Gold up on lack of US debt progress; stocks flat
SINGAPORE, July 27 (Reuters) - Gold prices hit a record high at more than $1,623 an ounce and Asian stock markets were largely flat, as news out of Washington indicated politicians were making little progress in ending the deadlock over lifting the U.S. debt ceiling.
Republicans had to delay bringing a plan to a vote in the U.S. Congress because it was being rewritten, while an analyst at Standard & Poor's told CNBC that prioritising debt payments to avoid a default would be "deeply disruptive" to the economy.
Bloomberg : U.S. durable-goods orders rose 0.3 percent in June after a 2.1 percent gain in May, according to the median of 75 economists’ forecasts in a Bloomberg survey before a Commerce Department report due at 8:30 a.m. in Washington. Bookings excluding transportation equipment increased 0.5 percent, the survey showed.
China’s 29% Jump in Industrial Profit to Spur Growth by Fueling Investment (Bloomberg)
Chinese industrial companies’ profits grew at a faster pace even after the government raised interest rates and tightened credit to counter inflation. Net income climbed 28.7 percent in the first six months to 2.41 trillion yuan ($374 billion) from a year earlier, the National Bureau of Statistics said today. That compares with a 27.9 percent gain in January through May. Climbing profits for companies such as Anhui Conch Cement Co., the nation’s biggest cement producer, fuel investment that is underpinning the expansion of the fastest-growing major economy. The International Monetary Fund forecasts that gross domestic product will rise 9.6 percent this year, also bolstered by a government plan to build millions of low-cost homes.
U.S. corn eases after surging on yield worries
SYDNEY, July 27 (Reuters) - U.S. corn futures posted modest falls in early Asian trade as investors locked in profits after sharp gains the previous session on renewed concerns about sizzling temperatures stressing crops in the U.S. Midwest.
Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) corn for December delivery , the most actively traded harvest month contract, fell 0.29 percent to $6.84-3/4 per bushel, after surging 1.7 percent on Tuesday, the biggest percentage gain in nearly two weeks.
US corn crop seen below 13 bln bushel in 2011-FCStone
MELBOURNE, July 26 (Reuters) - U.S. corn output this year is likely to be below 13 billion bushels due to hot weather, compared with an USDA estimate for 13.47 billion, but price gains would be capped by demand rationing, the president of brokerage INTL FCStone said.
Sizzling heat across the U.S. grain belt last week may have hurt yields, especially for corn, which is in the critical pollination stage, but cooler weather and scattered showers this week could benefit stressed crops.
Vietnam rice export prices up 3 pct on Indonesia deal
HANOI, July 27 (Reuters) - Vietnamese rice export prices have risen as much as 3 percent in the past week after news that Vietnam had struck a deal to sell 500,000 tonnes to Indonesia, traders said on Wednesday.
"Prices have jumped around $20 a tonne and farmers are holding back the newly harvested paddy, making it hard to strike any other commercial deals now," a trader at a foreign company in Ho Chi Minh City said.
Wheat yields in southern N.Dakota seen lower--Tour
MANDAN, North Dakota, July 26 (Reuters) - Spring wheat yields were projected to decline this year in the southern half of North Dakota as a late start to the planting season and excessive moisture stressed the crop, allowing diseases to thrive, an annual tour found.
Huge pools of standing water covered large swaths of farmland across the state, submerging fields of corn, hay and hard red spring wheat.
Asian wheat buyers to step up buying after June slowdown-trade
MELBOURNE, July 27 (Reuters) - Asian wheat buyers are likely to boost purchases to cover supplies for September and October after a slowdown in buying since June on volatile prices, traders said on Wednesday.
Indonesia is expected to buy 150,000 tonnes for September, and 200,000 tonnes for October delivery, while Thailand is likely to take around 100,000 tonnes for arrival in September and October, traders told Reuters at a grains industry conference in Melbourne.
Brazil cane crush gains on last season, outlook dim
BRASILIA, July 26 (Reuters) - Crushing of cane in Brazil and production of sugar and ethanol made from it are catching up with the 2010 season, data from cane industry association Unica showed on Tuesday, but the crop may soon run out of puff.
The crush totaled 217.4 million tonnes from the start of the season through July 16. That was 15 percent less than by the same time last season but the gap had narrowed from a lag of 18 percent at the start of July.
Weekend rains help corn, soy in northern US Midwest
CHICAGO, July 26 (Reuters) - Rainstorms that hit the northern U.S. Midwest during the weekend arrived just in time for farmers like Larry Hummel of Illinois who saw a heatwave suck up excess moisture that had been stored in the soil since a wet spring.
"I did notice that right at the end of the week, it (the stress) was starting to show up in the crops," said Hummel, who planted about 2,500 acres of corn and 1,200 acres of soybeans this year.
Argentina allows 450,000 tonnes more in wheat sales
BUENOS AIRES, July 26 (Reuters) - Argentina's government approved the export of another 450,000 tonnes of 2010/11 wheat on Tuesday, saying farmers had declared additional stocks.
Argentina is a major wheat exporter, but the government restricts international shipments to ensure domestic supply as it grapples with high inflation. Corn shipments are also curbed with a quota system of export permits.
