Thursday, September 8, 2011

20110908 1805 FCPO EOD Daily Chart Study.

FCPO closed : 3023, changed : -19 points, volume : higher.
Bollinger band reading : side way range bound.
MACD Histrogram : rising, buyer and seller battling.
Support : 3020, 2970, 2930, 2900 level.
Resistance : 3050, 3070, 3100, 3150 level.
Comment :
FCPO closed recorded small loss with better volume transacted while overnight soy oil ended higher and currently easing little lower while crude oil currently trading little weaker.
FCPO swing between gains and losses as market seem mixed anticipating soon to be announce MPOB official Aug 2011 export, stock and production data. While soy oil easing lower tracking lower crude oil price and lack of fresh news on crop and weather.
Daily chart formed a down doji bar candle closed above middle Bollinger band level after market opened lower, surged higher tested resistance level near upper Bollinger band level and fall lower tested middle Bollinger band level before moved side way to closed near the low of the day.
Technical reading switched to suggesting a side way range bound 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.

20110908 1735 FKLI EOD Daily Chart Study.


FKLI closed : 1463.5, changed : +0.5 point, volume : lower.
Bollinger band reading : side way range bound.
MACD Histrogram : rising higher, seller leaving.
Support : 1458, 1445, 1425, 1405 level.
Resistance : 1470, 1485, 1500, 1515 level.
Comment :
FKLI closed 1 tick higher with decreasing volume exchanged doing 6 points discount compare to cash market that ended higher. Overnight U.S. market closed rebounded substantially higher and today Asia markets ended mostly higher while European markets currently trading on positive territory.
Market seems little upbeat on U.S. President Obama job growth plan news and awaits European central bank and Bank of England interest rate decision.
Daily chart formed a down doji bar candle with long lower shadow positioned nearer to middle Bollinger band level after market opened little higher, fall lower tested support level and recovered upwards to closed off the low of the day.
Technical reading turned to suggesting a side way range bound 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 resistance or strength with quick cut loss and profit target.

20110908 1734 Regional Markets EOD Daily Chart Study.

DJIA chart reading : side way range bound.
  Hang Seng chart reading :  side way range bound.
KLCI chart reading : correction range bound little downside biased.

20110908 1559 Global Market & Commodities Related News.

Asia Stocks Swing Between Gain, Loss as Share Sales Temper Stimulus Hopes (Source: Bloomberg)
Asian stocks swung between gains and losses as job declines in Australia, share sale concerns and a report China may raise interest rates countered speculation the U.S. will do more to stimulate economic growth. Samsung Electronics Co., which counts America as its second-biggest market, rose 3.2 percent in Seoul. Commonwealth Bank of Australia slumped 0.6 percent in Sydney. Belle International Holdings Ltd., a Chinese retailer of women’s shoes, tumbled 8 percent after saying some staff may sell its shares. Industrial & Commercial Bank of China (1398) Ltd., the nation’s biggest lender by market value, fell 1.2 percent ahead of China’s inflation data tomorrow and after the Securities Times reported the country may raise rates.
The MSCI Asia Pacific Index climbed 0.1 percent to 121.84 at 4:23 p.m. in Tokyo, having swung between a gain of 0.9 percent and a loss of 0.2 percent. The gauge slumped 8.6 percent last month, the most since May 2010, amid concern global economic growth is slowing as Europe’s sovereign debt crisis spreads and after Standard & Poor’s cut the U.S. credit rating.

European Stocks Are Little Changed Before Obama Jobs Speech, Rate Meetings (Source: Bloomberg)
European stocks slipped, following the Stoxx Europe 600 Index’s biggest rally in three weeks, before the European Central Bank and the Bank of England hold interest-rate setting meetings. U.S. futures declined and Asian shares were little changed. The Stoxx 600 slid 0.5 percent to 227.72 at 8:37 a.m. in London. The gauge has tumbled 22 percent from this year’s high in February as concern grew that Europe’s debt crisis is harming the economic recovery. The decline cut the index’s valuation to 9.5 times estimated earnings, near the cheapest since March 2009, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Futures on the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index expiring this month declined 0.6 percent. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index rose 0.1 percent.
Equities rallied around the world yesterday as investors speculated that President Obama will introduce a $300 billion plan to create more jobs in a speech to Congress today. Obama will propose a stimulus plan in the Republican-controlled House chamber as job growth stalls and the unemployment rate hovers above 9 percent.

Corn Seen Advancing on Speculation U.S. Production May Drop Below Estimate (Source: Bloomberg)
Corn futures in Chicago advanced on speculation that production in the U.S., the top producer and exporter, will be lower than estimated after dry conditions harmed crops. December-delivery corn gained as much as 0.5 percent to $7.515 a bushel on the Chicago Board of Trade before trading at $7.50 by 2:20 p.m. in Singapore. Futures extended gains to 19 percent this year after a 15 percent rise last month. U.S. corn production probably will be smaller than the government forecast last month after unusually warm, dry weather in July and August damaged Midwest crops, according to a survey of as many as 30 analysts by Bloomberg News. Informa Economics Inc. and Allendale Inc. also said this week that production of the nation’s largest crop will fall below the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s forecast in August.

Oil Trades at 5-Week High in New York as Gulf Storms Threaten U.S. Supply (Source: Bloomberg)
Oil traded near the highest close in more than a month in New York on speculation a storm building in the Gulf of Mexico poses a threat to supplies in the U.S., which were reduced last week by an earlier cyclone. Futures were little changed after the industry-funded American Petroleum Institute said inventories fell 2.97 million barrels. An Energy Department report today may show supplies dropped by 2 million as Tropical Storm Lee shut output, a Bloomberg News survey showed. Three weather systems are churning in the Atlantic basin after Nate formed yesterday. “The number of hurricanes in the Gulf and the east coast is a bit higher than usual, so that could push down production levels,” Tetsu Emori, a commodity fund manager at Astmax Co. in Tokyo, said by telephone today. “Inventory levels of oil and products in the U.S. aren’t getting much higher so the down side should be quite limited.”

EU to develop rare earth substitutes with US, Japan
BRUSSELS, Sept 7 (Reuters) - The European Union, United States and Japan will work together to find substitutes for coveted rare earth minerals whose exports China controls and has been cutting back, under an EU plan published on Wednesday.
Under the proposal, which centres on how the EU can secure reliable supplies of energy from outside the bloc, researchers from the three countries will coordinate their efforts to cut down their dependence on the Chinese minerals to make goods from catalytic converters to battery cells.

Top China antimony plant 2011 output flat or up slightly - parent
HONG KONG, Sept 7 (Reuters) - China's top antimony producer Hsikwangshan Twinkling Star Co will produce similar or higher output of antimony in 2011 from last year, a top executive at parent Hunan Nonferrous Metals Corp Ltd  said on Wednesday.
Executive Director and General Manager Li Li also said Hsikwangshan, based in Lengshuijiang, Hunan province, would maintain normal output and had no plan to halt production for environmental checks.

China probes some steel imports from Japan, Europe
BEIJING, Sept 8 (Reuters) - China has begun an anti-dumping investigation of some high-grade stainless steel seamless tubes imported from Japan and Europe, the Ministry of Commerce said on Thursday.
In an announcement on its website, the ministry said it would evaluate the impact of such imports on the Chinese stainless steel industry.  

Mexican steel output growth seen slowing in 2012
MONTERREY, Mexico, Sept 7 (Reuters) - Growth in Mexican steel production will probably ease to 3 percent in 2012 as a U.S. economic slowdown drags down the local economy, the country's iron and steel industry association said on Wednesday.
In 2011, the association, known as Canacero, expects steel output to grow by around 3.6 percent to some 17.3 million tonnes.

Steelmaker Aperam ready to talk to rivals
MUNICH, Sept 7 (Reuters) - Stainless steel maker Aperam , spun off by Arcelor Mittal this year, is open for consolidation talks with rivals in Europe, its chief financial officer told Reuters on Wednesday.
"There's some movement in the industry; the companies are spinning off their businesses," Julien Onillon said on the sidelines of a stainless steel conference sponsored by Metal Bulletin.

China nickel ore imports to slow in H2 vs H1 - Jinchuan exec
SHANGHAI, Sept 7 (Reuters) - China's nickel ore imports are expected to slow in the second half compared with the first, an executive at the country's top nickel producer Jinchuan Group told Reuters on Wednesday.
Wu Jun, vice president of Jinchuan Group Ltd, which is also China's third-largest copper producer, said the company expects to achieve its 2011 output targets of 130,000 tonnes of nickel and 500,000 tonnes of copper.

S.Korea says seeks 5,000 T aluminium ingot for Nov
SEOUL, Sept 8 (Reuters) - South Korea is seeking 5,000 tonnes of high-grade London Metal Exchange (LME) registered primary aluminium ingot via tenders to close at 2 p.m. (0500 GMT) on September 16, state-run Public Procurement Service said.
The procurement agency said on its website that it would buy the metal of western and non-western origin with 99.7 percent purity.

China probes some steel imports from Japan, Europe
BEIJING, Sept 8 (Reuters) - China has begun an anti-dumping investigation of some stainless steel tubes imported from Japan and Europe, the Ministry of Commerce said on Thursday.
In an announcement on its website, the ministry said it would evaluate the impact of such imports on the Chinese steel industry.

LME approves Erus as metals warehousing company
LONDON, Sept 7 (Reuters) - The London Metal Exchange said on Wednesday it has approved UK-based Erus Metals as a warehousing firm for metal traded on the exchange.  Investment bank Barclays and steel trading house Metalloyd will both be equal majority partners and Alec Gunn, who will act as the CEO, will take a smaller stake in the company.
Erus Metals Limited will be used by companies in the physical metals market, providing them with a fully-integrated trading and warehousing facility, it said in a statement.

Indonesia may impose tax or quota on ore exports
JAKARTA, Sept 7 (Reuters) - Indonesia may impose a tax or quota on mineral ore exports ahead of a planned regulation to ban all exports of raw minerals by 2014, the industry ministry said on Wednesday.
The industry ministry has proposed this as a transition before the export ban, in a move that could hurt nickel firms INCO  and Antam  and copper miners Freeport McMoRan Copper & Gold  and Newmont Corp .

Philippines says H1 metals output value up 31 pct y/y
MANILA, Sept 7 (Reuters) - The value of the Philippines' metallic mineral output in the first half of 2011 jumped 31 percent from a year earlier as miners ramped up production to take advantage of higher prices, a senior government official said on Wednesday.
With the first half output, the Southeast Asian country was on track to hit an estimated 24 percent rise in value of metallic mineral produce to 137.6 billion pesos ($3.3 billion) this year, the highest in at least four years.

