Corn (Source: CME)
US corn futures finish lower as the rising dollar pressures prices. The firm greenback makes US farm products less attractive to foreign buyers, sending corn lower with wheat and soybeans. Additional pressure came from expectations a threatening "heat dome" over the Midwest will break up late this week, creating more favorable conditions for the developing corn crop. "Even if the dome hadn't broken down, I think we'd still be under pressure today," says Karl Setzer, analyst for MaxYield Cooperative in Iowa. CBOT December corn drops 8c to $6.77 a bushel.
Wheat (Source: CME)
US wheat futures close lower on concerns about diminishing demand. Strength in the dollar makes US grains less attractive on the global market, while exporters already face increased competition for business from countries in the Black Sea region. Russia this month lifted a ban on grain exports for the first time in nearly a year and is already undercutting more-expensive exports from the US and Europe. CBOT September wheat falls 5 1/4c to $6.89 1/2 a bushel while KCBT September loses 3 1/2c to $7.61 and MGE September slips 1 1/4c to $8.22 1/2.
Rice (Source: CME)
US rice futures finish lower as the firm dollar exerts broad pressure on grain prices. Rice pulls back with wheat, corn and soybeans. Profit-taking adds pressure following a sharp rally last week. Rice on Friday reached its highest prices since October 2008 after the government earlier in the week issued lower-than-expected inventory estimates. CBOT September rice loses 17 1/2 cents, or 1%, to $16.82 per hundredweight.
U.S. commodity fund exodus slows in June -Lipper
NEW YORK, July 15 (Reuters) - Investors pulled money from commodity-based products and mutual funds for a second month in June, but outflows slowed sharply after May's $4 billion exodus, Lipper data showed on Friday.
The U.S.-regulated products and funds saw a net outflow of $75.3 million in June as investors largely exited silver-based products and funds amid a selloff in the precious metal.
Argentina Expects To Export Corn To China Starting Next Year (Source: CME)
Argentine corn exports to China are expected to start with the 2011-12 crop, which comes to market starting in February, the government said on its official press site. Argentina plans on signing a final agreement with China between July and November to set the framework for the first shipments, Agriculture sub-secretary Oscar Solis said in the statement. Argentina is the world's second-largest corn exporter behind the U.S., shipping almost 18 million metric tons of corn in calendar year 2010. Last year, the top buyers included Iran, Algeria, Colombia, Malaysia and Egypt. China has historically been a major corn exporter, but weather problems in recent seasons and soaring demand have turned the country into an importer. Argentine agriculture ministry officials are currently in China for the latest round of talks to kick-start corn, beef, wine, biofuels and barley sales to the Asian giant.
While Argentina's initial corn sales to China are expected to be relatively small, "we're dealing with a key market that will be open for the future," Solis said. The agriculture ministry has forecast corn production for the 2010-11 season at 21.6 million metric tons, one of the largest crops on record. Area planted with corn is expected to expand during the 2011-12 season at the expense of soybeans due to the relative profits between the country's top crops, Solis said. During the 2010-11 season, 18.7 million hectares were planted with soybeans in Argentina, while corn area reached 4.34 million hectares, according to the agriculture ministry.
Heavy Rainfall Expected Across East Anglia This Week -UK Agency (Source: CME)
Heavy rainfall is expected to hit East Anglia this week, according to the U.K. Met Office, bringing weather conditions more favorable to wheat and barley crops that suffered damage only last month from drought conditions. The Met Office said that East Anglia, in eastern England, is expected to receive longer periods of rain over the next week with some of the rainfall to be "heavy." Last month, the U.K.'s farm ministry and Environment Agency declared parts of East Anglia as officially marked with drought status after the region received only 47% of its normal total rainfall in May. East Anglia accounts for 53% of the U.K.'s sugar-beet output, 17% of wheat and 13% of barley production. Forecaster WeatherEdge Ltd. warned wheat yields could drop as much as 15% in 2011-12 because of the dry spell earlier this year.
Risk manager FC Stone said that temperatures this week across Europe should "ease off" from the recent highs witnessed earlier this year, especially in the U.K. and France. FC Stone also said that most parts of Western and Central Europe are expected to receive rainfall over the coming week creating delays to field work, with Eastern Germany, Poland and Eastern Europe mostly affected.
