Corn (Source: CME)
US corn futures finish sharply lower as the market extends its setback from Friday's record high. Forecasts for favorable weather during the next 10 days weigh on prices. Beneficial weather has already given the crop a boost, as the USDA raised its weekly good-to-excellent rating to 69% from 67%. "There's some anticipation that we'll see the crop ratings edge a little higher," says Marty Foreman, analyst at Doane Advisory Services. Commodity funds sold an estimated 20,000 contracts, a large amount. CBOT July corn drops 27c to $7.55 1/2 a bushel.
Wheat (Source: CME)
US wheat futures close lower as the US harvest picks up speed, increasing the amount of grain on hand. Dry conditions in the Plains keep the door open for farmers to cut crops. "The perfect harvest conditions that we've got right now will probably prevail for at least a week," predicts Drew Lerner, president of World Weather. Europe's wheat crop, meanwhile, has benefited from rains in dry areas of France and Germany. CBOT July wheat loses 11 3/4c to $7.31 1/4 a bushel, KCBT July sheds 11 1/4c to $8.39 3/4 and MGE July slides 16 3/4c to $9.68 1/2.
Rice (Source: CME)
US rice futures finish lower as selling overwhelms the grain markets. Rice falls with wheat, corn and soybeans on forecasts for improving crop weather. Losses in wheat drag down rice as both crops are global food staples. Meanwhile, development of the US rice crop is moving along, with 93% emerged as of Sunday, just two percentage points behind the five-year average for that time of year. CBOT July rice drops 27 1/2c to $14.33 1/2 per hundredweight.
U.S. corn falls for 2nd day, wheat mkt eyes Egypt tender
SINGAPORE, June 14 (Reuters) - Chicago corn futures lost more ground , falling 0.8 percent as improved U.S. weather and crop conditions weighed on the market, pulling it further below last week's record high prices.
"We may expect some pressure from the fact that plantings are winding up and the weather is improving, so it's going to be little bit bearish in the short term," said Adam Davis, a senior commodity analyst at Merricks Capital in Melbourne.
Argentina approves 3 mln T new crop wheat exports
BUENOS AIRES, June 13 (Reuters) - Argentina approved on Monday the export of 3 million tonnes of 2011/12 wheat for shipment starting in December, a senior agriculture official told Reuters.
Argentina, a leading global wheat exporter and a key supplier to neighboring Brazil, only authorizes exports of wheat and corn when farmers have declared enough stocks to guarantee plentiful domestic supplies.
U.S. corn, soy ratings top analyst forecasts
CHICAGO, June 13 (Reuters) - Condition ratings for U.S. corn and soybeans topped analysts expectations on Monday as the late planted crop thrived amid the warm-up in temperatures across the Midwest.
The U.S. Agriculture Department's weekly crop progress report showed the corn crop rated 69 percent good to excellent as of June 12, up 2 percentage points from a week earlier. Analysts, on average, had expected good-to-excellent ratings of 68 percent.
US corn condition improving as planting ends
CHICAGO, June 13 (Reuters) - Rising temperatures boosted the health of late-planted corn in the United States, but the crop was still in below-average shape, analysts said.
The U.S. Agriculture Department's weekly crop progress report on Monday afternoon is expected to show that the corn crop was rated 68 percent good to excellent, based on the average of estimates given by eight analysts. A week ago, the crop was rated 67 pct good to excellent.
U.S. corn crop seen 68 percent good/excellent
CHICAGO, June 13 (Reuters) - Rising temperatures boosted the health of late-planted corn in the United States, but the crop was still in below-average shape, analysts said.
The U.S. Agriculture Department's weekly crop progress report on Monday afternoon is expected to show that the corn crop was rated 68 percent good to excellent, based on the average of estimates given by eight analysts.
Wetness to push Manitoba unplanted acres to record
WINNIPEG, Manitoba, June 13 (Reuters) - Unplanted crop acres in the western Canadian province of Manitoba will likely reach a record high this year due to excessive wetness, a provincial government official told Reuters on Monday.