METALS-Copper edges down, tracks fall in equities
SHANGHAI, Sept 8 (Reuters) - Copper prices edged down, tracking a downturn in Asian equities and the euro as worries about the euro zone debt crisis and faltering U.S. economy undermine confidence.
"I think there is a cautious optimism that Obama could announce greater plans to boost jobs. If he does, I think that could be positive for risk assets in general," said Phillip Futures analyst Ong Yiling.

PRECIOUS-Gold rebounds more than 1 pct after sell-off
SINGAPORE, Sept 8 (Reuters) - Gold prices rebounded more than 1 percent following a drop of 3 percent in the previous session, as sharply lower prices attracted bargain hunters, but improved risk appetite is likely to cap gains.
"Some investors, speculators and physical buyers have shown a lot of buying interest at current prices, as they are much lower compared to a few days ago," said a dealer at a Tokyo-based bullion house.

FOREX-Euro loses momentum, Aussie stung by jobs surprise
TOKYO, Sept 8 (Reuters) - The euro slipped in Asia and faces headwinds from suspicions that Europe's efforts to fix its debt crisis may not be fast enough to keep markets happy, while the Australian dollar was knocked by a surprise decline in the country's employment levels.
"If Trichet makes cautious remarks on bond buying, Italian and Spanish spreads could rise again and hurt investor sentiment," said Junya Tanase, chief strategist at JPMorgan Chase.

20110908 1545 Global Market Related News.

GLOBAL MARKETS-Asian stocks run out of steam, euro vulnerable
SINGAPORE, Sept 8 (Reuters) - A rebound in Asian stocks ran out of steam as worries over the widening impact of the euro zone crisis and the faltering U.S. economy gnawed at investor confidence.
"Volatility still persists and the market is likely to continue to dance to the tune of policy risks involving the U.S. and European economies," said Kim Hyung-ryol, a market analyst at Kyobo Securities in Seoul.  

Ukraine AgMin sees bumper wheat, maize exports 11/12
KIEV, Sept 7 (Reuters) - Ukraine plans to boost its grain harvest to 51 million tonnes in 2011 from 39.2 million a year ago and hopes to double exports to 24 million tonnes in the 2011/12 season, Ukraine's Agriculture Minister Mykola Prysyazhnyuk said on Wednesday.
Prysyazhnyuk told Reuters the former Soviet republic had harvested 22.2 million tonnes of wheat this year and had the capacity to ship abroad 10 million tonnes of the commodity in 2011/12, although current export restrictions were a big obstacle to this ambition.

EU wheat can hold its own against Russian export flood
PARIS, Sept 7 (Reuters) - European farmers will not have to struggle to sell their wheat this season, despite a flood of cheap Russian exports onto world markets as the EU benefits from ample internal demand and from its established African buyers.
Although it is very unlikely to repeat the hefty sales numbers from last season when it benefited from Russia's pullout of the market after a drought slashed crops, the 27-member bloc could sell all of its surplus this season, provided U.S. grains remain supported by weather problems, analysts and traders say.

Malaysia's August palm oil stocks seen down 2.3 pct
KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 7 (Reuters) - Malaysian palm oil stocks likely dropped in August from the previous month as export and domestic demand outstripped production during a key Muslim festival, a Reuters survey of five plantation houses showed on Wednesday.
Stocks in the world's No.2 producer probably fell 2.3 percent to 1.95 million tonnes, extending declines for a second month as demand cut into supply.

GRAINS-U.S. grains futures firm as commods rally, dollar weakens
SYDNEY, Sept 8 (Reuters) - U.S. grains futures firmed in early Asian trade as a wider commodities rally and a weaker U.S. dollar offset concerns over bigger-than-expected wheat stockpiles in Canada.
Wheat for December delivery  inched up 2-1/4 cents per bushel to $7.53-3/4 on the Chicago Board of Trade, while the same month's corn contract  also firmed about 2 cents to $7.50-1/2 a bushel.

Global sugar meet exhorts India to domestic reform
NEW DELHI, Sept 7 (Reuters) - Traders and industry experts at a global sugar conference here called on India to seize the moment to lift restrictions on its domestic industry and so stabilise output but were sceptical that New Delhi, worried about food inflation, would act.
Many in the industry see tight government control as the main reason behind sharp swings in sugar output from India, a key reason behind global price volatility as the country swings from exports to imports.

Rising Vietnam coffee defaults prompt calls for action
HANOI/SINGAPORE, Sept 7 (Reuters) - Up to 100,000 tonnes of robusta coffee bean shipments from top producer Vietnam have been delayed or defaulted in the season ending September, and traders urged Hanoi to take action to prevent such problems from recurring.
Although supply will pick up in the new season in October, which could help expedite deliveries and meet commitments, trading houses are reluctant to strike up new deals, with many cases still unresolved, dealers said on Wednesday.

Mexico coffee exports jump 20 percent in August
MEXICO CITY, Sept 7 (Reuters) - Coffee exports from Mexico jumped to 215,247 60-kg bags in August, up 20 percent from the same month a year ago as the 2010/11 season draws to a close, the national coffee association Amecafe said on Wednesday.
The coffee harvesting season in the region begins in October and comes to a close in September.

Viterra profit almost doubles; grain shipments boom
TORONTO, Sept 7 (Reuters) - Viterra Inc  said on Wednesday its quarterly profit nearly doubled, driven by record grain shipments through ports in Australia, higher grain prices, and strong demand for fertilizers in North America.
Viterra, the biggest grain handler in Canada and South Australia, said strong shipment volumes are expected to lift its grain-handling and marketing operations going into its fiscal 2012, beginning in November.

Cropcast weather sees US soy crop at 2.924 bln bu
CHICAGO, Sept 7 (Reuters) - Cropcast weather group, widely watched by grain traders for its U.S. and global weather forecasts, estimated the 2011 U.S. corn and soybean harvests below USDA's projections as a hot summer was seen stressing the crops.
Cropcast, a division of MDA Information Systems, forecast the U.S. corn crop at 11.913 billion bushels, reflecting an average yield 145.2 bushels per acre. That compares to USDA's August estimate of 12.914 billion bushels and an average yield of 153 bpa.

Brent steady at over $115; German court ruling supports
SINGAPORE, Sept 8 (Reuters) - Brent crude held steady above $115 a barrel, after a $3 surge in the previous session, in line with a rebound in equity markets as a ruling by a top German court helped assuage fears that euro zone bailout efforts might get stalled.  
"We saw equities rising and we saw oil put on a 3-4 percent (rise) last night," said Ben Le Brun, a Sydney-based analyst at CMC Markets. "We have Obama speaking about jobs and if the market gets what it wants to hear that would further underpin the positive movements on oil prices."

Shell plans Alberta LNG plant to supply truck fuel
CALGARY, Alberta, Sept 7 (Reuters) - Royal Dutch Shell Plc  will build a liquefied natural gas plant in Western Canada as it looks to boost demand for its abundant gas reserves by promoting LNG as a truck fuel.
Shell wants to build a small-scale LNG plant at an existing gas-processing facility in the province of Alberta. The plant would supply the local market with fuel for trucks.

Oil-funded study: drilling could add 1 mln US jobs
WASHINGTON, Sept 7 (Reuters) - The United States could create more than 1 million jobs by 2030 by expanding offshore drilling, limiting federal regulation of shale gas development and quickly approving a Canadian oil sands pipeline, according to a study commissioned by an oil industry group.
The study's bottom line would depend on some major policy shifts by President Barack Obama and Congress, and comes ahead of a key speech by Obama on his plan to boost U.S. employment as the country struggles to regain its economic footing.

Oil producers target Asia as outlook in West bleak
SINGAPORE, Sept 7 (Reuters) - Oil producers from Brazil to Azerbaijan are targeting Asia to expand sales as growth falters in the U.S. and Europe, highlighting confidence that the world's fastest-growing energy market will offset any demand slump in industrialised nations.
At Singapore's annual Asia-Pacific Petroleum Conference (APPEC) this week, company executives are still upbeat about booming energy consumption in the region, despite the uncertainty surrounding the pace of global economic growth.

New IEA head rules out oil reserves use to lower price
PARIS, Sept 8 (Reuters) - The International Energy Agency (IEA) will release emergency oil reserves only in case of a supply disruption and not to help the economy or lower prices, its new executive director said on Thursday.
Maria van der Hoeven, a former Dutch economy minister who started at the IEA on Sept. 1, also said the agency's release of oil from its emergency reserves in June was a success and there was no plan for a further move.

US cuts world oil demand growth on economy
WASHINGTON, Sept 7 (Reuters) - Global oil demand will grow less than previously projected next year as the economy staggers, the U.S. government forecast on Wednesday.
World consumption will rise by 1.39 million barrels per day or around 1.6 percent next year, the Energy Information Administration said, some 250,000 bpd less than it forecast a month ago. This year's growth forecast was unchanged at 1.37 million bpd.

METALS-Copper edges down, tracks fall in equities
SHANGHAI, Sept 8 (Reuters) - Copper prices edged down tracking a downturn in Asian equities and the euro as worries about the euro zone debt crisis and faltering U.S.economy undermine confidence.
"I think there is a cautious optimism that Obama could announce greater plans to boost jobs. If he does, I think that could be positive for risk assets in general," said Phillip Futures analyst Ong Yiling.

Banks still winners in aluminium warehouse play
LONDON, Sept 7 (Reuters) - Low interest rates and a global economy on the edge of another recession mean the bank financing deals that have locked up most aluminium stocks in warehouses will remain intact and inflate premiums for already struggling consumers.
For financers of metal such as banks and trading houses, aluminium has proved to be a relatively risk-free investment and a hedge against another global recession.

China daily crude steel output down 2.2 pct in late Aug -CISA
SHANGHAI, Sept 8 (Reuters) - China's daily crude steel output fell 2.2 percent to 1.905 million tonnes in the last 11 days of August from the preceding 10 days, industry consultancy Custeel.com said on Thursday, citing data from the China Iron & Steel Association (CISA).
Several Chinese steel mills have scheduled maintenance over the summer to take advantage of the seasonal demand weakness during the period. Analysts expect steel output in the world's top steel-producing country to remain resilient over next two months.

