Overseas markets, demand lift palm oil to 3-week highs
KUALA LUMPUR, May 19 (Reuters) - Malaysian palm oil futures hit more than three-week highs on strong commodity markets and hopes of rising overseas demand although concerns over a build up in stocks may curb prices. "This is the beginning of weather market. Palm oil was supported by overseas grain futures at the time when domestic export data looks good," said a trader with foreign brokerage in Kuala Lumpur.
Dollar down as commodities and stocks rise
SINGAPORE, May 19 (Reuters) - The dollar slipped with funds sensing a rally this month is ending and expectations increasing that commodity prices have resumed an uptrend, pushing up equities in Asia's energy and materials sectors. Investors have been struggling to find a common theme in financial markets after two routs in commodities over the past two weeks led to a reduction of risky assets in portfolios. Economic data out of the United States and China also sent mixed signals.
Wheat dips from 3-week top, corn rises for 6th day
SINGAPORE, May 19(Reuters) - U.S. wheat climbed to a three-week top before giving up gains to fall 1 percent, while corn rose for a 6th straight session as adverse crop weather across top exporters Europe and the United States threatened to curb grain supplies. "The usual time to finish corn planting is over, farmers are trying to speed it up but the weather is not helping," said Ker Chung Yang, investment analyst at Phillip Futures in Singapore.
Russia sows over half targeted spring grain area
MOSCOW, May 19 (Reuters) - Russia sowed 16.4 million hectares with spring grains by May 18, 54.2 percent of the targeted area and up 2 million hectares from a year ago in spite of a delay caused by a late spring, farm ministry data showed.
An Agriculture Ministry statement issued late on Wednesday did not provide data on the sowing area for each of Russia's main cereals, spring wheat and barley.
India struggles to perfect art of monsoon forecasting
NEW DELHI, May 17 (Reuters) - Technological wizardry may have improved forecasting of the crucial monsoon rains in India, but success still remains, at best, patchy, making it tough for farmers to plan crops and meet demand in the trillion-dollar economy.
This year, the country has forecast a normal monsoon. In theory, that should mean higher farm output, which could tame food prices and help persuade the government to ease curbs on rice and wheat exports, benefiting other Asian economies that are struggling with food shortages.
China's 2010 corn harvest at record 177.25 mln T - Stats bureau
BEIJING, May 19 (Reuters) - China's 2010 corn harvest was at a record 177.25 million tonnes, according to figures published by the National Bureau of Statistics on Thursday.
The figure was much higher than earlier estimate by the China National Grain and Oils Information Center (CNGOIC), which put at 172.5 million tonnes.
U.S. Midwest farmland values rise 16 pct in qtr
CHICAGO, May 18 (Reuters) - Farmland values in the heart of the U.S. Midwest jumped 16 percent in quarter, spurred by rising commodity prices prompting farmers to buy land, a Federal Reserve bank survey said on Wednesday.
"At 16 percent, the year-over-year increase in farmland values in the first quarter of 2011 for the Seventh Federal Reserve District was the largest since 2007 and was last surpassed in 1979," the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago said in its quarterly review.
Strategie Grains cuts French wheat fcast on drought
PARIS, May 18 (Reuters) - French analyst Strategie Grains on Wednesday said it had cut its estimate for the French soft wheat harvest to less than 35 million tonnes, from 36 million seen last week, due to a continued drought in the country.
That compared to 35.6 million tonnes of wheat harvested in 2010/2011.
"This figure could be revised down due to the high temperatures expected for the weekend and further dry weather," the analyst told Reuters, stressing that the 2011 spring was atypical and made forecasts more difficult.
German farmers see smaller 2011 grain crop
HAMBURG, May 18 (Reuters) - Germany's 2011 grain crop of all types is likely to fall to 40.7 million tonnes as recent dry weather has reduced yields, the German Farm Cooperatives Association said on Wednesday in its new harvest forecast.
This was down on its previous estimate of 44.1 million tonnes for grains of all types in April.The rapeseed harvest is likely to fall 22.6 percent on the year to 4.4 million tonnes, it said.
Drought trims European wheat crop forecasts
PARIS, May 18 (Reuters) - Estimates for the European Union's wheat harvest are shrinking by the day, with analysts cutting crop forecasts again on Wednesday as plants wilted in a months-long drought that looks set to continue for a while.
Several months of drier-than-usual weather have parched farmland and cut water reserves in key grain producers France and Germany, stoking worries of a drought similar to that experienced in 1976 and fuelling concern for the final harvests.
Sugar down, supply surplus weighs, coffee eases
LONDON, May 19 (Reuters) - ICE sugar fell in early trade as importers delayed purchases and upward revisions to crop forecasts weighed. Cocoa and coffee edged lower as commodities consolidated following the recent sell-off.
ICE raw sugar futures were lower as an improving supply outlook and expectations that the global market would shift into surplus weighed on prices.
Vietnam revises down April coffee exports to 2.1 mln bags
HANOI, May 19 (Reuters) - Vietnam's actual coffee loadings last month reached 126,000 tonnes, or 2.1 million bags, the customs department said on Thursday, down slightly from a government estimate of 130,000 tonnes.
The export volume, down from 160,600 tonnes shipped in March by the world's top robusta producer, is still a rise of 7.3 percent from April last year. It helped fill in the shortages caused by production declines in rival robusta producer Indonesia.
Guatemala coffee output seen up slightly in 2012-attache
WASHINGTON, May 18 (Reuters) - Following are selected highlights from a report issued by a U.S. Department of Agriculture attache in Guatemala: "Coffee production for MY 2012 is forecast to remain at 3.88 million bags, slightly above the level of 2011 production. Total bean exports are forecast at 3.67 million bags. Guatemala has positioned itself as a marketing leader with worldwide recognition for its specialty coffee.
The United States continues as Guatemala's biggest export market, accounting for 46 percent of its total coffee exports, 3 percent down from previous year. The European Union, as a block, is expanding considerably its purchase of Guatemalan coffee, accounting for 33 percent of Guatemalan exports.
India's cane, sugar output seen up 7-10 pct in 2011/12
NEW YORK, May 18 (Reuters) - India's sugar cane plantings and production in 2011/12 may increase from 7 to 10 percent, the director general of the Indian Sugar Mills Association (ISMA) said Wednesday.
Abinash Verma told delegates at the one-day International Sugar Organization-Datagro conference that Indian cane plantings last year reached 4.97 million hectares.
Colombia holds '11 coffee crop estimate despite rains
BOGOTA, May 18 (Reuters) - Colombia's coffee federation said it would maintain its forecast for 2011 production at between 9 million and 9.5 million 60-kg bags despite torrential rains that have battered coffee farms for months.
Coffee exports fell in April due to the rains. But the federation's head Luis Genaro Munoz said on Wednesday production would rise in the second half of the year when the weather was expected to improve.
No comments:
Post a Comment