Techs, materials lead Asia shares higher
SINGAPORE, April 20 (Reuters) - Asian stocks rose on Wednesday as strong results from chip maker Intel Corp prompted a rally in tech shares, while renewed strength in metals prices boosted materials companies and also lifted the commodity-linked Australian dollar.
"We have seen a little bounce, not a big bounce," said Austock Group senior client adviser Michael Heffernan. "All guns are blazing at the moment in the right direction and there is very little blood on the floor."
Indonesian palm oil demand seen up 80 pct by 2015
JAKARTA, April 19 (Reuters) - Consumption of crude palm oil (CPO) in Indonesia, the world's top producer, will rise by about 80 percent to 18.7 million tonnes by 2015, due to greater demand from downstream industries, a government official said.
Southeast Asia's largest economy consumed between 10.5 million and 11 million tonnes of CPO in 2010, but will increase this to 28 million tonnes by 2020, Abdul Rochim, an official at the Indonesian industry ministry told Reuters in an interview.
Oil World ups Indonesia palm oil output forecast
HAMBURG, April 19 (Reuters) - Indonesia, the world's top palm oil exporter, will produce 23.8 million tonnes in 2011 versus 22.0 million tonnes last year, Hamburg-based oilseeds analysts Oil World forecast on Tuesday.
The forecast is 100,000 tonnes higher than Oil World's previous estimate though below the 25.0 million forecast by industry analyst Dorab Mistry.
US gasoline demand declines as prices climb
NEW YORK, April 19 (Reuters) - Gasoline prices are getting close to levels where demand from American consumers is likely to fall sharply, MasterCard Advisors warned on Tuesday.
Demand last week dropped 1.6 percent from year-ago levels, after retail prices climbed more than a third from a year earlier to more than $3.80 a gallon, MasterCard's weekly data showed.
Italy seeks ways to enable Libyan rebel oil sales
ROME, April 19 (Reuters) - A meeting of Western and Middle Eastern states in Rome next month will seek ways of enabling oil from Libyan rebel areas to be sold on world markets, Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini said on Tuesday.
The comments underline the uncertainty created by United Nations sanctions, which were intended to constrain Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi but have also prevented rebels from selling oil to raise funds themselves.
Iran says oil output hike would not cool price
TEHRAN, April 19 (Reuters) - Oil prices are likely to stay high and adding more crude to the market would not cool them, Iran said on Tuesday, striking a typically bullish stance a day after other OPEC members said costly fuel could slow global growth.
At an oil and gas trade fair in Tehran, OPEC Secretary General Abdullah Al-Badri also predicted continued price strength.
U.S. wheat rises for 4th day on weather, corn up 1 pct
SINGAPORE, April 20 (Reuters) - U.S. wheat futures gained around half a percent on Wednesday, rising for a fourth straight session as adverse weather threatened to curb supplies from top exporters the United States, Canada and Europe.
" Farmers might be forced to switch to soybeans if corn plantings continue to get delayed, which will be bearish for soy and bullish for corn," said Ker Chung Yang, an analyst at Phillip Futures in Singapore.
Full Ivorian cocoa export revival to take weeks
ABIDJAN, April 19 (Reuters) - Ivory Coast cocoa exports will reach normal volumes no sooner than the end of April as authorities iron out new tax and customs procedures, banks reopen and security improves, shippers said on Tuesday.
The world's top grower of cocoa is slowly recovering from a violent post-election power struggle, which ended last week with the arrest of former President Laurent Gbagbo.
Elections may pressure Russia to export grains-SovEcon
SHARM EL-SHEIKH, Egypt April 19 (Reuters) - Russia may export 5-10 million tonnes of grain in the 2011/12 season to appease farmers grappling with lower domestic prices and higher production costs ahead of elections, an analyst said on Tuesday.
Russia, a former major grain exporter, lost a third of its crop last year in the worst drought in a century that slashed the harvest to just 61 million tonnes from 97 million in 2009 and 108 million in 2008.
India asks sugar mills to register for exports-source
NEW DELHI, April 19 (Reuters) - India, which has allowed exports of 500,000 tonnes of sugar following a bumper crop, has asked mills to register starting Tuesday, a source in the food ministry said.
The official, who is directly involved in the decision making process, said permission would be granted within three days of the applications and the mills would have to ship out within four and half months.
Ivory Coast rains to boost cocoa size, quality
ABIDJAN, April 19 (Reuters) - Favourable weather in Ivory Coast's cocoa growing regions last week was expected to help boost volumes during the mid-crop harvest, adding to a backlog of beans stockpiled at the nation's ports.
Farmers and meteorologists reported abundant rains mixed with lengthy spells of sun across most regions of the top grower nation, which is emerging from a violent political standoff that halted exports since late-January.
India's March rubber output up 7.4 pct on year
MUMBAI, April 19 (Reuters) - India's natural rubber production in March rose 7.4 percent on year to 54,400 tonnes, the state-run Rubber Board said in a statement on Tuesday, as record high prices prompted farmers to increase tapping.
The south Asian country's production during April 2010 to March 2011 stood at 861,950 tonnes, up 3.7 percent on year, it said.
Floods cut 1 pct of Thai 2011 rubber output
BANGKOK, April 19 (Reuters) - Thailand should produce 3.46 million tonnes of rubber this year, down one percent from a January forecast due to heavy floods, the chief of an industry body in the world's biggest rubber producer and exporter said on Tuesday. That was still 15 percent above last year's annual production of 3.0 million tonnes.
"We still believe we can produce around 3.46 million tonnes this year, or around a 1 percent drop from the previous forecast," Luckchai Kittipol, president of the Thai Rubber Association, told Reuters, referring to a previous forecast of 3.49 million tonnes made in January.
Copper finishes firmer on strong US housing data, euro
NEW YORK/LONDON, April 19 (Reuters) - Copper closed higher on Tuesday, regaining some ground after six straight losing sessions as a weaker dollar lent early support and robust U.S. housing starts pushed prices to session highs.
"I think copper's getting a bounce off of positive housing numbers today. Earnings have been pretty good. Unfortunately, we have these debt problems and we'll see how those shake out. But for now, the market is choosing to look past it," said Matthew Zeman, head of trading with Kingsview Financial in Chicago.
Gold steady, silver hits 31-year high on weak dollar
SINGAPORE, April 20 (Reuters) - Gold prices held steady below $1,500 and silver hit a 31-year high on Wednesday, supported by a weak dollar and concerns over a sovereign debt crisis in the euro zone.
"Fifteen hundred dollars seems to be a natural psychological barrier," said Natalie Robertson, commodities strategist at ANZ.
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