CHICAGO, July 27 (Reuters) - This year's U.S. corn crop continues to be defined by a widening gap between the state of crops on the western versus eastern sides of the Corn Belt. Key states on the western side such as Iowa and Minnesota boast higher overall corn crop condition ratings than their Eastern counterparts such as Illinois and Indiana after persistent wet conditions out east substantially delayed farmer activity.
But the more advanced state of the western belt crops could have left them more vulnerable to yield loss during last week's heat wave than the less advanced corn growing in the east, ensuring that the recent west versus east story may show further twists before the end of the season.
Sugar price spike to crumble as surplus looms (Reuters)
Sugar prices are forecast to fall from 30-year highs, with India rushing to raise exports and cash in, while port delays at top exporter Brazil ease, but crop problems persist.
Oil falls as U.S. debt crisis drags on; stocks gain unexpectedly
SINGAPORE, July 27 (Reuters) - Oil fell as a stalemate in the United States over raising the debt ceiling dragged on, with analysts saying the wrangling had already damaged the economy.
"The debt saga in the U.S. is weighing on both the futures contracts, and prices will remain rangebound till the time this issue is resolved," said Victor Shum, an analyst at Purvin & Gertz.
Chevron signs Wheatstone LNG sales deal with TEPCO
SYDNEY, July 27 (Reuters) - Chevron signed a liquefied natural gas supply deal with Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO), giving Japan, the world's biggest LNG importer, a supply boost as it seeks more LNG after a huge earthquake in March crippled parts of its nuclear energy sector.
Chevron agreed to supply TEPCO with 3.1 million tonnes of LNG per year for up to 20 years from its $25 billion Wheatstone project in Australia and also offered equity stakes in parts of the project, it said in a statement on Wednesday.
Mongolia state-owned miner signs coal deal with China's Chalco
ULAN BATOR, July 27 (Reuters) - Mongolia's state-owned miner Erdenes Tavan Tolgoi (TT) has agreed to sell $250 million worth of coal from the east Tsankhi deposit to Aluminium Corp of China Ltd (Chalco), a move insiders said was aimed at raising cash to help fund its impending listing fees.
Under the agreement, Chalco would resell 30 percent of the coal to Japanese trading houses Itochu Corp and Mitsui as well as state-owned Korea Resources Corp (KORES), Erdenes TT LLC said in a statement seen on Wednesday.
Malaysian oil cos KNM, Zecon sign $5.7 bln projects, shrs up
KUALA LUMPUR, July 26 (Reuters) - Malaysian oil and gas companies KNM Group and Zecon signed a preliminary agreement with Gulf Asian Petroleum to undertake two projects worth 17 billion ringgit ($5.7 billion), boosting their shares.
Shares of Zecon rose as much as 30 percent, their biggest one-day percentage gain in nearly two years, while KNM shares rose as much as 9.1 percent.
LME copper extends gains on Chile supply risk
SHANGHAI, July 27 (Reuters) - London copper futures rose for a second day as supply worries brought on by an extended strike at the world's largest copper mine countered concerns over protracted talks in the United States to lift its debt limit.
"There's no doubt that this raises the risk that the deficit will be bigger than the markets are expecting," said Ben Westmore, commodity economist at National Australia Bank.
No end in sight to Escondida strike as mediation fails
ANTOFAGASTA, Chile, July 26 (Reuters) - A five-day strike at Chile's giant Escondida mine appeared far from ending after the mine snubbed government mediation on Tuesday, threatening to spread labor turmoil in the world's top copper producer.
Escondida, majority owned by BHP Billiton , dug in on Tuesday, refusing a labor authority invitation for talks and taking a hard line that could prolong the disruption at a mine that extracts 7 percent of the world's copper.
Namibia's mining body says new tax will curb investment
WINDHOEK, July 26 (Reuters) - Namibia's Chamber of Mines wants the government to reconsider plans to impose a further 17 percent tax on exploration and mining firms in the southern African producer of diamonds and uranium, saying it would discourage investors.
Namibia said on Friday it would increase mining corporate tax to 44 percent for miners other than diamond producers.
Albanian miners fast as strike in mine escalates
TIRANA, July 26 (Reuters) - A group of Albanian miners have entered the second day of a hunger strike to press Austrian miner DCM DECOmetal to meet their demands for a 20 percent pay rise and fresh investment, a union leader said on Tuesday.
Taf Koleci, president of the federation of trade unions of Albanian industrial workers, said 16 miners have been fasting for 30 hours now in a gallery 1,400 metres below surface, or 260 metres below sea level. Koleci had visited them.
Gold hits record; US debt uncertainty grows
SINGAPORE, July 27 (Reuters) - Spot gold hit an all-time high, for the sixth time in two weeks, as worries about whether the United States can avert a debt default grew while the country's two key political parties are still locked in a stalemate in debt ceiling talks.
"The same arguments about potential government bond fallout are still being made," said a Singapore-based trader, "but people are on the sidelines ahead of the August deadline waiting to see whether or not the U.S. is going to avoid a technical default."
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