Wednesday, April 18, 2012

20120418 1551 Global Market & Commodities Related News.

Shares buoyed by easing worries over Spanish debt
Asian shares rose as firm demand at Spanish debt sales and positive U.S. corporate earnings boosted investor confidence in riskier assets.

FOREX-Yen falls broadly as risk currencies stage bounce
TOKYO/SYDNEY, April 18 (Reuters) - The yen fell broadly, extending its slip from a seven-week high against the dollar earlier this week, as a revival in risk appetite saw Wall Street score its biggest gains in a month.
Upbeat earnings from U.S. companies such as Coca-Cola , Spain's successful move to raise money in the debt market and an unexpectedly strong reading of German investor confidence all worked to boost market confidence.

GRAINS-Corn near 3-week low on U.S. weather, soy dips
Chicago corn fell for a fourth consecutive session to its lowest in nearly three weeks, weighed down by near-perfect crop weather in the U.S. Midwest which has raised hopes of ample supplies.

UK wheat exports running behind last season
UK wheat exports slowed slightly during February and remain well behind last year's pace despite the shipment of a further cargo to the United States, customs data showed on Tuesday.

Physical Sugar-Indian mills' export incentives decline
Indian sugar mills' incentives to export are diminishing as global prices sink to four-month lows, while most of the government's latest allowed tranche of unrestricted exports have been allocated.

Oil World cuts Argentine, Brazil soy crop estimate
Hamburg-based oilseeds analyst Oil World said on Tuesday it had cut its forecast of Argentina's 2012 soybean crop by 1.0 million tonnes and that of Brazil by 0.5 million tonnes after drought damaged harvests.

OIL-Brent stable at $118 as euro zone concerns ease
Brent crude futures held steady above $118 as concerns on the euro zone crisis eased after a successful Spanish debt auction and a better growth forecast from the International Monetary Fund.

U.S. crude inventories seen rising further due to imports
U.S. commercial crude stockpiles were forecast to have risen last week after data showed the largest three-week build in more than three years due to higher imports, an expanded Reuters poll of analysts showed on Tuesday.  

METALS-Copper surges on South Korea's plan to buy Chinese stocks
Copper rose, led by equities on news that South Korea's central bank will buy $300 million in Chinese stocks over the next three months.

China's lead output, consumption seen strong to Q3
HONG KONG, April 18 (Reuters) - China's production of refined lead is likely to increase until the third-quarter of the year as domestic demand strengthens and smelters use up plentiful local concentrate and imported raw materials, smelter officials and analysts said on Wednesday.
China is the world's top producer and consumer of refined lead, which is predominantly used to make batteries.

China's steel companies lost 1 bln yuan in Q1-CISA
China's steel companies lost about 1 billion yuan ($158.69 million) in the first quarter compared with a profit of 25.8 billion yuan a year ago, an official with the China Iron & Steel Association said on Wednesday.

China's daily crude steel output hit record in early Apr-CISA data
SHANGHAI, April 18 (Reuters) - China's daily crude steel output hit a record of 2.031 million tonnes in the first 10 days of April, up 7.4 percent compared with the last 11 days in March, data from the China Iron & Steel Association (CISA) showed on Wednesday.
This was higher than the previous record of 2.018 million tonnes per day hit in the last 10 days of June last year.

Drops in iron ore output by majors help prop up price
SYDNEY, April 18 (Reuters) - Global miners BHP Billiton , Vale  and Rio Tinto  all posted sharp drops in quarterly iron ore production due to bad weather, a factor that has helped support iron ore prices at relatively high levels despite signs of a softening market.
The falls in output come as competition heats up in global bulk commodities markets due to demand from China for imported industrial raw materials finally showing signs of waning after years of double-digit growth.

Jiangxi sees high China copper stocks as temporary
Jiangxi Copper Co Ltd  , China's top copper producer, said high inventories in China are a temporary issue and will gradually come down, although end users remain cautious and some expect lower prices and are keeping inventories low.  

BHP iron ore, coal mines hit by bad weather, strikes
BHP Billiton on Wednesday posted sharp drops in iron ore and coal production - - for the first quarter of 2012 due to bad weather and labour unrest.

