,800 an ounce, on increased demand for a haven investment as global equities plunged amid escalating European and U.S. debt woes. Immediate-delivery metal rallied as much as 1.2 percent to $1,814.95 an ounce, and traded at $1,802.60 at 8:55 a.m. in Singapore. The December-delivery contract climbed as much as 1.9 percent to $1,817.60 on the Comex in New York, rising for a fourth straight day. The Dow Jones Industrial Average sank 4.6 percent to 10,719.94 yesterday, the lowest level since September 2010, and the euro dropped for a second day against the dollar. Asian stocks extended the global rout today, with the MSCI Asia Pacific Index falling 1.6 percent. This week, spot gold has jumped as much as 9.1 percent.

Baltic index falls again, outlook seen softer
LONDON, Aug 9 (Reuters) - The Baltic Exchange's main sea freight index, which tracks rates to ship dry commodities, fell for a second day on Tuesday as slow activity and wider market turmoil hit sentiment.
The overall index fell 0.55 percent or 7 points to 1,257 points.