20110819 1617 Global Market & Commodities Related News.

Stocks slump on US recession fears, Europe woes
SINGAPORE, Aug 19 (Reuters) - Asian stocks extended losses, with South Korea's benchmark shedding 5 percent on growing fears the U.S. economy was sliding into recession and as some European lenders faced short-term funding strains, raising fears of a systemic banking crisis on the continent.
"(The U.S. data) presents the worst combination for an economy, i.e. slower growth but higher inflation, that impacted quite negatively sentiment in Asia trading hours," Frances Cheung, strategist at Credit Agricole told Reuters Insider.

Weather, USDA point to bigger US soy crop
CHICAGO, Aug 18 (Reuters) - A break in hot and dry weather in the U.S. Midwest grain belt, coupled with the historic trend in crop forecasts by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, could spawn a bigger soybean crop than estimated by the USDA this month.
Prices of Chicago Board of Trade soybean futures  have risen more than 4 percent since USDA's surprise reduction of U.S. soybean yield by 4.6 percent, or 2 bushels, from its July forecast in the Aug. 11 supply-demand report.

US corn at 1-week low, wheat slips as econ worries weigh
SINGAPORE, Aug 19 (Reuters) - Chicago corn slid to a one-week low, while wheat and soybeans lost more ground as renewed concerns over the U.S. economy sliding into a recession hammered commodities and equities.
"Equity markets are falling and the U.S. dollar is strong which are adding pressure on grains and oilseeds," said Ker Chung Yang, analyst at Phillip Futures in Singapore.

Argentina trims wheat area outlook, raises corn
BUENOS AIRES, Aug 18 (Reuters) - Argentina's government trimmed its forecast for 2011/12 wheat area to 4.5 million hectares from the 4.7 million hectares projected a month ago, the Agriculture Ministry said in a report on Thursday.
The South American country is one of the world's top suppliers of the grain. Wheat area this season is expected to be 2.9 percent bigger than in the 2010/11 crop year, when farmers produced 14.7 million tonnes of wheat.

Ivorian cocoa arrivals 1,379,440 T, declarations late
ABIDJAN, Aug 18(Reuters) - Cocoa arrivals at ports in top grower Ivory Coast reached 1,379,440 tonnes by Aug. 14, up from 1,125,046 tonnes in the same period a year ago, according to data from the Coffee and Cocoa Bourse (BCC) obtained by Reuters on Thursday.
The figures showed 2,623 tonnes of beans declared at the ports of Abidjan and San Pedro from Aug. 8 to Aug. 14, down from 16,486 tonnes in the same week of the 2009/2010 season.

Brazil coffee belt to turn cooler, rain but no frost
BRASILIA, Aug 18 (Reuters) - A cold front will sweep over Brazil's southeastern coffee belt over the weekend, bringing some rain but no frost, forecaster Somar said Thursday.
The lowest temperature forecast in any coffee area in the coming days was 5 degrees Celsius (41 degrees Fahrenheit), in the hilly Pocos de Caldas area of top coffee state Minas Gerais. Light
rain was forecast in the state as well as in smaller growers Parana and Sao Paulo.

Russia grain crop seen above 90 mln T-forecaster
MOSCOW, Aug 18 (Reuters) - Russia's 2011 grain harvest is likely to exceed 90 million tonnes, the country's chief weather forecaster said on Thursday as the country reaped grains from 42 percent of the area sown for this year's crop.
"The gross grain crop this year is going to be slightly above 90 million tonnes," Roman Vilfand, director of the Hydrometcentre weather forecasting service, told a news briefing.

Thai sugar cane output revised up, premiums fall
BANGKOK, Aug 18 (Reuters) - Thailand, the world's second-biggest sugar exporter, could produce a record 100 million tonnes of sugar cane in 2011/12, which would yield around 10 million tonnes of sugar, sending Thai premiums for next year's delivery down more than half.
The cane forecast by the Thai Sugar Millers Corporation on Thursday matched that by the International Sugar Organization (ISO) this week and was well above a projection by Thailand's Office of Cane and Sugar Board (OCSB) earlier in August of 92-95 million tonnes of cane, or 9.2 million tonnes of sugar.

Turkmenistan plans to raise 2012 wheat crop
ASHGABAT, Aug 18 (Reuters) - Turkmenistan plans to increase its 2012 wheat crop by 23 percent year-on-year to 1.6 million tonnes after missing its forecast for the current year, a source in the government of the Central Asian country said on Thursday.
The campaign to sow 860,000 hectares of land for the 2012 wheat harvest was already under way in the desert nation, said the source. Like most government officials in the reclusive former Soviet republic, he did not want to be identified.

US corn at 1-week low, wheat slips as econ worries weigh
SINGAPORE, Aug 19 (Reuters) - Chicago corn slid to a one-week low, while wheat and soybeans lost more ground as renewed concerns over the U.S. economy sliding into a recession hammered commodities and equities.
"Equity markets are falling and the U.S. dollar is strong which are adding pressure on grains and oilseeds," said Ker Chung Yang, analyst at Phillip Futures in Singapore.

Argentina trims wheat area outlook, raises corn
BUENOS AIRES, Aug 18 (Reuters) - Argentina's government trimmed its forecast for 2011/12 wheat area to 4.5 million hectares from the 4.7 million hectares projected a month ago, the Agriculture Ministry said in a report on Thursday.
The South American country is one of the world's top suppliers of the grain. Wheat area this season is expected to be 2.9 percent bigger than in the 2010/11 crop year, when farmers produced 14.7 million tonnes of wheat.

