Shares consolidate, dollar faces profit taking
TOKYO, March 16 (Reuters) - Asian shares edged higher while the dollar took a breather as its recent broad rally spurred some profit taking, with a fresh batch of encouraging U.S. economic data further underpinning investor sentiment.
"The market is still going through a relief rally more than chasing a new trend on global growth," Barclays Capital analysts said.
US soy at 6-month top, China's corn hits record-high
SINGAPORE, March 16 (Reuters) - Chicago soybeans climbed to a six-month top, rising for a fourth straight session with support from better-than-expected U.S. exports on strong Chinese demand and lower supplies from drought-hit South America.
"Soybeans have firmed as China has been importing quite a lot and there have been some concerns that demand for soybeans could switch acreage from corn," said Lynette Tan, an analyst with Phillip Futures in Singapore.
Brazil new CS sugar output seen up 9 pct - Datagro
SAO PAULO, March 15 (Reuters) - Sugar output from Brazil's new 2012/13 center-south cane crop was forecast at 33.88 million tonnes, up 9 percent from 31.2 million tonnes in the current crop, crop analysts Datagro said on Thursday in their first estimate of the upcoming harvest.
Datagro President Plinio Nastari said Brazil's main growing region will produce 518.3 million tonnes of cane this coming April-March season, up from the 493 million tonnes crushed from this season's drought-hit center-south crop.
Warm U.S. winter could spur corn, tree-killing beetles
WASHINGTON, March 15 (Reuters) - As much of the United States basks in summer-like temperatures, weather and climate experts said this year's warm winter could mean early corn planting, a risk of killing frost for apricots and a baby boom for tree-chomping bark beetles in the West. The winter of 2011-12 was the fourth-warmest in the 117-year record, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which uses meteorological winter, which ended on Feb. 29.
Canada farm dept bumps up canola area, trims wheat
March 15 (Reuters) - Canada's agriculture department slightly raised its forecast for 2012/13 canola plantings, while trimming its wheat estimate on Thursday.
Dry conditions heading into planting season are expected to boost plantings of most major crops, after flooding wiped out millions of acres last year. Canola prices have recently spiked to a six-month high, offering attractive returns to farmers.
Argentina slowly starts to harvest drought-hit soy
BUENOS AIRES, March 15 (Reuters) - Argentine farmers have started harvesting soybeans but heavy rains that arrived after months of drought have slowed efforts to gather the parched crops, the Buenos Aires Grains Exchange said on Thursday.
Downpours have been bogging down harvesting machines as they try to move across fields in the Pampas farm belt that were bone dry only two months ago during the dog days of the Southern Hemisphere summer.
Wheat yield, export at risk in Russia South-analyst
MOSCOW, March 15 (Reuters) - Poor autumn and winter crop conditions in Russia's key southern wheat export regions have threatened yields and could reduce Russia's export potential in the coming crop year, a top Russian grain analyst said on Thursday.
Unusually warm temperatures in December and early January gave way to a fierce cold snap which hit crops in Russia's southern breadbasket, parts of which lacked snow to protect the green shoots. Poor germination was also reported in some areas.
Rwanda sees coffee harvest up 50 pct in 2012
KIGALI, March 15 (Reuters) - Rwanda's coffee output could rise by 50 percent this year due to a bumper harvest after good rains late last year, and the small but fertile central African country is eyeing newer outlets for its high quality, speciality coffee.
Rwanda, a much smaller producer compared to its neighbour and Africa's top exporter Uganda, grows high quality, Arabica coffee beans much of which is exported mainly to the United States, Europe, Japan and South Korea.
Brent crude rebounds above $123 on Iran-West tensions
SINGAPORE, March 16 (Reuters) - Brent crude rebounded above $123 after a sharp sell off the previous session, as rising tensions between Iran and the West fuelled an oil rally that has forced Western leaders to prepare a release of their strategic oil reserves.
"We think that prices probably will continue to grind higher as we get closer to the sanctions deadline," said Jeremy Friesen, commodity strategist at Societe Generale in Hong Kong.
Releasing oil reserves "worth looking at" -Cameron
NEW YORK, March 15 (Reuters) - British Prime Minister David Cameron said on Thursday a possible release of strategic oil reserves to tame soaring fuel prices is "worth looking at," but that no decision had been made after the discussions he had with U.S. President Barack Obama.
"Short term, should we look at reserves? Yes, we should," he said in New York after meeting with top Wall Street financial executives following meetings in Washington with Obama and other senior officials.