China probes some steel imports from Japan, Europe
BEIJING, Sept 8 (Reuters) - China has begun an anti-dumping investigation of some high-grade stainless steel seamless tubes imported from Japan and Europe, the Ministry of Commerce said on Thursday.
In an announcement on its website, the ministry said it would evaluate the impact of such imports on the Chinese stainless steel industry.  
Two major Chinese stainless steel mills -- Jiangsu Wujin Stainless Steel Pipe as well as Changshu Walsin Specialty Steel -- represented its domestic peers including Baosteel  in filing the complaint.

Mexican steel output growth seen slowing in 2012
MONTERREY, Mexico, Sept 7 (Reuters) - Growth in Mexican steel production will probably ease to 3 percent in 2012 as a U.S. economic slowdown drags down the local economy, the country's iron and steel industry association said on Wednesday.
In 2011, the association, known as Canacero, expects steel output to grow by around 3.6 percent to some 17.3 million tonnes.

PRECIOUS-Gold rebounds more than 1 pct after sell-off
SINGAPORE, Sept 8 (Reuters) - Gold prices rebounded more than 1 percent  following a drop of 3 percent in the previous session, as sharply lower prices attracted bargain hunters, but improved risk appetite is likely to cap gains.
"Some investors, speculators and physical buyers have shown a lot of buying interest at current prices, as they are much lower compared to a few days ago," said a dealer at a Tokyo-based bullion house.

20110908 1057 Global Market & Commodities Related News.

GLOBAL MARKETS-Asian shares gain after euro ruling lifts mood
SINGAPORE, Sept 8 (Reuters) - Asian stocks rose on Thursday, as investors took heart from a German court ruling that staved off an immediate worsening of the euro zone crisis and looked towards an announcement later from U.S. President Barack Obama on a new job-creation package.
"Buybacks and short-covering will continue, but the upside is heavy until we can confirm the strength of the U.S. economy and see an improvement in Europe," said Kenichi Hirano, operating officer at Tachibana Securities in Tokyo.

Oil jumps $3 to 5-week high on storm concerns, Europe
NEW YORK, Sept 7 (Reuters) - Oil rose by more than $3 to a five-week high on Wednesday, boosted by production outages in the Gulf of Mexico and tracking a surge in equity markets after a ruling by Germany's top court soothed euro zone fears.
"This is going to make it difficult to get people back on rigs -- it looks like we could have an extended period of having production offline" said Phil Flynn, analyst at PFGBest Research in Chicago.

POLL-US crude stocks seen lower due to bad weather
NEW YORK/BANGALORE, Sept 7 (Reuters) - U.S. crude stockpiles are expected to have dropped last week after Tropical Storm Lee forced production shut-ins in the Gulf of Mexico, an extended Reuters poll showed on Wednesday.
Of 13 analysts polled ahead of the weekly inventory reports, only two expected a rise in crude stocks, with the average forecast calling for a drop of 1.9 million barrels in the week to Sept. 2.

US cuts world oil demand growth on economy
WASHINGTON, Sept 7 (Reuters) - Global oil demand will grow less than previously projected next year as the economy staggers, the U.S. government forecast on Wednesday.
World consumption will rise by 1.39 million barrels per day or around 1.6 percent next year, the Energy Information Administration said, some 250,000 bpd less than it forecast a month ago. This year's growth forecast was unchanged at 1.37 million bpd.

US gasoline demand down in Irene's wake-MasterCard
NEW YORK, Sept 7 (Reuters) - U.S. retail gasoline demand fell precipitously last week as Hurricane Irene brought East Coast driving to a halt, MasterCard said in its weekly SpendingPulse report on Wednesday.
Average demand fell 4.2 percent year-on-year last week, before the Labor Day holiday weekend, as Irene damaged road infrastructure when it pummeled the Eastern Seaboard states.

First roiled by tropical weather, natgas finishes flat
NEW YORK, Sept 7 (Reuters) - U.S. natural gas futures settled almost flat on Wednesday after trading above $4 as traders brushed off the formation of another tropical storm in the Atlantic and more tropical weather brewing in the Gulf of Mexico and focused on slack seasonal demand ahead.
"The tropical disturbances and oil and equity market rally triggered nervousness in the market," said Gene McGillian, energy analyst with Tradition Energy in Stamford, Connecticut.

Euro Coal-China buying picks up, prices stable
LONDON, Sept 7 (Reuters) - European prompt physical coal fell by around 50 cents a tonne on Wednesday for the third day running but prices have remained in the same $5 a tonne range seen for most of this year, traders and European utilities said.
"There's been fairly steady buying but only by one or two parties but there are more offers than bids," one European utility source said.

COMMODITIES-Oil leaps on weather; gold down on eurozone bets
NEW YORK, Sept 7 (Reuters) - Oil prices rose their most in a month on Wednesday on weather-related disruptions to U.S. output, and gold took its steepest dive in two weeks as investors ditched safe havens and bought stocks.
"The equity market correlation (to oil) is running about 85 percent over the past two months," said John Kilduff, partner at Again Capital, an energy-based fund in New York.

20110908 1011 Global Economic Related News.

Japan: To keep rate near zero till prices stabilize
The Bank of Japan refrained from additional easing steps, saying the yen’s rise did not pose an immediate downside risk to the economy, but it pledged to keep its 0%-0.1% policy rate unchanged “until it judges that price stability is in sight.” It added that quake-related supply disruptions had mostly been resolved and that production and exports had nearly recovered to levels prior to the natural disasters in March. The central bank made no change to its steady buying of financial assets after increasing the size of its asset-purchase program by about USD130bn at its previous meeting. (Marketwatch)

Germany: Merkel stands firm on eurozone bailouts after backing from court
Chancellor Angela Merkel brushed aside opposition to her government's support for eurozone bailouts yesterday, claiming that Europe would "fail" without the single currency and insisted that Germany's highest court fully vindicated her position. Merkel's attempt to defend her government's unpopular backing for rescue packages for Greece, Portugal and Ireland came only hours after the Federal Constitutional Court threw out a challenge to eurozone bailouts and ruled that they were legal. (Marketwatch)

Germany: Industrial production surged most in more than a year
Industrial production in Germany surged the most in more than a year in July as late school holidays boosted factory output. Production jumped 4% from June, when it dropped 1%, marking the biggest gain since March 2010. (Bloomberg)

Italy: Berlusconi austerity plan passes Senate to fend off contagion
Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi’s revised EUR54bn austerity plan was approved by the Senate as the government seeks to convince investors and the ECB that it is serious about cutting the deficit. The Senate backed the measure in a confidence vote last night after the government beefed up the package with an increase in sales tax and changes to pension rules. (Bloomberg)

US: Job openings increased in July, hiring slowed
Job openings in the US rose in July for a third month, while a slowdown in hiring showed businesses lacked the confidence to take on new staff. The number of positions waiting to be filled climbed by 59,000 to 3.2m while hiring decreased by 74,000 to 4.0m. (Bloomberg)

US: Fed says economy grew at a slower pace in some regions
The Federal Reserve said the economy grew at a slower pace in some regions of the country as shoppers limited their spending and factories curbed production. Chairman Ben S. Bernanke noted last month that the economy was weaker than anticipated and said policy makers will review ways to bolster growth and reduce unemployment at their 20-21 Sept meeting. (Bloomberg)

US: Obama said to seek more than USD300bn job growth package
President Barack Obama plans to propose sparking job growth by injecting more than USD300bn into the economy next year, mostly through tax cuts, infrastructure spending and direct aid to state and local governments. Obama will call on Congress to offset the cost of the short-term job measures by raising tax revenue in later years. This will be part of a long-term deficit reduction package, including spending and entitlement cuts as well as revenue increases, that he will present next week to the congressional panel charged with finding ways to reduce the nation’s debt. (Bloomberg)

US stocks rise on speculation about Obama’s job growth plan
US stocks rose, giving the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index its biggest rally in two weeks, as investors speculated President Barack Obama’s plan to inject more than USD300bn into the economy will bolster growth. All 10 groups in the S&P 500 advanced as gains were led by financial, energy and industrial shares. Bank of America Corp. added 7% after a shake-up in management. Yahoo! Inc. climbed 5.4% as the most-visited US web portal ousted CEO Carol Bartz and announced a strategic review to boost growth. Nvidia Corp. jumped 8.1% as the maker of graphics chips forecast sales that beat estimates. The S&P 500 rallied 2.9% to 1,198.62 at 4 pm in New York. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 275.56 pts, or 2.5%, to 11,414.86. (Bloomberg)

20110908 1010 Malaysia Corporate Related News.

UOA Development unit wins RM101m job
UOA Development subsidiary Allied Engineering Construction SB has been awarded a RM101.4m construction contract by its partly-owned subsidiary Ceylon Hills SB. In an exchange filling yesterday, UOA said the related party’s transaction is in the ordinary course of business of UOA. It is undertaken on an “arm’s length basis,” on normal commercial terms which are no more favorable than those generally available to third parties and is “not detrimental” to the interest of minority shareholders. (Malaysian Reserve)

Hong Leong Bank appoints Sanjay Uppal as CFO
Hong Leong Bank (HLBB) has appointed Sanjay Uppal as its new CFO and COO of Group Finance, effective 27 July 2011. The company, in its statement, said Uppal succeeds Premod Paul Thomas, who served Hong Leong Bank for 3 years before recently being transferred to Hong Leong Group’s Guoco Leisure as its CFO in Singapore. (Malaysian Reserve)

Carlsberg may raise product prices on rising material cost
Carlsberg Brewery Malaysia is considering raising its product prices next year with the price of barley, a key material in brewing beer, forecast to be 35% to 40% higher. Costs of aluminum cans were 27% higher y-o-y as well amid the recent rise in power tariffs and natural gas rates, MD Soren Ravn said. He said the impact of the rising material cost was minor for this year as a big chunk of its hedging was done a year ago, but it would have a big effect in 2012. (StarBiz)

Trading in DiGi suspended
Trading in the securities of DiGi.com will be suspended on Thursday, 8 Sept. The telco said on Wednesday, the request for the suspension from 9am to 5pm on Thursday was “pending the release of a material announcement”. DiGi closed two sen lower at RM31.12 on Wednesday. There were 779,100 shares transacted at prices ranging from RM31.10 to RM31.48 (Financial Daily)

Fututech executive chairman, director launch takeover
Fututech Bhd’s executive chairman Tee Eng Ho and director Tee Eng Seng have launched a takeover offer for the remaining 49.01% shares in the company at 50 sen each. Fututech’s board of directors said on Wednesday, 7 Sept that it had received a notice of unconditional take-over offer from Egovision SB, in which they each own 50% each. They had also offered to acquire the remaining 18.59m warrants at nine sen each. Egovision holds 50.99% of Fututech shares or 46.269m shares and 30.52% of the warrants, or 8.165m units. Fututech said the board does not intend to seek an alternative person to make a take-over offer for the offer shares and/or offer warrants. (Financial Daily)