World Food Program Builds 30 Grain Stores In Uganda (Source: CME)
The World Food Program, in cooperation with several other bodies, has built 30 grain stores and a warehouse in Uganda in an attempt to boost post-harvest and marketing facilities among small-holder farmers, and help meet food needs in the drought-stricken Horn of Africa, the agency announced. WFP said in a statement the move is part of the its support for Uganda aimed at reducing rural poverty by helping farmers to sell more quality grain at a good price. The 29 community grain stores, built with funds from the United States Agency for International Development, Japan, and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, are satellite premises that can hold on average 200 metric tons each. The central warehouse, situated in Eastern Uganda, has a holding capacity of 2,000 tons. WFP didn't indicate the amount of funds invested in the projects. "WFP is the single largest buyer of quality grain in Uganda," WFP Country Director Stanlake Samkange said.
"We're eager to buy more from smallholders so they can better support their families." Small holder farmers produce the bulk of Uganda's grains and cereals. However, a lack of modern stores to process and preserve their commodities, as well as inconsistent quality, remains a major hindrance to access quality markets, according to Samkange. Last year, WFP purchased food from Uganda worth $70 million, making Uganda the second largest exporter of food to the agency in Africa, after South Africa. However, the country suffered five months of drought later 2010 and earlier this year, hurting its food production. Food shortages were largely blamed for triggering mass anti-government protests in the country between April and May. According to Samkange, community stores enable smallholders to dry, clean, fumigate and collectively transport their produce to the central warehouses.
Uganda is a major producer of crops such as corn, grains and cereals, and the country also producers cash crops such as coffee, tea, cotton and cocoa. Trade officials estimate that up to 30% of the country's grains and cereals do not meet international market requirements due to poor post handling facilities.
High Fertilizer Use Threatens China Grain Output -Report (Source: CME)
Heavy use of fertilizers has damaged domestic arable land and threatens grain output, the state-run China Daily reported, quoting local academics. Grain output growth "will not last long if the government fails to take timely and effective measures, as the soil is already too poor to support high-yield crops," it quoted Jiang Gaoming, a leading researcher at the academy, as saying. Jiang said the problems were caused by the "massive overuse" of chemical fertilizers in the past 30 years. Since 2007, China has been the world's largest consumer of chemical fertilizers, using more than 50 million metric tons every year, four times the amount in the 1980s, China Daily said. Statistics from the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences show the average level of organic matter in soil, which aids crop output, is 1%-5% in China's northeastern agriculture belt, compared with 8%-10% in the 1950s.
China also uses 1.3 million tons of pesticides annually, with usage per unit area 2.5 times higher than the global average, the report Zhang Weili, a CAAS professor, as saying.
US corn falls over 1 pct, wheat down on Russian supplies
SINGAPORE, July 18 (Reuters) - U.S. corn slid more than 1 percent , weighed down by concerns over U.S. and European debt, after strong gains last week on forecasts of hot weather which could threaten crop yields.
"The dollar is trading higher and that seems to be playing out so far today," said Luke Mathews, commodity strategist at Commonwealth Bank of Australia.
German farmers see smaller 2011 grain crop
HAMBURG, July 18 (Reuters) - Germany's 2011 grain crop of all types is likely to fall 6.4 percent to 41.2 million tonnes from 44.2 million tonnes last year as late rain was not enough to fully compensate for a spring drought, the German Farm Cooperatives Association said on Monday.
This was slightly up on the association's previous estimate of 40.8 million tonnes in June as recent rain had provided some relief to parched crops, it said.
Bangladesh 2010/11 grain imports hit 5.3 mln T
DHAKA, July 15 (Reuters) - Bangladesh's imports of wheat and rice surged to 5.3 million tonnes in the fiscal year June 30, from 3 million in the previous year, on the back of record buying by the government, a senior food official said on Friday.
Grain imports reached that level largely due to a sharp rise in rice purchases as part of efforts by the government to ward off domestic price rises, Ahmed Hossain Khan, director general of the state grains buyer, told Reuters.
Recent wet weather to boost EU 2011 maize harvest
PARIS, July 15 (Reuters) - The European maize crop is expected to rise sharply from last season's output due to beneficial weather during plant growth, which could lead farmers to start harvesting early, experts and analyst said.
French analysts Strategie Grains on Thursday put the total European Union 2011 corn harvest at 60.2 million tonnes against 55 million the previous year and 57.4 million in 2009.