BHP Billiton March quarter iron ore up 14 pct vs yr ago
SYDNEY, April 18 (Reuters) - BHP Billiton  , the world's biggest mining company, posted a 14 percent rise in March-quarter iron ore output versus a year ago and said its guidance for Western Australian ore production was unchanged.  
BHP said production from its Queensland coal mines "remained constrained" as a result of industrial action and heavy rains.

Most U.S. steelmakers see gloomy first quarter
NEW YORK, April 17 (Reuters) - Most U.S. steelmakers will report lower first-quarter earnings and will see little improvement until the construction industry rebounds, analysts said.
Wall Street got a preview of what to expect last month, when Nucor Inc  and Steel Dynamics Inc  each gave a first-quarter profit forecast below estimates, saying they were hit by an unexpected pricing squeeze and lower customer orders. AK Steel  said it expected a first-quarter loss because of weak demand.

Vale's Q1 iron ore output slips to near 70 mln tonnes
SAO PAULO, April 17 (Reuters) - Brazilian miner Vale  produced nearly 70 million tonnes of iron ore in the first quarter, the company said in a securities filing on Tuesday.
That production was down 2.2 percent from 71.5 million tonnes during the first quarter of 2011. Production of iron pellets rose 1.4 percent during the period from a year ago to 12.7 million tonnes.  

Global Copper market to remain tight in 2012 -GFMS
NEW YORK, April 17 (Reuters) - A limited global supply of copper concentrate should keep the market in a production deficit in 2012, supporting prices above current levels even though Chinese demand growth is expected to moderate further this year.
This structural supply-side tightness should limit the downside for copper this year, keeping prices of the industrial metal relatively stable in a range of $8,300 to $8,800 per tonne in 2012, an industry report said on Tuesday. Copper on Tuesday was trading at around $8,050 per tonne.

Italy copper, alloy product output seen down in 2012
MILAN, April 17 (Reuters) - Output of copper and aluminium semi-finished products in Italy, a major European producer, is expected to fall this year as economic crisis and volatile metal prices hit demand, the director of Italy's non-ferrous metals association Assomet said.
"We have a situation of general crisis, which starts with consumption and goes all the way up to production," Claudio De Cani told Reuters in a telephone interview on Tuesday. "High prices are just adding fuel to the fire."

Vale's Q1 iron ore output slips to near 70 mln tonnes
Brazilian miner Vale produced nearly 70 million tonnes of iron ore in the first quarter, the company said in a securities filing on Tuesday.

CESCO-Rio Tinto sees 2nd half copper output up
SANTIAGO, April 17 (Reuters) - Global miner Rio Tinto   sees its copper output rising in the second half of the year as ore grades at its Kennecott Utah copper mine improve, Andrew Harding, the company's head of  copper, said on Tuesday.
Output was hit in the first quarter due to a dip in ore quality at Kennecott, but grades will recover in the second half, Harding told Reuters in an interview at the CRU copper conference in Santiago.

Global Copper market to remain tight in 2012 -GFMS
A limited global supply of copper concentrate should keep the market in a production deficit in 2012, supporting prices above current levels even though Chinese demand growth is expected to moderate further this year.

PRECIOUS-Gold flatlines, fragile euro weighs
Gold traded nearly flat after a successful Spanish debt auction eased fears about the euro zone debt crisis, but the upside is capped as the euro remains under pressure ahead of a longer-term debt sale in Madrid later this week.

Newcrest sees steady 400,000 oz gold output in Indonesia
The gold producer sees steady gold output of 400-450,000 ounces this year from its Gosowong mine in Indonesia, an executive said on Tuesday.

METALS-Copper surges on South Korea's plan to buy Chinese stocks
SHANGHAI, April 18 (Reuters) - Copper rose led by equities on news that South Korea's central bank will buy $300 million in Chinese stocks over the next three months.
Traders say Shanghai copper rose in tandem with the Shanghai Composite index in midmorning trading, leading to plenty of short-covering on the ShFE and copper arbitrage trades on the LME.

PRECIOUS-Gold flatlines, fragile euro weighs
SINGAPORE, April 18 (Reuters) - Gold traded nearly flat after a successful Spanish debt auction eased fears about the euro zone debt crisis, but the upside is capped as the euro remains under pressure ahead of a longer-term debt sale in Madrid later this week.  
Investors brushed off the soft U.S. industrial output and lower-than-expected housing starts data as relief over Spain's finances and a surprise jump in German business sentiment lifted equities and other riskier assets.

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