The province is working to calculate an estimate, and it appears Manitoba will exceed the record of nearly 1.4 million unplanted acres set in 2005, said David Koroscil, manager of insurance projects and sales for the Manitoba Agricultural Services Corp.
India Minister Favors Exports Of Farm Commodities (Source: CME)
India's farm minister, Sharad Pawar, said he strongly favors exports of sugar, wheat, rice and cotton as the country has surplus stocks and is likely heading to another year of a bumper output. "I honestly feel, in the larger interest of the country's farming community, there should be an open policy for export and import of agriculture commodities," Pawar said in an interview. India's foodgrain stocks are at an all-time high of 65.47 million metric tons, about two-and-a-half times more than the annual requirement for state welfare programs. Still, the government is cautious on exports due to fear of worsening already high inflation and its plan to enact a law that seeks to expand the supply of subsidized grains. The country is also facing a shortage of storage facilities, with its warehouses already full. Production of farm commodities like sugar, wheat and cotton is expected to exceed local requirements, weakening their local prices as only limited or no exports are allowed.
Pawar said the time is right to immediately allow exports of 1.0 million-1.5 million tons of sugar as global prices have surged due to concerns over the crop in Brazil, the largest producer of the sweetener. London's benchmark August white sugar contract has risen 20% in one month to around $720 a ton on concerns over the size of Brazil's crop due to aging plants and dry weather, and a surge in demand ahead of the Ramadan holiday. At the same time, the price in India has fallen 6.3% to INR25,300 per ton ($564). In April, the government allowed exports of 500,000 tons of sugar. Mills have already almost exhausted the quota and want clearance to ship another 1.5 million tons in the marketing year through September. Top sugar industry executives are meeting in Mumbai to discuss the demand for more exports, particularly as monsoon rains are posing a threat to stocks stored in the open. "My ministry is going to strongly support [more sugar exports]," Pawar said.
The minister said sugarcane acreage and output in the next marketing year are expected to rise at least 10% as higher local prices earlier in the year have tempted farmers to increase plantings. India, the second-biggest sugar producer, is forecast to produce 24.5 million tons of sugar this year, exceeding its annual requirement of 22.0 million-22.5 million tons. On cotton, Pawar said the acreage is expected to jump 40% next year starting July 1, and so the government can consider more exports. Also, genetically modified verities are now increasingly used, he said. "Therefore, productivity will be higher."
Corn, Soybean Futures Decline as Favorable Weather May Boost U.S. Crops (Source: Bloomberg)
Corn fell to a one-month low and soybeans declined on bets that favorable weather will boost yields in the U.S., the world’s biggest grower and exporter. About 69 percent of the corn crop was in good or excellent condition on June 12, up from 67 percent a week earlier, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said yesterday. An estimated 87 percent of soybeans were planted, compared with the average of 89 percent in the previous five years.
Rising Commodity Prices Threaten Global Growth -Sarkozy (Source: CME)
French President Nicolas Sarkozy called for increased transparency in physical commodities markets and for tighter regulation of commodity derivatives as he described rising oil and food prices as the main threat to global growth. Key measures proposed by Sarkozy to curb commodity price volatility include minimum cash deposits for derivative trades as well as the creation of trade repositories that would be able to keep track of these trades. The Group of 20 industrial and emerging nations should also rise to the challenge of increasing its food and oil production in the face of rapidly growing demand, Sarkozy said. It should also beef up transparency on stock information so as to help prevent future food crises, he added. "Global growth has rebounded but rising commodity prices are the main threat to growth," Sarkozy told a conference on commodities in Brussels organized by the European Commission.
Soaring commodity prices are sparking higher inflation in fast-growing emerging economies and risk feeding global imbalances which the G-20 has vowed to eradicate, Sarkozy warned. Improving the oversight of cash and derivative commodities markets in order to curb price volatility, which risks derailing global growth, is one of the priorities of France as it chairs the G-20 this year. Speaking at the same conference, European Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso said the G-20 is the appropriate forum to deal with the "vital" issues of commodity price volatility and food security. Even as he acknowledged that there is no proven link between financial speculation on commodities and actual oil and food price levels, Sarkozy said it is "unacceptable" that the increasing role played by financial markets in trading commodities should fuel commodity price volatility.
