FOREX-Dollar hits 3-1/2 month high vs yen; seen extending gains
TOKYO, Feb 15 (Reuters) - The dollar hit a fresh 3-1/2-month high against the yen on Wednesday and was seen extending its recent gains as the Bank of Japan's easing steps the day before helped trigger more stop-loss buying.
On top of the BOJ's expansion of its asset-buying scheme, Japan's shrinking current account surplus, its trade deficit and signs of economic recovery in the United States were all weighing on the yen, triggering big gains in the shares of Japanese exporters on Wednesday.
Markets consolidate as EU tests Greek commitment
TOKYO, Feb 15 (Reuters) - Markets consolidated as investors waited on Greece to demonstrate its commitment to deliver harsh reforms in exchange for a vital rescue deal, while European officials scaled back expectations
"The adoption of such targets coincided with the burst of the IT bubble which sent global equities lower, but stock markets of these Asian countries were the first to emerge from the downtrend," said Eiji Kinouchi, chief technical analyst at Daiwa Securities.
US soy dips from 4-month high; corn, wheat firm
SINGAPORE, Feb 15 (Reuters) - Chicago soybeans fell as the market took a breather after prices climbed to a four-month high in the last session, boosted by the prospect of more U.S. exports as hot and dry conditions threaten Brazil's crop.
"The market is watching the situation in Brazil and Argentina: people still think that South American production is lower than what the USDA has estimated."
Collision disrupts grain exports at Brazil port
SAO PAULO, Feb 14 (Reuters) - About a quarter of Brazil's shipments of soy and corn to world markets were disrupted on Tuesday, a day after a dry bulk carrier collided with and damaged a major grain terminal at Santos Port.
Late on Monday, the dry bulk carrier MV Milagro, under the Maltese flag, knocked into the water one of the four grain loaders at the Guaruja Grain Terminals (TGG) complex at Santos, Latin America's largest port, a TGG representative said on Tuesday.
Downpours set to reach Argentine farm belt on Thursday
BUENOS AIRES, Feb 14 (Reuters) - Abundant rains should sweep across Argentina's main agricultural belt starting on Thursday, bringing further relief to late-planted soy and corn crops affected by a long drought, a local forecaster said on Tuesday.
Crops in the South American country, the world's biggest provider of soybean oil and meal and the No. 2 corn supplier, will have lower yields than initially expected this season after weeks of dry weather that came to an end in mid-January.
Rains hamper key Colombian coffee flowering period
BOGOTA, Feb 14 (Reuters) - Colombia is likely to see a worse-than-expected main coffee harvest in late 2012 as heavy rains limit sunlight and damage flowering in key producing provinces, farmers and exporters said on Tuesday.
Flowering in the first few months of the year is critical for when Colombia harvests its main crop from September to December in six of its eastern and central provinces, which account for more than 61 percent of total national output.
Brazil sugar output minimal in interharvest -Unica
BRASILIA, Feb 14 (Reuters) - Brazil's center south cane crushing and sugar output was minimal in the last fortnight with only a handful of mills still crushing the mostly finished 2011/12 harvest, data from cane industry association Unica showed on Tuesday.
The total amount of sugar cane harvested between April 1 last year, when the season began, and Feb. 1 was down 11.4 percent to 493.5 million tonnes compared with the crush of the entire 2010/11 season.
Euro Coal-Prices stable despite many cargo offers
LONDON, Feb 14 (Reuters) - Heavy selling of prompt DES ARA cargoes continued on Tuesday by utilities and traders but there were more buyers in evidence than at the start of the week and prices were barely changed.
A rise in temperatures after a spell of freezing weather has trimmed gas and power demand and prices but had little effect on coal, principally because coal prices showed a minimal reaction to the freeze.
Oil World forecasts small Ukrainian rapeseed crop
HAMBURG, Feb 14 (Reuters) - The double blow of bitterly cold winter weather and an autumn drought will cut Ukraine's 2012 rapeseed crop to 1.05 million tonnes from 1.38 million tonnes in 2011, Hamburg-based oilseeds analysts Oil World forecast on Tuesday.
"This reflects very dry autumn conditions due to which more than 20 percent of the Ukrainian rapeseed area failed to emerge and recent winter kill temperatures, potentially resulting in additional irreversible damage to the already low crop," Oil World said.
Chinalco unit sees China 2012 aluminium output up 10.5 pct
HONG KONG, Feb 14 (Reuters) - The trading arm of Aluminum Corp of China expects China's production of primary aluminium to rise 10.5 percent this year as capacity grows, even as weak aluminium prices spurred some smelters to delay the start-up of new capacity in January, said a report on the company's website (www.chalco.com.cn)
Chinalco is the country's top aluminium producer through its listed Chalco.
China's Feb-March refined copper imports to fall on weak demand
HONG KONG, Feb 14 (Reuters) - China is likely to import less refined copper from the spot market in February and March due to plentiful stocks and weak demand which are also weighing on Shanghai prices, industry sources said on Tuesday.
