Corn (Source: CME)
US corn futures close near record highs, with nearby contracts leading gains on strong demand. Weekly export inspections for the period during which prices eclipsed previous 2008 all-time highs were nearly unchanged from the previous week. Prices need to climb to curb demand for dwindling supplies, analysts say. "Evidence of a slowdown in corn consumption is still needed," notes University of Illinois agricultural economist Darrel Good. Poor weather threatens to delay planting of the next crop. CBOT May corn jumps 8c to $7.76 a bushel.
Wheat (Source: CME)
Most US wheat futures close lower on profit-taking after surging 20% since mid-March on weather threats and spillover support from the surging corn market. Market participants unwound profitable long KCBT/short CBOT wheat spreads, which helped underpin CBOT wheat, traders say. Yet, dry weather in the US Plains continues to threaten the upcoming harvest. Analysts expect USDA to cut its condition rating for winter-wheat in a weekly progress report Monday. CBOT May wheat rises 3/4c to $7.98 1/4 a bushel; KCBT May drops 13 3/4c to $9.19; MGE May loses 17 1/2c to $9.35 3/4.
Rice (Source: CME)
US rice futures rise as the market continues to recover from recent selling that pulled prices to their lowest level in more than a week. Talk of improved demand adds some support, an analyst says. Market participants continue to project Japan will increase rice imports following the recent earthquakes and tsunami. CBOT May rice finishes up 3 1/2c, or 0.3%, at $13.72 per hundredweight.
India's Government Wheat Procurement Up To April 10 Slumps - Executive (Source: CME)
India's wheat purchases for government stocks crashed to less than a fourth of last year's level in more than three weeks of procurement, a Food Corp. of India executive said, even as state-run warehouses face a storage space crunch. Food Corp. bought 915,282 tons of wheat until April 10 since procurement started on March 15, down from 3.78 million tons a year earlier, as late sowing delayed the harvest in the country's grain bowl northern region, said the executive, asking not to be named. The country expects wheat output to hit an all-time high of 84.27 million tons in the crop year through June, bringing to the fore the inadequate storage space issue that forced the government last year to keep some stocks out in the open and resulted in mounds getting washed away by monsoon rains. Farm Minister Sharad Pawar said last week the government should seriously consider lifting a wheat export ban as well as building up storage capacity because of the record wheat crop.
India, the world's second-largest wheat grower, has maintained the ban on the grain's export since 2007 to keep local supplies steady. Industry executives said the government has deliberately slowed its grain purchases in the northern states of Haryana and Punjab as the granaries are nearly full from previous purchases, although food ministry officials deny any significant space problem. Wheat is usually sown from October, but planting was delayed by around a month in some regions this crop year through June due to unseasonal rains. Harvest of the new wheat crop in northern regions has just started and is likely to peak from mid-April. The storage squeeze may get tighter as a small quantity of rice is also harvested in winter, although the main crop is produced in summer. The government mainly uses the stocks to supply its welfare programs for the poor, but the reserves also give it room to curb prices by increasing subsidized grain sales in the market.
Oil Falls for a Second Day After IMF Cuts Growth Forecasts for U.S., Japan (Source: Bloomberg)
Oil declined for a second day after the International Monetary Fund cut its growth forecasts for the U.S. and Japan, saying high crude prices pose a risk to global economic expansion.
Gold Falls on Investor Sales After Rally to Record; Silver Approaches $42 (Source: Bloomberg)
Gold futures fell on sales by investors after a rally to a record of $1,478 an ounce. Silver climbed close to $42 an ounce, extending a surge to a 31-year high. Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi agreed to accept an African Union peace plan that may lead to a cease-fire with rebels, eroding demand for gold as an investment haven. Silver gained for the sixth straight session, the longest rally in four months.
China commodity imports rebound, cooling measures weigh
BEIJING, April 10 (Reuters) - China's March imports of main commodities like copper, iron ore and soy all rebounded strongly from the holiday-shortened month of February, but fell or held flat on a year-on-year basis, data showed, fuelling market concern that Beijing's tightening steps are taming demand growth.
Crude oil was an exception, with imports last month recording a 3-percent rise from a year earlier, but the growth pace also easing off February's 7.8 percent growth, as refineries started to feel the pressure of soaring crude costs .
Current commodity rally more selective than in 2008
NEW YORK/LONDON, April 8 (Reuters) - It's simple enough to see that many of the world's key commodities have surpassed their peaks from 2008, including gold, corn, and copper; others are still well behind, oil and wheat to name but two.
But the common theme is elusive: robust Chinese growth can help explain copper's buoyancy, but is irrelevant for coffee; loose money policy has clearly aided gold, but done less for oil; the tightest stocks since the Great Depression have fuelled corn, while wheat is far from its peaks.
China halts plans to build new aluminium plants -report
BEIJING/HONG KONG, April 11 (Reuters) - China has decided to halt plans to build new aluminium plants in the country to tackle serious overcapacity in the industry, the official China Securities Journal reported on Monday, citing Su Bo, a vice industry minister.
The newspaper quoted Su as saying eight departments would jointly release a notice which could put all planned aluminium projects, with a combined investment of more than 70 billion yuan ($11 billion), on hold.
China April copper imports unlikely to extend March surge
HONG KONG, April 11 (Reuters) - China's copper imports are unlikely to surge in April after a 29.2 percent rise in March since importers are worried about high stocks in Shanghai and weak Chinese prices, analysts and traders said on Monday.