Khoo to consolidate interests in MUI via PMI privatization
The proposed privatization of Pan Malaysia Industries (PMI) could help Tan Sri Khoo Kay Peng to consolidate his interests in Malayan United Industries (MUI). PMI holds a 10.27% stake in MUI. PMI first announced to Bursa on 26 Aug that it had received a takeover offer from a consortium of three companies to acquire the remaining 44.17% stake they do not own in PMI at an offer price of 4.5 sen per share. (Financial Daily)

Pintaras wins RM54.9m piling job
Pintaras Jaya Bhd's wholly-owned subsidiary, Pintaras Geotechnics SB, has secured a RM54.85m contract from Oasis Garden Development SB. Under the contract, Pintaras is to undertake piling, diaphragm wall and ancillary works for a commercial and residential development at Mukim Ampang, here. "The said works are to commence immediately with a completion period of nine months."The said contract is expected to contribute positively to the group's future earnings," Pintaras Jaya said in a filing to Bursa Malaysia. (BT)

Shell Malaysia HQ on sale for RM140m
Bangunan Shell Malaysia in Damansara Heights has been put up for sale for an estimated RM140m. The 25-year-old building, which has been Shell Malaysia's headquarters ever since, is on offer for sale by private treaty as opposed to an auction. The building is a 12-storey tower with a basement car park and is adjacent to Wisma Chase Perdana on Changkat Semantan. It has a total net lettable area of 212,867 sq ft. (BT)

20110908 1001 Renewable Energy Related News.

FIRST SOLAR TO SUPPLY PRODUCTS TO INDIA'S RELIANCE POWER
Sept 6 (Reuters) - First Solar Inc , the world's largest solar company by market value, said it will supply 100 megawatts (MW) of solar modules to India's Reliance Power  in what it called the biggest supply deal in the fast-growing market.
Because of India's abundant solar resource and significant energy demand, the country's market is expected to be one of the fastest growing in the world, although most solar product makers have had difficulties getting significant deals there.

U.S. SOLAR FIRM SOLYNDRA FILES FOR BANKRUPTCY
WILMINGTON, Del., Sept 6 (Reuters) - Solyndra LLC, a solar panel maker that received $535 million in federal loan guarantees, filed for bankruptcy, the third U.S. solar firm to succumb to pressure from Chinese rivals in recent weeks.
Solyndra, which also received more than $700 million in venture capital funding, said it will try to find a buyer quickly to avoid a firesale liquidation.

SPAIN HYDRO, IRRIGATION RESERVES ABOVE AVERAGE
MADRID, Sept 6 (Reuters) - Spanish water stocks which gauge the extent of the country's hefty reliance on gas and grain imports have ebbed since last week but are still comfortably above average, the latest official data showed on Tuesday.
Reservoirs supplying hydropower plants held enough water to generate 12,355 gigawatt-hours, down 234 GWh on the week , the Ministry for the Environment and Rural Affairs said.

ENEL GREEN POWER ADDS 18 MW WIND CAPACITY IN FRANCE
MILAN, Sept 5  (Reuters) - Italy's biggest renewable energy group, Enel Green Power (EGP) , has started up an 18 megawatt wind farm in France as it aims to expand in the growing green energy market there, the company said on Monday.
The new plant in the Rhone Alpes region raises EGP's total installed wind power capacity in France to 166 MW. The plant will generate 50 million kilowatt-hours of power a year, enough to meet demand of 15,000 households, EGP said in a statement.

EUROPE SOLAR POWER TO BE COMPETITIVE BY 2020 -EPIA
BERLIN, Sept 5 (Reuters) - Power generated from solar modules in Europe may take until the end of the decade to be competitive vis-à-vis conventional forms of energy, the world's biggest solar association said on Monday, adding that point could be reached sooner in some regions.
Based on a study looking at five major solar markets -- Germany, Italy, France, Spain and Britain -- Brussels-based European Photovoltaic Industry Association (EPIA) said competitiveness could be reached by 2020.

U.S. SOLAR COMPANY PLANS $600 MLN MISSISSIPPI PLANT
LOS ANGELES, Sept 2 (Reuters) - A California solar company said on Friday it plans to build a $600 million silicon factory in Mississippi that will be backed by $75 million in incentives from the state.
Calisolar will produce 16,000 metric tons of silicon at a factory in Columbus, Mississippi. The silicon will be sold to customers in the solar industry around the world, the company said in a statement.

UK RENEWABLES COSTS EXCEED GAS BY OVER 100 BLN POUNDS
LONDON, Sept 2 (Reuters) - The cost of investing in renewable energy in Britain is 105 billion pounds ($170 billion) higher than building the same capacity using gas-fired power plants, an economics professor said in a report published on Friday.
The extra investment cost of building power plants such as offshore wind farms is equivalent to nearly 10 percent of overall British business investment in the next 10 years,  Gordon Hughes of the University of Edinburgh said in his study "The Myth of Green Jobs."

SOLARWORLD SHUTS PRODUCTION AT U.S. PLANT
BERLIN, SEPT 2 (Reuters) - SolarWorld , Germany's No.2 solar company by sales, will shut down production at one of its U.S.-based solar module plants, looking to cut costs in response to falling prices, demand and tougher competition that squeeze margins.
The company said on Friday that while it would retain and further strengthen sales and distribution at its site in Camarillo, California, production would be pooled at its plant in Hillsboro, Oregon.

MARUBENI TO TIE UP WITH DANISH WIND POWER CO-NIKKEI
Sept 1 (Reuters) - Japanese trading house Marubeni Corp  will invest about 200 million pounds ($323.2 million) in a British offshore wind farm run by Danish energy company Dong Energy A/S, business daily Nikkei reported.
Marubeni will acquire a 49.9 percent stake in Gunfleet Sands Offshore Wind Farm, owned by Dong, by next month, Nikkei said.

GERMANY MAY SPOIL OUTLOOK FOR EU RAPESEED SOWINGS
HAMBURG, Sept 1 (Reuters) - Rain in Germany may spoil an otherwise positive picture for European Union rapeseed sowings for the 2012 harvest after bad weather caused a huge drop in the 2011 German crop, traders and analysts said on Thursday.
"It looks like the problem with German rain threatening EU rapeseed supplies will not end with this year's terrible German rapeseed crop. Unless the weather really dries up fast, smaller German sowings could also threaten the EU's 2012 crop," one trader said.

FIRST SOLAR'S MODULES FROM GERMAN PLANT TO GET PREMIUM IN ITALY
Sept 1 (Reuters) - First Solar Inc  said modules produced at its factory in Frankfurt (Oder), Germany, have satisfied requirements for a 10 percent premium over the normal incentive paid in Italy -- the No. 2 solar market in the world.
Under Italy's feed-in tariffs program, solar energy producers are typically paid a set, above-market rate, which is differentiated based on the technology used and size of the installation.

MANILA BOURSE EASES RULES FOR OIL,RENEWABLE ENERGY FIRMS
MANILA, Sept 1 (Reuters) - The Philippines' securities regulator has approved the stock exchange's relaxed listing rules for petroleum and renewable energy firms, as the Southeast Asian country seeks to perk up investor interest in the oil and energy sectors.
The Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE), the smallest amongst major Southeast Asian markets, said on Thursday the amendments to its listing rules would take effect on Sept. 8.

US SOLAR COMPANY THAT OBAMA VISITED WILL SHUT DOWN
LOS ANGELES, Aug 31 (Reuters) - U.S. solar start-up Solyndra LLC, succumbing to pressure from lower-cost Chinese rivals, said it has suspended operations and plans to file for bankruptcy, 15 months after President Barack Obama visited a company factory that was to be expanded with the help of a federal loan guarantee.
The Chapter 11 filing, expected next week, will make Solyndra the third U.S. solar company to seek bankruptcy protection in the last month. Former Wall Street high flyer Evergreen Solar Inc  filed for Chapter 11 two weeks ago, followed four days later by SpectraWatt Inc, a private company that was backed by Intel Corp .

20110908 1000 Biofuels Related News.

MAURITIUS' OMNICANE TO BUILD KENYA SUGAR FACTORY - REPORT
PORT LOUIS, Sept 5 (Reuters) - Leading Mauritian sugar producer Omnicane  is planning to develop a $180 million sugar factory in Kenya to fill a production gap, L'Express newspaper reported on Monday.
Omnicane chief executive officer Jacques d'Unienville said the sugar factory will be situated in the south of Kenya's port city of Mombasa and will initially access 17,000 acres of sugar cane.

PETROBRAS TO UP GASOLINE IMPORTS TO REPLACE ETHANOL
RIO DE JANEIRO, Sept 2 (Reuters) - Brazil's state-controlled oil company Petrobras  will import more gasoline beginning in October to compensate for the decline in ethanol that is blended with the motor fuel, a top company official told Reuters on Friday.
Petrobras' refining capacity is "nearing its limit," which makes it harder for the Rio de Janeiro-based company to ramp up production of gasoline, said Paulo Roberto Costa, who heads Petrobras' supply unit.

GERMANY MAY SPOIL OUTLOOK FOR EU RAPESEED SOWINGS
HAMBURG, Sept 1 (Reuters) - Rain in Germany may spoil an otherwise positive picture for European Union rapeseed sowings for the 2012 harvest after bad weather caused a huge drop in the 2011 German crop, traders and analysts said on Thursday.
"It looks like the problem with German rain threatening EU rapeseed supplies will not end with this year's terrible German rapeseed crop. Unless the weather really dries up fast, smaller German sowings could also threaten the EU's 2012 crop," one trader said.

US ETHANOL OUTPUT DIPS NEARLY 2 PCT
KANSAS CITY, Mo., Aug 31 (Reuters) - U.S. ethanol production slipped nearly 2 percent last week and stocks were depleted at the same pace as good demand met with tight competition for high-priced corn, ethanol's key ingredient.
The Energy Information Administration said on Wednesday that U.S. ethanol production totaled 888,000 barrels per day in the seven days to Aug. 26, down 16,000 barrels per day from the previous week.

DENMARK'S DONG ENERGY EXPLORING LARGE BIOFUEL PLANT
COPENHAGEN, Aug 30 (Reuters) - Denmark's DONG Energy [DONG.UL] and local partners will explore the possibility of building a bioenergy complex, including a large-scale bioethanol plant to turn straw into fuel.
State-owned DONG has joined two local energy providers and a waste firm to form a consortium called Maabjerg Energy Concept, which will determine the feasibility of the project in western Jutland over the coming 15 months.