India's monsoon 19 pct below normal, concerns over rice
NEW DELHI, July 14 (Reuters) - India's crucial monsoon rains were 19 percent below normal in the week to July 13, a slight pick up from a quarter below average in the previous week, but the fall off in rains is raising concerns particularly over rice production.
The rains had been expected to slow in the first two weeks of July, the key month for planting, and are still forecast to be only slightly below normal for the entire June to September season with a pick-up seen in most areas next week.
Dwindling global rice surplus prompts price surge fears
BANGKOK/HANOI, July 15 (Reuters) - A significant rice surplus is forecast to shrink by the end of the decade if more farmland in top exporting nations is put to industrial use and weather conditions worsen, keeping prices high as a growing world population boosts demand.
Ample supply may insulate Asia's main staple for at least two more years from price surges that have hit other grains, but costlier rice would feed food inflation worries, stirring fears of a repeat of the 2007/08 global food crisis that led to riots in some developing nations.
ICE sugar, coffee prices ease on risk aversion
LONDON, July 18 (Reuters) - Sugar, coffee and cocoa futures on ICE eased in early trade , weighed by increasing risk aversion among investors driven by the deepening debt crisis in the euro zone and the United States. ICE raw sugar futures were slightly lower, tracking losses in crude oil and many other commodity markets.
Uganda coffee exports seen 20 pct up y/y in July
KAMPALA, July 18 (Reuters) - Coffee exports from Uganda, one of Africa's leading exporters of the beans, is expected to rise by 20.2 percent in July from the same month a year ago, the state-run Uganda Coffee Development Authority said on Monday.
The regulator said the nation, east Africa's third largest economy, is forecast to ship 320,000 60-KG bags of coffee this month from 266,245 bags in July last year.
China boosts Vietnam, Thai sugar imports to ease shortage-report
HANOI, July 18 (Reuters) - China, the world's most populous country, is estimated to face a sugar shortage of 2 million tonnes this year, prompting domestic companies to step up buying the sweetener from Vietnam and Thailand, a Vietnamese state-run newspaper said on Monday.
The shortage has pushed China's domestic prices to above those in Vietnam, prompting traders to buy Vietnamese sugar, Pham Thi Sum, Chairwoman of Bien Hoa Sugar Co, was quoted by the agriculture ministry-run Vietnam Agriculture newspaper as saying.
India extends cotton export registration by a week
MUMBAI, July 15 (Reuters) - India has extended the last date for registration to export an additional 1 million cotton bales to July 22 from July 15, an official notification said on Friday.
"Requests have been received for extension in view of strike/holidays in Bangladesh and disruption of work in Mumbai. Hence, close date is extended by one week up to 22.07.2011," said the notification on the website of the Director General of Foreign Trade (DGFT).
Cameroon cocoa farmgate prices inch up, demand strong
YAOUNDE, July 15 (Reuters) - Cocoa farmgate prices in Cameroon ticked up in most production zones over the last month, mainly due to growing demand from buyers, farmers said on Friday.
Cameroon is the world's No. 5 cocoa grower, currently in the tail end of its 2010/11 growing season.
India coffee prices steady; no export demand at auction
MUMBAI, July 15 (Reuters) - Coffee prices in India remained largely unchanged at this week's auction due to lack of buying from exporters, which left most the stock unsold, trader said on Friday, Due to the drop in international prices of cotton, exporters didn't participitate in this week's auction held on Thursday.
India's June natural rubber imports jump 60 pct
MUMBAI, July 15 (Reuters) - India's natural rubber imports in June jumped 60 percent on year to 19,118 tonnes as tyre makers raised overseas purchases to cash in on lower prices in other Asian countries, and the trend is likely to continue in coming months also as rubber is still expensive in the country.
Rubber production in June rose 4.1 percent on year to 59,200 tonnes, while consumption of rubber in the month rose to 80,500 tonnes, from 74,450 tonnes in the year earlier period, the state-run Rubber Board said on Friday.
Booming Cotton No Boon to Farmers in Africa Milked by Regional Monopolies (Source: Bloomberg)
Amado Kafando tilted his head back, smiled and pumped his fists into the west African sky. “We praised God, and said, ‘At last!’” said Kafando, 45, standing amid the mud huts where he lives with 11 children and no electricity.