Some Chinese merchants have asked overseas suppliers to delay or cancel contracted shipments due to arrive in the second quarter of the year, said a trader at a large Chinese trading house, whose firm had cancelled copper due to arrive in May-June.
High silver prices may help ease zinc supply crunch
LONDON, April 8 (Reuters) - Zinc shortages predicted for around the middle of the decade due to mine closures are likely to be less acute than feared as miners rush to bring new projects on-stream to benefit from soaring prices for co-product silver.
Silver prices are at 31-year highs above $40 an ounce and look set to continue their upwards trajectory for a while yet. This has encouraged investment in new and old silver mines producing a little zinc, as well as zinc mines with small amounts of silver.
METALS-Copper hits 5-wk peak, but slips on new Japan quake
LONDON, April 11 (Reuters) - Copper leapt to five-week highs on Monday as a weaker dollar and robust imports by top consumer China boosted investor appetite for the metal, but prices then slipped after news of another strong earthquake in Japan.
Tracking copper, aluminium jumped to $2,720 a tonne, a level last seen in August 2008, and lead touched $2,904 a tonne, its highest since April 2008. Tin hit a record high of $33,600 a tonne.
PRECIOUS-Gold hits record as dollar dips; eyes on Fed
LONDON, April 11 (Reuters) - Gold hit record highs and silver a 31-year peak on Monday, lifted by elevated oil prices and a weaker dollar, amid expectations the Federal Reserve will lag other central banks in tightening monetary policy.
Precious metals have already been boosted this year by safe-haven demand after unrest swept the Middle East and North Africa and concerns resurfaced over the debt levels of some smaller euro zone economies, most notably Portugal.
U.S. corn races to record high, doubts on USDA data
SYDNEY, April 11 (Reuters) - U.S. corn futures jumped 2 percent to a record high on thinning stockpiles in top exporter the United States, as traders raised doubts about a government report that kept U.S. end-of-season forecast inventories unchanged. "With the crude oil market continuing to go from strength to strength, that's putting significant amount of support through the entire agricultural complex, particularly corn with its linkages with the ethanol market," said Luke Mathews, commodity strategist at Commonwealth Bank of Australia.
India's key ministers to decide on wheat exports - food min
NEW DELHI, April 11 (Reuters) - India's empowered group of ministers will decide whether the country should allow exports of wheat this year, Food Minister K.V. Thomas said on Monday.
"The decision on wheat exports will take some time ...The empowered group of ministers will finally take a call on this issue," Thomas said.
Argentina may revive grain export tax scheme-report
BUENOS AIRES, April 10 (Reuters) - Argentina may revive a controversial tax system on grain exports, a local newspaper reported on Sunday, in a move that could raise tensions with farmers in one of the world's main suppliers of grains.
A similar plan to raise taxes on soy exports in 2008 sparked nationwide farmer protests that rattled global commodity markets and hit the popularity of President Cristina Fernandez, who plans to bid for re-election in October.
Feed wheat offsets strain on US corn supply-USDA
WASHINGTON, April 8 (Reuters) - A record 5 billion bushels of corn will be used to make fuel ethanol, a potential strain on the tightest U.S. corn supply in 15 years but it will be offset by more use of wheat as a substitute for corn in hog and poultry rations, said the government on Friday.
USDA pegged the carryover at 675 million bushels, unchanged from its March estimate. Traders expected a 13 percent drop because a report last week showed supplies were dropping faster than thought.
Cocoa firms despite EU sanctions move
ICE cocoa futures firmed in early trading on concerns over the supply outlook from top producer Ivory Coast despite the lifting of European Union sanctions on four entities. Arabica coffee futures on ICE edged lower in early trade with downside limited by a weaker dollar. The arabicas market is underpinned by tight global supplies of high quality beans.
EU move unlikely to free Ivory Coast cocoa soon
LONDON, April 11 (Reuters) - Cocoa is unlikely to flow from top producer Ivory Coast until fighting stops and the banking system is restored, despite the lifting of European Union sanctions on four entities, analysts and traders said on Monday.
The EU lifted sanctions on Friday on Abidjan and San Pedro ports, as well as on the Ivorian Refining Company and the Coffee and Cocoa Trade Management Committee, following a request from presidential claimant Alassane Ouattara.
Corn traders reevaluate demand with prices at record
CHICAGO, April 8 (Reuters) - With corn prices at record highs, grain traders are paying more attention to the demand outlook, to gauge how big the U.S. corn supply will be in the coming months.
Rising ethanol production, which now consumes about 40 percent of the U.S. corn crop, has complicated the task of predicting when users will start to cut back purchases in the face of high prices.
Metals up on weak dollar; oil eases on Libya peace prospects
HONG KONG, April 11 (Reuters) - Commodities prices rose across the board, pushing the Reuters-Jefferies CRB index to a fresh 2-1/2 year high on a weaker dollar and strong trade data from China, while expectations of a European Central Bank rate hike in July propped up the euro. "I think there is a good chance that gold could hit $1,500 an ounce within this quarter. And perhaps even higher if we see the weakness in the dollar persist and the Federal Reserve continues their relatively easy monetary policy," said Ong Yi Ling, investment analyst at Phillip Futures in Singapore.