BRAZIL TO CUT ETHANOL BLEND IN GASOLINE FROM OCT.1
BRASILIA, Aug 29 (Reuters) - Brazil will cut the amount of ethanol biofuel it puts in its gasoline from October 1, the energy minister said on Monday, after a disappointing sugar cane crop too small to keep pace with growing demand.
Anhydrous ethanol content in gasoline will fall to 20 percent, down from the years-old 25 percent requirement, as a means to stretch projected supplies of ethanol.

LAND LAW CLIPS BRAZIL ETHANOL, SUGAR GROWTH EFFORT
BRASILIA, Aug 26 (Reuters) - The inability of Brazil's cane sector to keep up with growing demand for sugar and ethanol may worsen in the future if a government practice limiting land purchases by foreigners is maintained.
Foreign-controlled companies are now limited in the amount of land they can buy in Brazil after the Attorney General's office last year reinterpreted a law on the control of farm land by foreign capital. The decision was prompted by government concerns that alarming amounts of local land might be coming under control of foreign elements.

20110908 0959 Global Market Related News.

GLOBAL MARKETS - World stocks, euro rebound after German ruling
LONDON, Sept 7 (Reuters) - World stocks rose from a two-week low on Wednesday and the euro rebounded across the board after Germany's top court rejected lawsuits aimed at blocking Berlin's participation in bailout packages for Greece and other euro zone countries.
"Today's ruling should bring some relief to financial markets as a total chaos scenario has been avoided but it should not lead to euphoria," said ING economist Carsten Brzeski.

World stocks, euro rebound after battering
LONDON, Sept 7 (Reuters) - World stocks steadied above a two-week low and the euro rebounded after some more positive data from the United States and Australia helped calm frayed market nerves.  
"All eyes are going to be on the German constitutional court... We don't expect the court to go against the bailouts, but key is the associated red tape which might make closer fiscal integration in the euro zone harder," said Jeremy Batstone-Carr, strategist at Charles Stanley.  

Asian Stocks Gain on U.S. Stimulus Hopes (Source: Bloomberg)
Asian stocks gained, with the benchmark regional index rising for a second day, on speculation the U.S. will move to stimulate its economy and Europe may resolve its debt crisis, boosting the outlook for exporters. Toyota Motor Corp., the world’s biggest carmaker, increased 1.1 percent in Tokyo, leading automakers higher. Canon Inc., the world’s largest camera-maker that counts Europe as its No. 1 market for sales, rose 1.4 percent. Sumco Corp., a Japanese maker of silicon wafers for semiconductors, jumped 6.3 percent after saying its net loss narrowed. Woori Investment & Securities Co., a South Korean brokerage, sank 13 percent in Seoul on speculation it may sell new shares. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index climbed 0.6 percent to 122.44 at 9:46 a.m. in Tokyo, with almost six stocks gaining for each that fell. All 10 industry groups gained on the measure, which also rose yesterday after valuations fell to the lowest level in three years.

European Stocks Rebound From Two-Year Low; Richemont Climbs (Source: Bloomberg)
European stocks rose the most in three weeks, rebounding from a two-year low, after three days of losses dragged the Stoxx Europe 600 Index near to the cheapest since 2008. Greek stocks gained as Germany’s top court rejected challenges to the participation of Europe’s largest economy in euro rescue funds. Cie. Financiere Richemont SA, owner of the Cartier watch brand, climbed 7.3 percent after revenue topped analyst estimates. Scor SE (SCR), France’s largest reinsurer, increased 2.5 percent after confirming targets. Renault SA (RNO) led a rally in automakers. The Stoxx 600 rose 3.1 percent to 228.84 at the 4:30 p.m. close in London as all 19 industry groups advanced, the largest gain since Aug. 12. The gauge has still tumbled 21 percent from this year’s high in February as concern grew that Europe’s debt crisis is harming the economy. The decline cut the index’s valuation to 10.4 times reported earnings, near the cheapest since December 2008, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Treasuries Advance on Monetary Stimulus Speculation Before Bernanke Speech (Source: Bloomberg)
Treasury 10-year note yields fell, snapping yesterday’s advance, on prospects Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke will today signal that policy makers will consider further stimulus measures to spur the economy. The extra yield investors get to hold 30-year bonds instead of two-year notes was six basis points from the least in more than a year amid speculation the Fed will announce plans to purchase longer-maturity debt while shedding shorter maturities. Benchmark yields yesterday rose from near an all-time low on expectations President Barack Obama’s plan to injected more than $300 billion into the economy will bolster growth. “The Fed is keen to get the economy going and get unemployment down, so they’re going to keep rates on hold and the effect of that is to force people out the curve,” said Warren Potter, a bond portfolio manager at AMP Capital Investors in Wellington, New Zealand. “I can’t see much scope for yields to go substantially higher from here because global growth is slowing.”

Economy Grew Slower in Some Regions: Fed (Source: Bloomberg)
The Federal Reserve said the economy grew at a slower pace in some regions of the country as shoppers limited their spending and factories curbed production. “Economic activity continued to expand at a modest pace, though some districts noted mixed or weakening activity,” the Fed said in its Beige Book survey released today in Washington. Chairman Ben S. Bernanke noted last month that the economy was weaker than anticipated and said policy makers will review ways to bolster growth and reduce unemployment at their Sept. 20-21 meeting. The central bank chief, speaking in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, didn’t say what tools the central bank may use.

Fed’s Evans Calls to Cut Unemployment to 7.5% (Source: Bloomberg)
Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago President Charles Evans said the central bank should move “aggressively” to reduce unemployment, even at the cost of temporarily pushing inflation higher. The Fed’s current commitment to record-low interest rates should be made contingent on pushing the unemployment rate to around 7 percent or 7.5 percent, as long as inflation stays below 3 percent in the medium term, the 53-year-old regional bank chief said today in a speech in London. “Given how truly badly we are doing in meeting our employment mandate, I argue that the Fed should seriously consider actions that would add very significant amounts of policy accommodation,” he said. “Such further policy accommodation does increase the risk that inflation could rise temporarily above our long-term goal of 2 percent.”

Obama Said to Seek $300 Billion Jobs Package (Source: Bloomberg)
President Barack Obama plans to propose sparking job growth by injecting more than $300 billion into the economy next year, mostly through tax cuts, infrastructure spending and direct aid to state and local governments. Obama will call on Congress to offset the cost of the short-term jobs measures by raising tax revenue in later years. This would be part of a long-term deficit reduction package, including spending and entitlement cuts as well as revenue increases, that he will present next week to the congressional panel charged with finding ways to reduce the nation’s debt. Almost half the stimulus would come from tax cuts, which include an extension of a two-percentage-point reduction in the payroll tax paid by workers due to expire Dec. 31 and a new decrease in the portion of the tax paid by employers.

Obama Faces 27-Week Jobless Rise as This Century Is Different (Source: Bloomberg)
President Barack Obama, under pressure from Republican lawmakers and constituents to reduce the highest jobless levels in more than a quarter century, faces a more persistent, underlying challenge: long-term unemployment. He will lay out his plans in a speech tomorrow to help bring down a jobless rate stuck around 9 percent or higher since April 2009. One hurdle is finding employment for people who’ve been out of work more than half a year as their ranks swell to the largest since the Great Depression. “He needs to come up with a plan that is doable and gets passed by Congress,” said John Silvia, chief economist of Wells Fargo Securities LLC in Charlotte, North Carolina. “An unemployment rate of 9 percent has been associated with not getting re-elected” and “it’s going to be difficult for him to overcome that.”

Obama Jobs Plan Should Channel Summers’ Ideas: William D. Cohan (Source: Bloomberg)
In January, just after the lame-duck session of Congress had extended the costly George W. Bush tax cuts, I spoke with Lawrence Summers, the former chairman of President Barack Obama’s National Economic Council. Summers, who had returned to his professor’s chair at Harvard, was sanguine about the direction of the economy, which he thought had “the wind at its back” thanks to a combination of new fiscal stimuli. For businesses, he said, there was the 2 percent payroll- tax holiday and the 100 percent tax write-off for capital investments made during the year. For consumers, the extension of the Bush tax cuts would, he hoped, encourage individuals to spend the tax money they saved on goods and services. In sum, he predicted the U.S. economy would grow between 3.5 percent and 4 percent in 2011.

U.S. Job Openings Rose in July as Slower Hiring Signals Lack of Confidence (Source: Bloomberg)
Job openings in the U.S. rose in July for a third month, while a slowdown in hiring showed businesses lacked the confidence to take on new staff. The number of positions waiting to be filled climbed by 59,000 to 3.23 million, according to Labor Department figures issued today in Washington. Hiring decreased by 74,000 to 3.98 million. Payrolls were unchanged in August, the weakest showing since September 2010, while revised data last month showed the world’s largest economy grew at a 0.7 percent annual pace in the first half of 2011. Concern the recovery is faltering may cause employers to delay hiring plans even further.

U.S. Stocks Rise on Speculation About Obama’s Job Growth Plan (Source: Bloomberg)
U.S. stocks rose, giving the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index its biggest rally in two weeks, as investors speculated President Barack Obama’s plan to inject more than $300 billion into the economy will bolster growth. All 10 groups in the S&P 500 advanced as gains were led by financial, energy and industrial shares. Bank of America Corp. (BAC) added 7 percent after a shakeup in management. Yahoo! Inc. climbed 5.4 percent as the most-visited U.S. Web portal ousted Chief Executive Officer Carol Bartz and announced a strategic review to boost growth. Nvidia Corp. (NVDA) jumped 8.1 percent as the maker of graphics chips forecast sales that beat estimates. The S&P 500 rallied 2.9 percent to 1,198.62 at 4 p.m. in New York. The benchmark gauge for American equities fell 4.4 percent over the previous three days. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 275.56 points, or 2.5 percent, to 11,414.86.

Dollar Gains Before Obama’s Jobs Speech; Euro Slumps on ECB Rate Outlook (Source: Bloomberg)
The dollar strengthened against the majority of its most-traded counterparts before President Barack Obama unveils proposals to spur job growth and support the U.S. economy. The dollar snapped yesterday’s losses versus the yen and the euro on prospects Obama’s plans will make it less likely that Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke will add further monetary easing. The 17-nation euro slumped versus most of its peers on speculation European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet will signal a less aggressive stance toward inflation. “Bernanke has been arguing for quite a while that fiscal policy needed to do more to help growth,” said Mike Burrowes, a currency strategist at Bank of New Zealand Ltd. in Wellington. “Potentially, this reduces some of the need for the Fed to take further action. That could potentially be positive for the dollar.”