EU cushions biodiesel from damning carbon research
BRUSSELS, July 15 (Reuters) - The EU will protect existing investment in its $13 billion biodiesel sector even as it acts on new evidence that suggests making the fuel from food crops can do more harm than good in fighting climate change.
The environmental arguments in favour of using biodiesel were thrown into doubt last week by a series of leaked European Union reports, revealed by Reuters.
Two Russian coal miners missing, one trapped in accident
MOSCOW, July 17 (Reuters) - Two miners were missing and a third trapped underground in an Arctic Russian mine after an accident at a coal face, the owner, a unit of steelmaker Severstal , said on Sunday.
The Severstal unit, Vorkutaugol, said the collapse was caused by a "geological phenomenon".
Germany's NRW says E.ON compromise possible
FRANKFURT, July 17 (Reuters) - Germany's North Rhine Westphalia regional government said it was possible to reach a compromise with utility E.ON on its coal plants in Datteln.
E.ON is locked in a conflict with North Rhine Westphalia regarding the hard coal power plant in Datteln, which is to be switched off at the end of 2012.
Duke Energy expects Ohio coal plant retirement
July 15 (Reuters) - U.S. utility Duke Energy said it expects to retire all the six coal-fired generation units at its W.C. Beckjord Station near Cincinnati by Jan. 1, 2015 due to a proposed Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rule.
Under the recently proposed Utility Maximum Achievable Control Technology (MACT) rule, which will be finalised in November, coal-fired plants would require to reduce emissions of particular toxic air pollutants.
Oil Gains in New York as U.S. Supplies, China Demand Counter Europe Debt (Source: Bloomberg)
Oil climbed in New York as signs of shrinking crude stockpiles in the U.S. and rising demand in China countered speculation that Europe’s debt crisis will temper fuel demand. Futures advanced as much as 0.5 percent before a report tomorrow that may show U.S. inventories dropped a seventh week. Prices also rose after China said it’s oil processing volume grew 6.3 percent in the first half. Crude slipped yesterday amid concern Europe’s leaders will be unable to agree on steps to contain the region’s debt crisis at a summit this week.
Major market developments in June
LONDON, July 15 (Reuters) - Aluminium prices lost ground in June and while they may drift lower as demand softens for seasonal reasons, the market is expected to hold firm in coming months even though it is on course for another year of supply surplus.
"Demand has slackened a bit, but we expect it to accelerate after the summer slowdown, with robust growth from both transport and packaging," said Credit Agricole analyst Robin Bhar.
India's NALCO says cuts aluminium prices by $67.4/T
BHUBANESHWAR, India, July 15 (Reuters) - State-run National Aluminium Co Ltd (NALCO) , India's No. 3 producer of aluminium, has further cut aluminium prices by 3,000 rupees ($67.4) a tonne in the local market following a drop in global prices, a top company official said on Friday.
The revision, which is effective immediately, reflects the changes in London Metal Exchange (LME) rates, NALCO's commercial director Ansuman Das told Reuters.
S.Korea seeks 4,000 T aluminium ingot for Sept
SEOUL, July 18 (Reuters) - South Korea is seeking 4,000 tonnes of high-grade London Metal Exchange (LME) registered primary aluminium ingot via tenders to close at 2 pm (0500 GMT) on July 21, the state-run Public Procurement Service said.
The procurement agency said on its website (www.g2b.go.kr) that it would buy the metal of western origin with 99.7 percent purity.
POLL-India iron ore exports seen falling to 8-year low
MUMBAI, July 18 (Reuters) - Iron ore exports from India are likely to fall by more than a quarter to their lowest level in eight years because of higher costs and slow efforts in a key state to resume shipments, a Reuters poll showed.
Iron ore sales from the world's third-largest exporter are forecast to fall to 71.25 million tonnes in the current year to next March, from 95 million tonnes in the previous year, according to the median estimate in a Reuters poll of 10 iron ore miners, exporters and analysts.
China pledges equal domestic and export rare earth policies
BEIJING, July 15 (Reuters) - China said on Friday it will meet World Trade Organization rules by applying the "same policies" to domestic and overseas rare earth companies, a day after the United States and Europe slammed China on its new quotas of the highly sought minerals.
"China will, according to WTO standards and requirements on rare earth production, processing and export, adopt the same policies for domestic and overseas enterprises," Ministry of Commerce spokesman Yao Jian told reporters at a regular news briefing.