"The point is not to regulate prices, but to make sure that the price-formation process works properly," Sarkozy said, stressing the size of oil derivatives markets is 35 times that of physical oil markets. Sarkozy called on all G-20 nations to adopt common rules for the oversight of commodity derivatives trading, such as the creation of "central registries" that would collate all the information on trades, and he stressed the need for commodity derivatives to be increasingly standardized and to be traded and cleared through regulated platforms. Sarkozy also called for commodity derivatives transactions to be carried out with reduced leverage, by imposing a minimum cash deposit for each transaction, similar to margin calls used on other financial markets. Sarkozy urged regulators to better scrutinize the interconnections between physical and derivatives commodities markets, so as to avoid price manipulation and market abuse.
"Is it normal for one single player to be able to buy almost all the derivatives contracts available on cocoa on one marketplace by acting both on physical and on derivatives markets and in doing so to control 7% of the world production, 15% of world stocks and 25% of European ones?" Sarkozy asked.
Coffee steady, Brazil harvest weighs
LONDON, June 14 (Reuters) - ICE coffee was steady in early trade with upside limited by Brazil's harvest, while white sugar dipped from this week's multi-week highs triggered by strong pre-Ramadan demand and Brazilian and Thai port delays. ICE arabica coffee futures were little changed, with upside potential limited by Brazil's harvest, and were buoyed by a shortage of quality beans and the looming frost season in Brazil although dealers' fears over frost appeared to recede.
Brazil CS sugar output picks up in late May-Unica
SAO PAULO, June 13 (Reuters) - Helped by dry weather, sugar output in Brazil's center-south finally picked up in the second half of May after a troubled wet start to the season, data from the cane industry association Unica showed on Monday.
Sugar production in the two-week period totaled 2.37 million tonnes, up 6.8 percent from a year ago, with cane crushing reaching 42.7 million tonnes, an increase of 5.5 percent from the same period in 2010.
Global coffee output seen slightly down in 2011/12
LONDON, June 13 (Reuters) - Global coffee output in 2011/12 is expected to fall slightly to around 130 million (60 kg) bags, down from 133 million in 2010/11, the International Coffee Organization forecast on Monday.
"Production prospects for crop year 2011/12 are somewhat mixed since lower production is anticipated in Brazil, while production in other exporting countries may increase," the ICO said in a monthly market report.
Brazil harvests coffee in dry weather after rain
BRASILIA, June 13 (Reuters) - The weather was set to turn dry again this week in Brazil's coffee areas after showers last week, forecaster Somar predicted Monday.
That will help producers dry beans to prevent them from spoiling.
Uganda's May coffee exports jump 43 pct yr/yr
KAMPALA, June 13 (Reuters) - Uganda's coffee exports beat expectations to jump 42.8 percent to 253,270 60-kg bags in May from a year earlier as the harvesting season reached its peak, an industry source said on Monday.
Uganda is one of Africa's leading exporters of coffee beans and earnings from the crop constitute a major source of foreign exchange inflows. The country primarily cultivates the Robusta variety.
Mexico, Costa Rica coffee output seen up in 11/12
MEXICO CITY, June 13 (Reuters) - Mexico and Costa Rica, two producers of high-quality arabica coffee, are expecting bigger harvests next season as the crop recovers from bad weather, national coffee groups in both countries said on Monday.
Mexico, the world's No. 6 coffee grower, will produce 4 million 60-kg bags in the current 2010/11 cycle, slightly below original forecasts after hard frosts hit some growing areas.
Gajah Tunggal says rubber buying to rise 10 pct in 2011
JAKARTA, June 14 (Reuters) - Rubber buying at Indonesia's Gajah Tunggal will rise by about 10 percent and could top 80,000 tonnes in 2011, as Southeast Asia's biggest tyre maker sees sales growing up to 30 percent this year to tap booming consumer demand.
The firm bought 70,000 tonnes of rubber last year from Indonesia, the world's second largest rubber producer and where demand for tyres is surging as car and motorbike sales are seen hitting record levels again this year.