Japan Stocks Continue Rise on Obama Plan, Europe Crisis Easing (Source: Bloomberg)
Japanese stocks rose the earnings outlook for Asian exporters brightened on President Barack Obama’s plan to inject more than $300 billion into the U.S. economy and signs Europe’s debt crisis is improving. Honda Motor Co., which earns more than 80 percent of its revenue abroad, increased 1.5 percent. Sony Corp. (6758), Japan’s No. 1 exporter of consumer electronics, gained 1.5 percent. Kubota Corp. (6326), a maker of industrial and farm machinery, rose 3.3 percent after announcing plans to pay as much as 10 billion yen to repurchase up to 1.6 percent of its outstanding shares. The Nikkei 225 (NKY) Stock Average rose 1.1 percent to 8,855.00 as of 9:09 a.m. in Tokyo. The broader Topix index gained 1.1 percent to 762.05.

Japan Machinery Orders Drop More Than Expected in Sign Rebound Is Stalling (Source: Bloomberg)
Japan’s machinery orders fell the most in 10 months in July, as the yen’s gain to a postwar record eroded company profits and discouraged investment. Factory orders dropped 8.2 percent in July from June, when they increased 7.7 percent, the Cabinet Office said today in Tokyo. Orders, an indicator of capital spending in three to six months, were projected to decline by 4.2 percent, according to the median forecast of 27 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News. Today’s report adds to concern that a rising yen may derail the nation’s recovery from March’s record earthquake, putting pressure on officials to take action to stem gains in the currency. Finance Minister Jun Azumi, who was sworn in last week, said on Sept. 4 that the government is ready to take decisive action against speculative moves in the yen.

Nomura Sees Most Japan IPOs in Three Years as Market Rebounds After Quake (Source: Bloomberg)
Initial public offerings in Japan will climb to the most in three years as investors regain confidence sapped by a record earthquake, according to Nomura Holdings Inc. (8604), the top-ranked arranger of Japanese stock sales. At least 15 Japanese companies will probably announce debut share sales from Oct. 1, bringing the number of IPOs to 35 to 40 by the end of the year, exceeding last year’s 22 and the 19 in 2009, said Masaharu Kambe, head of Nomura’s IPO department. Medical research ventures, game makers, manufacturers and solar energy firms are among companies preparing offerings, he said. Japan’s equity capital market has begun to recover, with nine companies selling shares in IPOs from the end of May after an 11-week hiatus in the aftermath of the March 11 disaster. RaQualia Pharma Inc., a drugmaker, is among businesses that held first-time sales after postponing the offerings following the catastrophe.

German Stocks Rise The Most in 16 Months as Court Backs European Bailout (Source: Bloomberg)
German stocks jumped the most in 16 months as the nation’s top court rejected lawsuits against its participation in European rescue funds and a report showed industrial production surged in July. Infineon Technologies AG (IFX) and Bayerische Motoren Werke AG (BMW) led gains. EON AG and RWE AG (RWE) rose following a report that the companies may sell their stakes in U.K. nuclear-power company Urenco Group and as Goldman Sachs Group Inc. recommended European utilities. The DAX Index (DAX) advanced 4.1 percent to 5,405.53 at the 5:30 p.m. close in Frankfurt after plummeting 10 percent over the previous four days. The gauge posted its biggest increase since May 10, 2010, according to Bloomberg data. The broader HDAX Index also gained 4.1 percent today.

Berlusconi Austerity Plan Passes Senate in Bid to Appease ECB, Investors (Source: Bloomberg)
Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi’s revised 54 billion-euro ($76 billion) austerity plan was approved by the Senate as the government seeks to convince investors and the European Central Bank it’s serious about cutting the deficit. The Senate backed the measure in a confidence vote last night after the government beefed up the package the previous day with an increase in sales tax and changes to pension rules. The plan faces final passage in the Chamber of Deputies in a vote that could come as soon as this week. Italy is rushing to pass the measures to ensure the ECB continues to buy its bonds after contagion from the region’s debt crisis pushed borrowing costs for Europe’s second-biggest debtor to the highest in more than a decade. The flap over Italian austerity comes as a second bailout plan for Greece and efforts to shore up the region’s rescue mechanism founder, undermining Europe’s ability to rebuild confidence in the single currency.

IMF to Cut Irish Growth Forecasts as Outlook Worsens for Trading Partners (Source: Bloomberg)
The International Monetary Fund will cut its Irish economic growth estimate for this year and next as the outlook for its main trading partners, the euro region, U.S. and U.K. “worsened substantially.” The Washington-based fund will lower its 2011 gross domestic product forecast for the country to 0.4 percent and 2012 projection to 1.5 percent as part of its world economic outlook this month, it said in a report today. The IMF had been forecasting growth of 0.6 percent and 1.9 percent, respectively. Irish Finance Minister Michael Noonan said in an interview yesterday that the global economy had begun to move against the nation, after spurring growth in the first half of the year. The country’s trade surplus widened to a record in June, driven by exports of dairy, medical and pharmaceutical products.

Swiss Franc Ceiling May Fall Short of Healing Eastern Europe Mortgage Pain (Source: Bloomberg)
The Swiss central bank’s decision to cap the appreciation of the nation’s currency against the euro may fall short of helping eastern European borrowers repay mortgages denominated in francs and get them to spend. The forint and the zloty have climbed 8 percent against the franc since yesterday’s announcement, compared with repayment costs that have risen 77 percent in Hungary and 93 percent in Poland since mid-2008, according to Capital Economics. The collapse of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. that year ended an economic boom that spurred demand for franc loans to escape higher local interest rates. “The pain is still there,” Luis Costa, an emerging- markets strategist at Citigroup Inc. in London, said in a telephone interview yesterday. “The fact that at least they are trying to cap the Swiss franc appreciation helps of course. At least it’s not going to get worse. This doesn’t resolve the problem.”

Sweden’s Central Bank Abandons Planned Rate Increase as Turmoil Dominates (Source: Bloomberg)
Sweden’s central bank abandoned a planned interest-rate increase as global recovery prospects deteriorate, while policy makers held on to the option of raising rates in the largest Nordic economy once more this year. The benchmark repo rate was left unchanged at 2 percent, interrupting a cycle of seven consecutive increases since July last year, the Stockholm-based Riksbank said today. The decision was expected by 24 of the 25 economists surveyed by Bloomberg. One had predicted an increase to 2.25 percent. “The concern over public finances abroad has increased and global growth prospects have deteriorated,” the Riksbank said in the statement. “The slowdown in the Swedish economy is thus expected to be more pronounced than was forecast in July.”

Rate-Cut Bets Smallest in Month as Growth Beats Forecast: Australia Credit (Source: Bloomberg)
Traders reduced bets on an interest rate cut in October to the least in a month after the Australian economy grew faster than forecast and the central bank said the nation is well placed to withstand global market turmoil. Reserve Bank of Australia Governor Glenn Stevens said yesterday policy makers have the flexibility to “maintain steady settings” while markets are unstable. Rising consumer spending and a rebound in exports drove the economy’s 1.2 percent growth in the second quarter, versus the 1 percent gain predicted by economists, the statistics bureau said yesterday.
The yield on the October cash-rate future rose as high as 4.62 percent yesterday from 4.48 percent the day before, implying a 54 percent chance of a 25 basis-point cut next month. On Aug. 9, the contract was pricing in 91 basis points of reductions. The two-year bond yield surged 15 basis points to 3.76 percent yesterday, the biggest increase since Feb. 4. Australia is the only developed nation where all government notes yield less than the central bank’s key interest rate.

FOREX - Euro rises as market relieved at German ruling
LONDON, Sept 7 (Reuters) - The euro rose against the dollar on Wednesday on relief the German Constitutional Court did not uphold lawsuits aimed at blocking participation in euro zone bailouts, while it was also buoyed in tandem with high-yielding currencies and stocks.
"The Constitutional Court ruling is probably just one trouble less for the market rather than a potential boost for the euro," said Roberto Mialich, currency strategist at Unicredit in Milan.

20110908 0959 Global Commodities Related News.

Tropical Storm Nate Forms off Mexico; Three Storms Now Churn in Atlantic (Source: Bloomberg)
Tropical Storm Nate, the second storm to develop today and the third system in the Atlantic basin, was “almost stationary” in Mexico’s Bay of Campeche, according to the National Hurricane Center. Nate, with winds of 45 miles (72 kilometers) per hour about 140 miles west of Campeche, Mexico, isn’t expected to move much tonight or tomorrow, according to an advisory issued by the hurricane center before 8 p.m. East Coast time. Nate, which joined Hurricane Katia and Tropical Storm Maria earlier today, is forecast to turn north tomorrow and may strengthen into a Category 1 hurricane with winds of 75 mph. Computer models suggest Nate will either go ashore in Mexico south of the oil- and gas-producing region or near Brownsville, Texas, said Travis Hartman, a meteorologist at commercial forecaster MDA EarthSat Weather in Gaithersburg, Maryland.

Corn (Source: CME)
US corn futures finish lower as traders take profits ahead of a highly anticipated crop report Monday. Market participants wanted to take money off the table due to great uncertainty about the size and quality of the upcoming corn harvest, analysts say. The crop suffered an unknown amount of damage from hot, dry weather this summer and flooding in the spring. "People just may be sort of standing on the sidelines waiting for next Monday," says Dale Durchholz of AgriVisor. CBOT December corn slides 7 3/4c to $7.48 a bushel.

Wheat (Source: CME)
US wheat futures close down as traders worry about lackluster export demand. Egypt, typically the world's largest wheat importer, bought 300,000 tons of Russian and Kazakh wheat. There were no bids made for US wheat, which has been losing ground to lower-priced Black Sea product. US exporters "are kind of throwing up the white flag a little bit, at least in the short term, on these types of tenders," says Shawn McCambridge of Jefferies Bache. CBOT December wheat drops 8 1/2c to $7.51 1/2 a bushel, KCBT December loses 6 1/2c to $8.59 and MGEX December drops 5 1/4c to $9.26 1/2.

Rice (Source: CME)
US rice futures finish higher, avoiding losses seen in other grain markets, as rice continues to get support from concerns about tightening global supplies. The USDA fueled worries of a poor US harvest by lowering its good-excellent rating for the crop by one percentage point to 64%. A year ago, the crop was rated at 68% good-excellent. The government will update its output estimate Monday. CBOT November rice jumped 17 1/2c to $18.15/hundredweight.