Ivorian cocoa arrivals 1,379,440 T, declarations late
ABIDJAN, Aug 18(Reuters) - Cocoa arrivals at ports in top grower Ivory Coast reached 1,379,440 tonnes by Aug. 14, up from 1,125,046 tonnes in the same period a year ago, according to data from the Coffee and Cocoa Bourse (BCC) obtained by Reuters on Thursday.
The figures showed 2,623 tonnes of beans declared at the ports of Abidjan and San Pedro from Aug. 8 to Aug. 14, down from 16,486 tonnes in the same week of the 2009/2010 season.

Brazil coffee belt to turn cooler, rain but no frost
BRASILIA, Aug 18 (Reuters) - A cold front will sweep over Brazil's southeastern coffee belt over the weekend, bringing some rain but no frost, forecaster Somar said Thursday.
The lowest temperature forecast in any coffee area in the coming days was 5 degrees Celsius (41 degrees Fahrenheit), in the hilly Pocos de Caldas area of top coffee state Minas Gerais. Light
rain was forecast in the state as well as in smaller growers Parana and Sao Paulo.

Russia grain crop seen above 90 mln T-forecaster
MOSCOW, Aug 18 (Reuters) - Russia's 2011 grain harvest is likely to exceed 90 million tonnes, the country's chief weather forecaster said on Thursday as the country reaped grains from 42 percent of the area sown for this year's crop.
"The gross grain crop this year is going to be slightly above 90 million tonnes," Roman Vilfand, director of the Hydrometcentre weather forecasting service, told a news briefing.

Thai sugar cane output revised up, premiums fall
BANGKOK, Aug 18 (Reuters) - Thailand, the world's second-biggest sugar exporter, could produce a record 100 million tonnes of sugar cane in 2011/12, which would yield around 10 million tonnes of sugar, sending Thai premiums for next year's delivery down more than half.
The cane forecast by the Thai Sugar Millers Corporation on Thursday matched that by the International Sugar Organization (ISO) this week and was well above a projection by Thailand's Office of Cane and Sugar Board (OCSB) earlier in August of 92-95 million tonnes of cane, or 9.2 million tonnes of sugar.

Turkmenistan plans to raise 2012 wheat crop
ASHGABAT, Aug 18 (Reuters) - Turkmenistan plans to increase its 2012 wheat crop by 23 percent year-on-year to 1.6 million tonnes after missing its forecast for the current year, a source in the government of the Central Asian country said on Thursday.
The campaign to sow 860,000 hectares of land for the 2012 wheat harvest was already under way in the desert nation, said the source. Like most government officials in the reclusive former Soviet republic, he did not want to be identified.

Markets can swallow Syrian oil loss, Iran a worry
LONDON, Aug 18 (Reuters) - Oil markets will quietly swallow the loss of modest Syrian supplies if Europe joins Washington in slapping new sanctions on the country, but prices would spike if Syria's ally and major oil producer Iran becomes directly involved in a confrontation with the West.
Analysts and traders said it would take several weeks before Syrian oil trade could grind to a halt, even if traders such as Vitol or Trafigura are forced to stop sending refined products for President Bashar Assad's government and companies such as Shell are forced to stop producing and exporting oil from Syria.

Oil falls on renewed demand fears
SINGAPORE, Aug 19 (Reuters) - Oil prices fell, extending the previous session's plunge, on renewed fears of weak demand following a slew of lacklustre data from the world's top oil consumer, the United States.  
"This short-term downturn is not done yet. It could take WTI to as low as $75. The fundamental picture is not that bad but if the overall economy remains weak it is very hard to make a case for a bull run in oil," said Tony Nunan, a risk manager with Mitsubishi Corporation in Japan.

Gold hits record on US growth, Europe woes
SINGAPORE, Aug 19 (Reuters) - Gold surged to record highs for a second consecutive session as investors reached for the safety of bullion amid a worsening economic outlook for the United States and concern about the health of Europe's banks.
"It's not surprising in view of more concerns about Europe and terrible data out of the U.S.," said Darren Heathcote, head of trading at Investec Australia.

Gold seen peaking at $1,900/oz in next 6 months -GFMS
MUMBAI, Aug 18 (Reuters) - Gold could hit $1,900 an ounce in the next six months, driven by buyers seeking an investment safe from global economic problems, but a further rise to $2,000 looks unlikely, metals consultancy GFMS said on Thursday.
"Gold will be muddling through to peak at $1,900 (an ounce)as U.S. data points have been ambiguous, the action on the fiscal and monetary front is also ambiguous," said Paul Walker, global head of precious metals at GFMS, which has been acquired by Thomson Reuters.

Prices, investment products in focus at India gold meet
MUMBAI, Aug 18 (Reuters) - As gold rallies to consecutive record highs, price, imports and investment demand for bullion will top the agenda at a conference in India, the metal's biggest consumer, this week.
Attendees will not have far to look for evidence of India's long-standing worship of gold, as the conference takes place in Kovalam, just an hour away from a $22 billion treasure hoard found last month under a temple in Kerala's state capital.

Gold move higlights risks to Venezuela reserves
CARACAS, Aug 18 (Reuters) - Venezuela's surprise move to bring home its international bullion reserves from Western banks shines a spotlight on the country's heavy reliance on gold, and the risks it runs if prices were to fall.
President Hugo Chavez said on Wednesday the government will repatriate almost all of its $11 billion in gold reserves held abroad, saying they will be safer than in states with mounting debt worries in Europe and the United States.