Oil Trades Near Three-Day High on U.S. Retail Sales; Stockpiles Decline (Source: Bloomberg)
Oil traded near a three-day high in New York after reports showed U.S. retail sales fell less than expected and crude supplies slipped a second week, stoking speculation fuel demand may increase. Futures were little changed after climbing the most in almost four weeks yesterday. Purchases dropped 0.2 percent in May, less than the median forecast for a 0.5 percent decline in a Bloomberg News survey of economists, Commerce Department figures showed. The industry-funded American Petroleum Institute said crude stockpiles fell 3.01 million barrels last week.
China May aluminium, alumina, nickel output hits records
HONG KONG, June 14 (Reuters) - China's production of nickel, primary aluminium and its raw material alumina hit records in May on increased capacity that could see aluminium output rise further in June.
Production of refined copper in the world's top consumer of the metal continued to slow from a record 470,000 tonnes in March as a reduced supply of scrap constrained producers.
Chinese nickel prices seen down, investors may stock up-trade
HONG KONG, June 14 (Reuters) - Chinese spot nickel prices may drop in the next one to two months as stainless steel mills cut demand, but this may allow investors to stock up the metal that generated profit margins of more than 25 percent in the last two years, trade sources said.
Spot nickel prices dropped on Tuesday to 7-month lows around 171,000 yuan ($26,377) as demand fell from stainless steel producers, who mopped up the bulk of China's annual nickel demand of more than 500,000 tonnes in 2010 and 2011. Weak international prices also pressured Chinese prices.
China May steel output hits record but daily rate falls
BEIJING, June 14 (Reuters) - China produced a record 60.25 million tonnes of crude steel in May, up 2 percent since April, figures from China's statistics bureau showed on Tuesday.
But daily output declined to 1.94 million tonnes, down slightly from last month's peak of 1.968 million tonnes, according to Reuters calculations.
China vows to strike hard against illegal rare earth mining
BEIJING, Jun 13 (Reuters) - China will "strike hard" against the illegal mining, exporting and smuggling of rare earth elements to impose discipline on an increasingly "strategic" sector, the industry minister said on Monday.
In a statement published on the website of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology,Miao Wei said China's rare earth resources had been put under increasingly heavy pressure as a result of surging domestic and global demand.
METALS-Copper gains after Chinese data, tightening move
LONDON, June 14 (Reuters) - Copper rose on Tuesday, absorbing another monetary policy tightening move in China, as economic data from the world's top consumer of the metal eased global growth concerns and boosted risk appetite.
Benchmark copper on the London Metal Exchange was at $9,023 a tonne at 0930 GMT from a close of $8,910 on Monday.
PRECIOUS-Gold rallies on weaker dollar, jewellery demand
LONDON, June 14 (Reuters) - Gold rallied on Tuesday as the jewellery sector came looking for bargains, the dollar slipped and investors fretted about the Greek debt crisis.
Spot gold was bid at $1,518.64 a troy ounce at 0929 GMT from $1,514.73 an ounce late in New York on Monday when it suffered its biggest one-day loss in a month, touching a three-week low of $1,511.11 an ounce.
Gold Rebounds as Improving Economy May Boost Demand for an Inflation Hedge (Source: Bloomberg)
Gold rebounded from a three-week low on speculation that an improving global economy will spur inflation, boosting demand for the precious metal as a hedge. The MSCI All-Country World Index and the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index gained today after reports showed Chinese industrial output and U.S. retail sales topped economists’ estimates. Before today, gold slumped 2 percent in the past week, dropping yesterday to $1,511.40 an ounce, the lowest since May 23.
‘Tidal Wave’ of Gold Demand Coming From China, India as Economies Expand (Source: Bloomberg)
Gold may extend its decade-long rally as demand surges from emerging markets including China and India, according to the producer-funded World Gold Council. “There’s a tidal wave of gold demand coming,” Jason Toussaint, the WGC’s managing director of U.S. and Investment, said today at the Bloomberg Link Money Managers Conference in Boston. “A key is the long-term fundamental change in emerging markets. The biggest markets of growth are China and India.”