Corn, soy rise as US crops deteriorate; wheat firm
SINGAPORE, Sept 7 (Reuters) - Chicago corn and soybean futures rose, supported by deteriorating condition of the U.S. crops which is threatening to further tighten global supplies.
"I think the crop progress report is supporting prices as it has shown that the condition of U.S. crops is worsening," said Ker Chung Yang, an analyst at Phillip Futures in Singapore.

Forecasters split on U.S. corn crop shrinkage
CHICAGO, Sept 6 (Reuters) - There is no dispute that the size of this year's U.S. corn crop is shrinking due to bad weather. Even so, the two main private forecasters have vastly divergent estimates of how much production will fall -- to the tune of 675 million bushels.
The high-low difference almost equals the U.S. government's estimate of total ending stocks next summer of 714 million bushels. The sharp divide in forecasts comes just days before the Department of Agriculture updates its forecast on Monday Sept. 12.

EU on course for good maize crop after rain
HAMBURG, Sept 6 (Reuters) - The European Union is set for an excellent maize (corn) crop this summer which could help protect the bloc from possible tight global supplies, traders and analysts said on Tuesday.
Rain which caused misery for some European wheat farmers gave maize an extra growth push, traders said.

Informa cuts 2011 US corn yield to 151.0 bu/acre
CHICAGO, Sept 6 (Reuters) - Analytical firm Informa Economics on Tuesday cut its estimate for 2011 U.S. corn yield to 151.0 bushels per acre and cut production to 12.711 billion from 13.353 billion.
Informa also cut its forecast soy yield to 41.5 bushels per acre from the previous 42.5 and soy production to 3.061 billion from the previous 3.139 billion, trade sources said.

Allendale cuts US corn crop outlook to 12.466 bln
CHICAGO, Sept 6 (Reuters) - Illinois-based research and advisory firm Allendale Inc has forecast 2011 U.S. corn production at 12.466 billion bushels and the yield per acre at 147.7 bushels per acre, according to an Allendale survey of farmers.
Allendale also pegged this year's U.S. soybean production at 3.007 billion bushels and soybean yield at 40.7 bushels per acre.

Rains in US to provide minor benefit to mature crops
CHICAGO, Sept 6 (Reuters) - Rain in the U.S. over the weekend and more showers forecast for the central and eastern Midwest this week will not buoy corn or soybean production, an agriculture meteorologist said Tuesday.
Corn and soybean crops are in their late filling stage of development and rainfall now will provide only minor benefit to each crop.

Cropcast Projects US Corn Output Will Drop 4.3% From 2010 (Source: CME)
Cropcast Ag Services, a well-known agricultural weather firm, projected U.S. farmers will harvest 4.3% less corn than last year due to poor weather. The Maryland-based firm, a division of EarthSat Weather Services, pegged the corn harvest at 11.913 billion bushels, down from 12.447 billion last year. It estimated the average yield at 145.2 bushels an acre, down from 152.8 bushels an acre last year. The forecasts are well below the U.S. Department of Agriculture's latest projections for this year's crop and estimates from other private forecasters. The government, in a monthly report Aug. 11, pegged the crop at 12.914 billion bushels, with an average yield of 153 bushels an acre. By comparison, brokerage firm Allendale on Tuesday pegged the corn harvest at 12.466 billion bushels, with an average yield of 147.7 bushels an acre. INTL FCStone last week projected farmers will harvest 12.35 billion bushels of corn, with an average yield of 146.3 bushels an acre.
Cropcast cut its output forecast because it expects many acres planted with corn will not be harvested due to flooding around the Mississippi and Missouri rivers and a severe drought in Texas, said Don Keeney, senior agricultural meteorologist for Cropcast. The firm projected farmers will harvest 82.06 million acres of corn, while the USDA last estimated 84.4 million acres will be harvested. The firm did a satellite analysis earlier this year and "took a lot of acreage out of a lot of states due to flooding," Keeney said. The number of bushels produced per acre was hurt by hot, dry weather this summer. "Our acreage is lower than most," Keeney said. Cropcast pegged the U.S. soybean harvest at 2.924 billion bushels, with an average yield of 40.3 bushels an acre. That is down from last year's harvest of 3.329 billion bushels, with an average yield of 43.5 bushels an acre. The USDA last month pegged this year's soybean harvest at 3.056 billion bushels, with an average yield of 41.4 bushels an acre.
The USDA is slated to update its harvest estimates Monday.

Saudi Arabia Seeks Cooperation With Ukraine On Grain Needs - Fin Min (Source: CME)
Saudi Arabia, the Middle East's biggest economy, is seeking closer cooperation with Ukraine as part of plans to diversify its grain imports and reduce its dependence on barley, the country's finance minister said. "We discussed during a recent trip to Ukraine cooperation with Ukraine, not only on barley but also grains in general," Ibrahim Al Assaf said on the sidelines of a meeting of Arab finance ministers in Abu Dhabi, the United Arab Emirates' capital. The desert kingdom, which falls into the category of 'hyper-arid' countries and has neither major rivers nor lakes, is currently looking at alternatives to barley to reduce its dependence on the grain, Al Assaf said. Ukraine is a major grain exporter. "We are looking at the alternatives to only barley, such as composite feed and other grains," he added.
Saudi Arabia is the world's largest importer of barley, with "over 50% of the world trade in barley. Taking the average of last year, we imported between 7 million to 7.5 million tons of barley for feed for the animals," Al Assaf said. Persian Gulf countries already import the bulk of their food. The region previously suffered when international food prices spiked to record levels in 2008, forcing up their import bills. They have since sought to lease and buy farmland in developing nations in efforts to improve security of food supplies.

One-Third Of Crops In Western Canada Harvested - Wheat Board (Source: CME)
Favorable weather conditions allowed producers in western Canada to advance harvest operations, with an estimated 33% of the various grains and oilseeds now combined, according to the Canadian Wheat Board in its weekly bulletin. At the same time a year ago, only 18% of the various crops had been harvested. Normally, 31% of the harvest is usually completed by this time of year, the CWB said. Good harvest progress occurred across most of the Canadian prairies, despite a mid-week storm system that brought 10 to 55 millimeters of rain to many regions. In southern Alberta and pockets of western Saskatchewan, minimal rainfall meant the harvest could continue to build speed, the CWB said.
Meanwhile, above-normal temperatures on the eastern Canadian prairies kept harvesting on track. Harvest operations in Manitoba were about 47% complete, compared to 40% on average. Alberta was 29% harvested, compared to 27% normally. In Saskatchewan, the harvest is about 32% complete, compared to 26% normally.

Ukraine Grain Export Continuing Despite Export Tax (Source: CME)
Ukraine will continue exporting grain as planned, despite the government deciding to keep the current grain export tax in place until the end of this year, Deputy Economic Development Minister Vadim Kopylov said. Kopylov, quoted by the ministry's press service, admitted that in August there was actually a decrease in grain exports, based on rumors of the government lifting the export tax, thus persuading exporters to hold back their grain. Kopylov added that when it became clear that the grain export tax would not be abolished, exports intensified, with 600,000 metric tons of grain submitted to the customs for export on Aug. 31 alone, while total grain exports in August were one million tons. Kopylov also said the fact that Russia was selling its grain at cheaper prices would not negatively affect Ukraine's exports.
"The world market is big enough to consume both Russian and Ukrainian grain," he said. "There was a drop in prices in July, but in August prices leveled out. Ukraine will export all the grain it plans, about 24 million tons in the current marketing year [and even though] our grain is more expensive than Russian grain people are still buying it."

Soybeans, Corn Decline on Weakening Overseas Demand for U.S. Supplies (Source: Bloomberg)
Soybeans declined for a second straight session on slowing Chinese demand for supplies from the U.S., the world’s biggest shipper. Corn fell on signs of weakening exports. Soybean importers, including China, took advantage of record inventories in Argentina and Brazil, the biggest growers after the U.S., Oil World, a Hamburg-based researcher, said yesterday in a report. The climbing stockpiles have spurred lower prices for supplies from South America at a time when adverse weather has threatened U.S. crops. “We have seen a dearth of new buying from China,” Anne Frick, the senior oilseed analyst for Jefferies Bache LLC in New York, said today in a telephone interview. “South America has plenty of beans to sell to overseas customers.”

Commodities Record Biggest Gain in Four Weeks on Stimulus Outlook in U.S. (Source: Bloomberg)
Commodities posted the biggest gain in almost four weeks, led by industrial metals and energy, on speculation that more economic stimulus in the U.S. and low interest rates will bolster demand for raw materials. The Standard & Poor’s GSCI Index of 24 raw materials rose 2.1 percent to close at 671.99 at 3:46 p.m. New York time, the biggest gain since Aug. 11. Nickel jumped 5.3 percent, the most since May 2010, and crude oil gained as much as 5.2 percent. The commodity gauge fell in the previous three sessions on concern that Europe’s debt crisis will hinder the global economy. “Although growth prospects remain bleak, the market is looking past current weakness in anticipation of further stimulus out of the U.S. and anticipation that the Chinese may resume their pro-growth policies,” Scott Gardner, the chief investment officer at Verdmont Capital SA in Panama, said in an e-mail. He helps manage $450 million in client assets.

ICE coffee, sugar rise as commodities rebound
LONDON, Sept 7 (Reuters) - ICE arabica coffee and raw sugar futures rose in early trade as both markets clawed back some of the prior session's steep losses, mirroring a similar rebound in other financial markets.
ICE arabica coffee futures rose as investors regained some of their appetite for risk after Tuesday's sell-off.

Ghana says to give away cocoa seedlings to farmers
ACCRA, Sept 6 (Reuters) - Ghana, the world's second-largest cocoa grower after Ivory Coast, will supply 20 million free cocoa seedlings per year to farmers to boost production, Finance Minister Kwabena Duffuor said on Tuesday.
"We believe we should be able to provide free seedlings to all farmers and others intending to go into cocoa farming henceforth," Duffuor said at a meeting with farmers.

Ukraine starts 2011 sugar processing
KIEV, Sept 6 (Reuters) - Ukraine, which plans to raise white sugar production by 40 percent in 2011, has started sugar beet processing, major agriculture producer Astarta  said on Tuesday.
"Globyno and Yaresky sugar plants in Poltava region and Zhdanivsky plant in Vinnytsa region started a sugar production campaign," Astarta said in a statement.