Iron Ore-Shanghai rebar hits over 2-mth high, ore firm
SHANGHAI/SINGAPORE, July 18 (Reuters) - Chinese steel futures rose more than 1 percent to their highest in more than two months on Monday, as demand for long steel products remained solid amid a busier construction sector, pushing up iron ore indexes to their loftiest since May.
The most active October rebar contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange rose as high as 4,925 yuan per tonne, a level not seen since May 5, before trimming gains to 4,909 yuan by the midday break, but standing up 0.8 percent.
China 2010 steel output underreported by 45 mln T-report
SINGAPORE, July 18 (Reuters) - China's crude steel output reached 672 million tonnes in 2010, 45 million tonnes more than what was reported by the Chinese government, the Financial Times reported on Monday, citing figures from a UK steel consultancy.
China's National Bureau of Statistics said domestic crude steel production hit a record 627 million tonnes last year.
Major market developments in June
LONDON, July 15 (Reuters) - Copper prices made gains in June and tight supply will help to bolster sentiment in the coming months, but the market may drift lower near term as demand slows over the northern hemisphere summer.
"The fundamentals of copper are still relatively strong, there are a number of mines where production has declined," said independent consultant Angus MacMillan.
METALS-Copper steady; China demand, euro zone crisis weigh
LONDON, July 18 (Reuters) - Copper was steady on Monday, but expected to come under pressure due to doubts about demand from top consumer China and the euro zone debt crisis.
Benchmark copper on the London Metal Exchange was trading at $9,674 a tonne at 1015 GMT from $9,672 at the close on Friday.
PRECIOUS-Gold rises above $1,600/oz as debt fears simmer
July 18 (Reuters) - Gold prices rallied to record highs above $1,600 an ounce in Europe on Monday as investors spooked by the euro zone debt crisis and the threat of a U.S. default bought into the metal as a haven from risk.
Spot gold rose as high as $1,601.80 an ounce and was up 0.5 percent at $1,601.28 an ounce at 1044 GMT. Gold rose more than 3 percent for a second straight week to Friday, a feat it has not achieved since February 2009.
Investors Boost Bullish Commodity Bets as Gold Demand Jumps on Debt Crisis (Source: Bloomberg)
Funds boosted bets on rising commodity prices by the most in almost a year as traders added gold amid escalating debt crises in the U.S. and Europe. Speculators raised their net-long positions in 18 commodities by 15 percent to 1.09 million futures and options contracts in the week ended July 12, government data compiled by Bloomberg show. That’s the biggest gain since early August. Gold holdings surged the most since September 2009 as prices climbed to a record. A measure of bullish agriculture bets climbed the most in 11 months. The Standard & Poor’s GSCI Spot Index increased for a third straight week, climbing to a one-month high on July 13. Gold futures climbed for nine straight sessions to July 15, the longest rally since November 2009, on increasing demand for the precious metal from those seeking to protect their investments.
Gold Tops $1,600, Surges to Record in Longest Rally in 31 Years on Debt (Source: Bloomberg)
Gold rose to a record $1,607.90 an ounce, capping the longest rally in 31 years, as debt concerns in Europe and the U.S. boosted demand for the metal as a haven. President Barack Obama is pressing congressional leaders for a multitrillion-dollar agreement in talks on cutting the deficit. A default would cause more panic than the collapse of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. in 2008, Larry Summers, a former Treasury Secretary, told CNN in an interview broadcast yesterday. The euro fell as European leaders plan to meet again on the debt crisis. “There’s just a lack of confidence in government and currency,” Frank Lesh, a trader at FuturePath Trading LLC in Chicago, said in a telephone interview. “There’s a flight-to- safety into gold. When Europe fixes their house and the U.S. fixes our house, maybe then there’ll be in a correction in gold.”
Baltic index falls again on weak demand
LONDON, July 15 (Reuters) - The Baltic Exchange's main sea freight index, which tracks rates to ship dry commodities, fell for a fourth session on Wednesday, as the Capesize market stayed weak on a pullback in port congestion and a slowdown in iron ore heading from the Atlantic to the Pacific.
The index -- which gauges the cost of shipping commodities including iron ore, cement, grain, coal and fertiliser -- fell 14 points, or 1.02 percent, to 1353 points. The index has been erratic this year, trading between 1,300-1,500 points as ship oversupply out paces demand to ship commodities.