Purchases by the world's top copper consumer are also being limited by unfavourable arbitrage, with traders refraining from buying copper from the London Metals Exchange and selling it in the Shanghai Futures Exchange or the domestic spot market due to the lower prices.
Copper rebounds, eyes Greece resolution
SHANGHAI, Feb 15 (Reuters) - London copper rose after falling for three sessions, as the dollar fell and markets waited for Greece's final steps to implement a debt deal and avert a messy default, but lack of buying from China capped gains.
"The Greece saga is just dragging and dragging -- there's no sense of closure and this week we're going to see more of the same," metals analyst Edward Meir at INTL FCStone said.
India Odisha state halts operations at SAIL iron ore mine
BHUBANESWAR, India, Feb 14 (Reuters) - India's eastern Odisha state has asked Steel Authority of India (SAIL), the country's largest domestic steel producer, to stop operations at Bolani iron ore mine after forest clearance expired on Feb. 11, a government official said.
"It was a three-month temporary working permission. They have been asked to stop all kinds of mining activities till they obtain the clearance," U.C. Jena, Odisha's deputy director for mines, told Reuters.
Chinalco unit sees China 2012 aluminium output up 10.5 pct
HONG KONG, Feb 14 (Reuters) - The trading arm of Aluminum Corp of China expects China's production of primary aluminium to rise 10.5 percent this year as capacity grows, even as weak aluminium prices spurred some smelters to delay the start-up of new capacity in January, said a report on the company's website
Chinalco is the country's top aluminium producer through its listed Chalco .
Aurubis to close Swiss copper products plant
HAMBURG, Feb 14 (Reuters) - Aurubis AG , Europe's largest copper producer, will close its copper products plant in Yverdon-Les-Bains in Switzerland and transfer output to its works in Olen in Belgium.
The Swiss plant produces about 4,400 tonnes of complex copper profiles annually, mostly specialist units for individual customer orders.
Brent holds above $118 as supply trumps Euro zone woes
SINGAPORE, Feb 15 (Reuters) - Brent crude held above $118 as supply concerns in the Middle East sparked by tensions over Iran and disruptions in South Sudan trumped a worrisome outlook for Greece, which could face a messy bankruptcy.
"The oil market continues to be caught between a deterioration in the global economy and supply issues, including actual supply disruptions in Sudan," said Jeremy Friesen, a commodity strategist at Societe Generale.
S.Korea LNG stock at over 60 pct of storage capacity
SEOUL, Feb 15 (Reuters) - South Korea's current inventory of liquefied natural gas (LNG) is at over 60 percent of the country's storage capacity of 3.8 million tonnes, down from 80 percent of capacity as of mid-January, a government source said on Wednesday.
The inventory is "slightly higher than usual levels seen at this time of a year," the source said. South Korea's LNG imports dropped by 41 percent in January from a year earlier, customs data showed earlier on Wednesday.
US crude stocks seen up fourth straight week
Feb 14 (Reuters) - U.S. crude oil inventories likely rose last week for the fourth straight time on higher imports and as refinery utilization dipped, an expanded Reuters poll of analysts showed on Tuesday.
On average, the poll showed that domestic crude stockpiles added 1.5 million barrels in the week to Feb. 10, with nine out of 11 analysts predicting a build, according to the poll.
Iron Ore-Shanghai steel falls for 5th day, ore at 6-week low
SINGAPORE, Feb 15 (Reuters) - Shanghai steel futures fell for a fifth straight day to one-month lows on Wednesday, dragging down benchmark spot iron ore to its weakest in six weeks and underscoring China's slow steel market that traders hope will pick up pace next month.
Australian miner Fortescue Metals Group , which sells the bulk of its iron ore to China, is among those looking at a recovery in Chinese steel demand next month, saying it sees iron ore prices rising in the near term.
Gold edges up, fresh Greek concerns still weigh
SINGAPORE, Feb 15 (Reuters) - Gold edged higher but remained in a tight range around $1,720 an ounce, with investors on the sidelines because Greece has yet to convince European leaders of its ability to stick to unpopular reforms needed to secure a bailout.
"The postponement of the Greek cause seems to have taken some motivation out of the metal's trade," said a Singapore-based trader.
METALS-Copper rebounds, eyes Greece resolution
SHANGHAI, Feb 15 (Reuters) - London copper rose on Wednesday after falling for three sessions, as the dollar fell and markets waited for Greece's final steps to implement a debt deal and avert a messy default, but lack of buying from China capped gains.
Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange rose 0.9 percent to $8,488 a tonne by 0414 GMT, paring losses from the previous session.
PRECIOUS-Gold edges up, fresh Greek concerns still weigh
SINGAPORE, Feb 15 (Reuters) - Gold edged higher on Wednesday but remained in a tight range around $1,720 an ounce, with investors on the sidelines because Greece has yet to convince European leaders of its ability to stick to unpopular reforms needed to secure a bailout.
Euro zone finance ministers dropped plans on Tuesday for a special face-to-face meeting on Greece's new international bailout, saying political party chiefs in Athens had failed to provide the required commitment to reform.
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