Stocks, euro, oil fall; spooked investors shun risk
SINGAPORE, Nov 3 (Reuters) - Asian shares, the euro, commodities and the Australian dollar all fell on Thursday as fears that Europe's debt crisis could unleash financial chaos prompted investors to shed riskier assets in favour of the relative safety of the dollar.
"It's clearly a worse situation as it is putting other euro zone members in a corner," said Jeremy Friesen, a commodity strategist at Societe Generale in Hong Kong.
FOREX-Euro slips, dogged by worries about Greece
SINGAPORE, Nov 3 (Reuters) - The euro slipped back close to a three-week low on Thursday, hurt by jitters over Greece's plan for a referendum on the euro zone debt deal, with market players seeing the risk of more downside in the next couple of months.
The euro retreated as attention shifted back to Greece after the U.S. Federal Reserve offered no new stimulus on Wednesday, saying it was mulling the possibility of buying more mortgage debt to spur a struggling recovery.
US soy rises on wet harvest weather; corn dips
SINGAPORE, Nov 3 (Reuters) - Chicago soybean futures rose around half a percent, supported by forecasts of wet weather in parts of the U.S. Midwest which is expected slow the last leg of harvest.
"The thing about corn is that it feels like the worst is over as far as the yield estimates are concerned," said Brett Cooper, a senior markets manager at INTL FCStone Australia.
India open to rice sale to Indonesia, seeks palm oil duty cut
NEW DELHI, Nov 2 (Reuters) - India is willing to sell 500,000 tonnes of rice to Indonesia but also wants the Southeast Asian country to cut its export tax on crude palm oil which has threatened the domestic refining industry.
"My ministry has no objections in exporting 500,000 tonnes of rice to Indonesia from government stocks," Food Minister K.V. Thomas said after meeting Indonesian officials here just a month after trade ministers discussed the issues in Jakarta.
Nicaragua hopes for record 2011/12 sugar harvest
MANAGUA, Nov 2 (Reuters) - Nicaragua expects to produce 604,602 tonnes of sugar in the 2011/12 harvest, 18.5 percent more than the previous cycle and the highest output in the country's history, the head of the National Sugar Producer's Committee said on Wednesday.
Mario Amador, the committee chief, told Reuters that the estimated record was due to an expansion of cultivation areas of sugar cane, by about 5,000 hectares, and better performance in plantations and sugar mills.
Ivorian govt signs off on cocoa reform plan
ABIDJAN, Nov 2 (Reuters) - Ivory Coast's government has signed off on the country's cocoa reform plan, whose core aim is to guarantee hundreds of thousands of smallholders in the world's top grower a minimum selling price by effectively ending a decade of liberalisation.
With the adoption of the plan, the industry's four main regulatory bodies will be dissolved and replaced by a single organisation to oversee the industry, "as soon as possible", a government spokesman said on Wednesday.
India willing to give Indonesia 500,000 T rice from govt stocks
NEW DELHI, Nov 2 (Reuters) - India is willing to give 500,000 tonnes of rice to Indonesia from government stocks, Food Minister K.V. Thomas said on Wednesday after talks between the two countries here.
He added that India was seeking a cut in Indonesia's crude palm oil export tax, which the South East Asian country hiked in an effort to support its domestic refining industry.
Brent slips below $109 on Europe woes, Fed outlook
SINGAPORE, Nov 3 (Reuters) - Brent crude futures slipped below $109, sliding for a fifth straight session in its longest losing streak since June, on concerns global oil demand will slide as the economic outlook for Europe and the United States worsens.
"Crude prices are going to be capped by the uncertainty in the global economy, driven by the euro zone crisis which I don't think will be resolved by this year," said Jeremy Friesen, a commodity strategist at Societe Generale.
Indonesia tin smelters to set up pricing contracts
JAKARTA, Nov 2 (Reuters) - A group of Indonesian tin smelters has agreed to set up pricing contracts in competition with the London Metal Exchange, the governor of Bangka Belitung Province said on Wednesday, adding more companies were committing to maintain an export stoppage.
Last week, a group of fifteen smelters on the main tin-producing island of Bangka agreed to maintain a self-imposed export stoppage until the end of December or until benchmark prices rise above $25,000 a tonne.
Private investors buy minor metals as safe havens
LONDON, Nov 1 (Reuters) - Growing numbers of investors are turning to the minor metals market as a safe haven for their pension funds as gold and silver prices soar to record highs.