Key India state's 2011/12 sugar output seen at 10 mln T-min
NEW DELHI, Sept 6 (Reuters) - Sugar output from the western Maharashtra state, India's top producer of the sweetener, is likely to be a record 10 million tonnes in 2011/12 on higher acreage and sufficient rainfall, the state's farm minister said on Tuesday.
India,  the world's top sugar consumer and second-biggest producer, is expected to produce 26 million tonnes of sugar in the season from October 2011, up 7.4 percent year-on-year, according to Indian Sugar Mills Association, a producers' body.

Thai 2011/12 white sugar exports seen at 3.3 mln T-Louis Dreyfus
NEW DELHI, Sept 6 (Reuters) - Thailand's white sugar exports are seen at 3.3 million tonnes in 2011/12, commodities firm Louis Dreyfus said on Tuesday, against 2.2 million tonnes a year ago.
"Thailand is expected to export 3.3 million tonnes of white sugar in 2011/12 against 2.2 million tonnes a year ago," Patrick Dean, global white sugar manager of Louis Dreyfus Commodities, told reporters in New Delhi.

Cotton Rises to Two-Month High on U.S. Crop Damage; Orange Juice Advances (Source: Bloomberg)
Cotton rose to the highest price in almost two months as Tropical Storm Lee may have damaged crops in the U.S. South and a report showed global imports will rebound. Orange juice also climbed. Tropical Storm Lee brought heavy rains to Louisiana and much of the Gulf Coast, and rain was expected to continue through the middle of the week across states including Georgia and North Carolina, according to the National Weather Service. Global cotton imports will rebound to 8.1 million metric tons in the year that started Aug. 1 as China rebuilds government reserves, the International Cotton Advisory Committee said. “The initial push was from the news on China, but there’s also a perfect storm brewing here with technical charts and crop damage,” Louis Barbera, a broker at VIP Commodities in New York, said in a telephone interview. “The fact of the matter is that we’re going to have a small crop.”

Growth of China steam coal use to ease
BEIJING, Sept 7 (Reuters) - China's steam coal demand growth will gradually ease over 2011-2015, as economic growth moderates and as Beijing restructures its economy, an official with China Electricity Council said on Wednesday.
Xie Jucheng, head of the fuel branch of the council, told the IHS-McCloskey Coal Conference in Beijing that increased investment in renewable power, the construction of ultra-high voltage power transmission lines as well as higher rail capacity, would also smooth out seasonal coal shortages by about 2013.

Colombia exports rise 55 pct in July - govt
BOGOTA, Sept 6 (Reuters) - Colombia's exports rose 55 percent in July versus the same month a year earlier, pushed up by the sale of oil and crude products, the government's statistics agency said on Tuesday.
One of several emerging-market countries helped by a boom in commodity prices, Colombia's total exports in the month were worth $4.89 billion, according to the DANE statistics agency.

Pacific Coal output seen up 50 pct in 2011 vs yr ago
BOGOTA, Sept 6 (Reuters) - Pacific Coal Resources Ltd  expects thermal coal output from two open-pit mines to rise about 50 percent this year to 1.75 million to 1.8 million tonnes and in 2012 to 2.2 million to 2.3 million tonnes, its chief executive officer said on Tuesday.
Colombia, one of the world's top coal exporters, is looking to double production of the material in coming years from current levels to around 80 million tonnes per year as it aims to take advantage of growing demand in many emerging markets.

China's 2011 coal imports seen off 2010 record
BEIJING, Sept 6 (Reuters) - China's coal imports this year are expected to pull back from the record level in 2010 despite strong domestic demand, as growth in local production and transportation capacity help meet overall demand, an industry official said on Tuesday.
Dong Yueying, secretary-general of China Coal Transport and Distribution Association (CCTD), told a coal conference in Beijing that he expected about 150 million tonnes of coal will be imported this year.

Euro Coal-Steady, few trades seen
LONDON, Sept 6 (Reuters) - European prompt physical coal fell by around 50 cents a tonne on Tuesday for the second day running but such a small movement in prices was negligible, traders and European utilities said.
Overall, coal remained in slight oversupply in Europe where the majority of utilities have ample supplies booked for the rest of the year and several continued to be active sellers of prompt cargoes.

Crude Gains a Second Day on U.S. Stockpile Decline as Storms Threaten Gulf (Source: Bloomberg)
Oil climbed for a second day in New York on speculation a storm building in the Gulf of Mexico poses a threat to supply in the U.S., amid shrinking crude stockpiles in the world’s biggest consumer. Futures advanced from the highest settlement in five weeks after the industry-funded American Petroleum Institute said inventories fell 2.97 million barrels last week. An Energy Department report today may show supplies slid 2 million barrels as Tropical Storm Lee shut output, a Bloomberg News survey of analysts show. Another cyclone, Nate, formed off Mexico, becoming the third now churning in the Atlantic basin. “Output outages in the Gulf of Mexico and a low pressure system over Mexico’s Bay of Campeche were the key drivers,” John Peters, a senior economist at Commonwealth Bank of Australia, said in a note today.

POLL-China refineries to raise Sept runs to highest in 2011
BEIJING, Sept 7 (Reuters) - Leading Chinese refineries will raise their crude oil throughput in September to the highest level this year, after PetroChina  restarted a major crude unit in its largest Dalian refinery, a Reuters poll showed.
The 12 plants, which account for nearly a third of China's capacity and mostly lie in coastal regions, plan to process 2.94 million barrels per day (bpd) of crude oil this month, up 5.8 percent from August.

Oil producers target Asia as outlook in West bleak
SINGAPORE, Sept 7 (Reuters) - Oil producers from Brazil to Azerbaijan are targeting Asia to expand sales as growth falters in the U.S. and Europe, highlighting confidence that the world's fastest-growing energy market will offset any demand slump in industrialised nations.
At Singapore's annual Asia-Pacific Petroleum Conference (APPEC) this week, company executives are still upbeat about booming energy consumption in the region, despite the uncertainty surrounding the pace of global economic growth.

Iran imports 4-5 cargoes of gasoline per month-sources
SINGAPORE, Sept 7 (Reuters) - Iran has been importing four to five cargoes of gasoline per month, with most of it supplied by China as the Islamic Republic finds ways to get around the U.S.-led sanctions, three industry sources familiar with the matter said.  
"For sure Iranians are importing gasoline from Asia, China namely," one source said. "Suppliers sell to traders on a free-on-board (FOB) basis and they know that the cargo will end up in Iran," he added.

Oil up at $113, on lower stocks, weak dollar
LONDON, Sept 7 (Reuters) - Oil was up at just over $113 a barrel on Wednesday, underpinned by expectations of lower U.S. crude stocks after a storm disrupted production in the Gulf of Mexico, and optimism about a new support package for the U.S. economy.
"Oil does seem to have an ability to stay up despite appalling economic data, due to Middle East unrest, hurricanes and dollar weakness," said Christopher Bellew, a trader at Jefferies Bache.

China nickel ore imports to slow in H2 vs H1 - Jinchuan exec
SHANGHAI, Sept 7 (Reuters) - China's nickel ore imports are expected to slow in the second half compared with the first, an executive at the country's top nickel producer Jinchuan Group told Reuters on Wednesday.
Wu Jun, Vice President of Jinchuan Group Ltd, did not elaborate. Wu also said the company expects to achieve its 2011 nickel output target of 130,000 tonnes this year.

China's H2 steel output growth set to slow- CISA
SHANGHAI, Sept 7 (Reuters) - China's steel output growth is likely to decelerate in the second half in line with slowing economic growth, a senior industry official said on Wednesday, but annual production could still hit a record.
Steel output would be above 700 million tonnes should the sector continue to grow at the blistering clip it recorded in the first half of the year, Wang Xiaoqi, vice chairman of the China Iron & Steel Association (CISA), told an industry conference.

Iron Ore-Spot prices steady; mills optimistic - analyst
SHANGHAI, Sept 7 (Reuters) - Spot iron ore prices for 63.5/63-percent grade in China were steady at $190 per tonne on Wednesday, as some steel mills suspended purchases of raw material until they see a decisive lift in steel prices first, traders said.
"A few mills have started buying iron ore for the winter season, while most are still on the sidelines, waiting for a bigger profit margin from steel prices," said a Shanghai-based trader.

China's 2011 steel output seen at 706 mln T - CISA
SHANGHAI, Sept 7 (Reuters) - Steel output in the world's top steel producer China is likely to hit a fresh record in excess of 700 million tonnes this year based on first-half production, a senior official with the China Iron & Steel Association (CISA) said on Wednesday.
"Based on steel production in the first half, China's steel output may reach 706 million tonnes and likely 710 million tonnes this year, but steel output growth is set to slow," Wang Xiaoqi, vice chairman of the China Iron & Steel Association, told an industry conference in Shanghai.

Brazil to double mine royalties in legal overhaul
BRASILIA, Sept 6 (Reuters) - Brazil's overhaul of its mining code will likely double average royalty rates for minerals, Mines and Energy Minister Edison Lobao said on Tuesday.
Previously Lobao had said the government was considering a proposal to increase royalties to an average of 4 percent from 2 percent, but that the issue was still being studied.

Gold Rebounds After Declining for Two-Days on Outlook For U.S. Stimulus (Source: Bloomberg)
Gold for immediate delivery rose as much as 0.4 percent to $1,824.95 an ounce, and traded at $1,823.65 at 8:23 a.m. Singapore time. December-delivery futures in New York gained as much as 0.6 percent to $1,827.60 an ounce.

China looks to save struggling shipping sector at any cost
SINGAPORE, Sept 6 (Reuters) - China's campaign to protect its maritime industry during a severe downturn will become more costly for foreign companies as Beijing grabs a bigger slice of the profits for shipping iron ore, coal and grains to the world's second largest economy.
China's shipping sector -- led by state-owned COSCO Group -- has become one of the world's most influential with its fleet more than doubling over the last decade, matching the country's appetite for commodities and raw materials.

Baltic index rises, rally seen losing steam
LONDON, Sept 6 (Reuters) - The Baltic Exchange's main sea freight index or BDI, which tracks rates to ship dry commodities, rose to its highest in nearly nine months on Tuesday although there were doubts if a recent rally was likely to be sustainable.
Brokers said a growing ship glut was set to cap dry bulk freight rate gains in the coming months.            

Vale in talks to sell mega iron ore vessels
LONDON, Sept 5 (Reuters) - Brazilian mining giant Vale  is in talks with Chinese and other ship owners to sell or lease its planned fleet of giant bulk carriers, a Vale official told Reuters on Monday.
The move comes less than three months after Vale's first iron ore carrier, at 362 metres long the world's largest dry-bulk vessel, failed to gain access to Chinese ports and was forced to divert to Italy on its maiden voyage.