"We've always had a certain amount of interest from the rich in the Anglo-American sector. About four years ago it started to pick up within people with average wealth," said Gunther Maassen of German trading firm Haines & Maassen.
S.Korea seeks 6,000 T aluminium ingot for Jan
SEOUL, Nov 2 (Reuters) - South Korea is seeking 6,000 tonnes of high-grade primary aluminium ingot registered on the London Metal Exchange (LME) via tenders to close at 2 p.m. (0500 GMT) on Nov. 9, the state-run Public Procurement Service said.
Freeport Indonesia ore output 5 pct of capacity-govt
JAKARTA, Nov 3 (Reuters) - Freeport McMoRan Copper & Gold's massive Grasberg mine in Indonesia is producing copper, gold and silver ore at 5 percent of its full capacity, a senior official at the energy and mineral resources ministry said on Thursday.
"The mill to process the ore has stopped running because of the damage in the pipeline ... So Freeport's ore production is only about 5 percent of its full capacity now," Thamrin Sihite, the director general of mineral resources, told reporters.
Indonesia tin smelters to set up pricing contracts
JAKARTA, Nov 2 (Reuters) - A group of Indonesian tin smelters has agreed to set up pricing contracts in competition with the London Metal Exchange, the governor of Bangka Belitung Province said on Wednesday, adding more companies were committing to maintain an export stoppage.
Last week, a group of fifteen smelters on the main tin-producing island of Bangka agreed to maintain a self-imposed export stoppage until the end of December or until benchmark prices rise above $25,000 a tonne.
Chinese players less upbeat on copper in 2012
JINAN, China, Nov 3 (Reuters) - Demand growth in China, the world's top copper consumer, is likely to slow to 5 to 6 percent next year on a weak world economy and tight domestic monetary policy, traders and analysts at an industry conference said.
Euro zone debt problems could affect global economic growth, while Beijing will not significantly relax credit to property projects, the participants at the two-day conference in the city of Jinan, Shandong province, said.
China Jan-Sept refined copper demand up 8 percent
JINAN, China, Nov 2 (Reuters) - China's refined copper consumption for the first nine months of this year rose 8 percent to 5.46 million tonnes, and will hit 7 million tonnes for the full year, according to the China Nonferrous Metals Industry Association.
Duan Shaofu, copper section chief of the government-backed producer body, did not give a comparative figure for last year, but state-backed research group Antaike has previously put 2010 demand at 6.8 million tonnes.
Gold to hit $2,000/oz in next 12-18 months: Randgold CEO
A slow recovery in global markets means the price of gold may not hit $2,000/oz for another 12-18 months, says Randgold Resources Chief Executive Mark Bristow.
Risk rally won't end gold bull run, says ASR chartist
The recent rally in risk assets will not knock gold off its rising trend according to gold sentiment indexes, says Absolute Strategy Research Technical Strategist David McBain.
METALS-Copper drops on EU debt worries, firm dollar
SHANGHAI, Nov 3 (Reuters) - London copper dropped on Thursday, rolling back from an $8,000 resistance level, as worries about the euro zone's debt crisis and a firm dollar weighed on prices.
But comments by the U.S. Federal Reserve that it was mulling the possibility of buying more mortgage debt to spur a struggling recovery are expected to keep a floor under prices.
Copper drops on EU debt worries, firm dollar
SHANGHAI, Nov 3 (Reuters) - London copper dropped, rolling back from an $8,000 resistance level, as worries about the euro zone's debt crisis and a firm dollar weighed on prices.
"The Greek drama is keeping investors cautious. There are very few fresh new positions today. We are seeing mostly longs closing out positions," said CIFCO Futures analyst Zhou Jie.
Antaike sees 2012 China refined copper demand up 6.4 percent
JINAN, China, Nov 2 (Reuters) - China's consumption of refined copper is expected to grow 6.4 percent in 2012, a slow down from this year's 8.5 percent growth rate, a senior analyst at state-backed research firm Antaike said on Wednesday.
Real consumption of refined copper may rise to 7.85 million tonnes in 2012, from 7.38 million tonnes expected in this year, Yang Changhua said.
PRECIOUS-Gold falls, Europe uncertainty weighs ahead of G20
SINGAPORE, Nov 3 (Reuters) - Spot gold softened on Thursday, tracking the downbeat sentiment in riskier assets as investors remained worried about the euro zone's debt crisis ahead of a Group of 20 summit.
Gold has been range-bound in the past week or so, with the threat of a potentially disastrous Greek default burnishing gold's safe-haven appeal and fears of a liquidity crunch in case of a default keeping gains in check.
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