LME copper slips; U.S. data supports
SINGAPORE, March 16 (Reuters) - London copper futures slipped after a more than one percent rise in the previous session, although an improved U.S. economic outlook kept prices supported near the top of this week's trading range.
"The sentiment in London remains strong, while Shanghai is less so as domestic investors are concerned about the weak performance in the stock market and the high copper stocks that will take a while to digest," said Zhou Jie, an analyst at China CIFCO Futures.
Freeport cuts copper, gold outlooks after strike
March 15 (Reuters) - Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc lowered its copper and gold sales outlooks for the first quarter following labor-related problems at its Grasberg mine in Indonesia and said the mine would not return to full production until the second quarter.
The U.S. company said on Thursday that operations at the mine and associated mill had resumed after a temporary work stoppage on Feb. 23 and a three-month strike last year.
Britain aims to boost precious metal recycling
LONDON, March 16 (Reuters) - The British government said on Friday it would give local businesses money to find new ways to reuse or recycle precious metals to make them more resilient to fluctuations in supply and price of raw materials.
Laptops, mobile phones, vehicle catalysts contain precious metals such as gold, platinum and palladium, along with rarer metals such as indium or gallium.
Tight supply to push copper over $9,000/T this yr-CESCO
LONDON, March 15 (Reuters) - The copper industry is likely to experience years of supply uncertainty as growing resource nationalism threatens production, potentially pushing prices to above $9,000 this year, Chile's Centre for Copper and Mining Studies CESCO said.
CESCO's executive director Juan Carlos Guajardo told Reuters he expected a 200,000 tonne deficit this year as supply falls short of demand particularly from top consumer China, adding the mining industry needed coordinated action to ensure future supplies.
Rio halts iron ore port operations as cyclone nears
SYDNEY, March 16 (Reuters) - Rio Tinto said on Friday it was in the process of suspending iron ore port operations in Australia as a tropical cyclone bears down on the Western Australia coast.
Operations at two ports used by Rio Tinto -- Dampier and Cape Lambert -- were winding down, while mining and its rail hauling line remained open, said a spokesman for Rio Tinto, the world's second-largest iron ore producer.
Australian iron ore port shuts as cyclone threatens coast
SYDNEY, March 16 (Reuters) - Australia's Port Hedland iron ore terminal closed on Friday as the last ship left the port to escape the brunt of Cyclone Lua, which was intensifying and expected to sweep across the vast Pilbara iron ore mining belt early on Saturday.
Port operators began closing the iron ore export terminals late Thursday and residents in areas most likely to be hit by the category three cyclone have been warned to store up on emergency supplies, said the Australian Bureau of Meteorology.
Vietnam to test-run first alumina plant in early Q2-report
HANOI, March 16 (Reuters) - Vietnam will test-run the country's first alumina plant early in the second quarter starting in April, before moving to full production, a state-run newspaper said on Friday, indicating a slight delay in the project.
Up to 99 percent of work has now been completed at the Tan Rai plant owned by the National Coal and Mineral Industries Group(Vinacomin), the ruling Vietnam Communist Party-run Nhan Dan (People) daily said, quoting Vinacomin.
Gold extends gains, but heads for third week of losses
SINGAPORE, March 16 (Reuters) - Gold extended gains as the euro rebounded against the dollar, but the precious metal was heading for its third straight week of losses as a brightening economic outlook in the United States prompted investors to park their money elsewhere.
"There's little need for a safe haven at the moment," said Lynette Tan, an analyst with Phillip Futures in Singapore. "Going forward, we could see gold maintain at this level, or even fall to about $1,620. I think gold will be sidelined at the moment compared to the other risk assets."
METALS-LME copper slips; U.S. data supports
SINGAPORE, March 16 (Reuters) - London copper futures slipped on Friday after a more than one percent rise in the previous session, although an improved U.S. economic outlook kept prices supported near the top of this week's trading range.
Optimism stemming from data showing new jobless claims in the world's largest economy fell to a four-year low last week and a pick up in manufacturing activity in the Northeast this month drove the S&P 500 to its highest since the 2008 financial crisis, and pushed copper up on Thursday.
PRECIOUS-Gold extends gains, but heads for third week of losses
SINGAPORE, March 16 (Reuters) - Gold extended gains on Friday as the euro rebounded against the dollar, but the precious metal was heading for its third straight week of losses as a brightening economic outlook in the United States prompted investors to park their money elsewhere.
Although the U.S. dollar took a breather after a rally, the uptrend was seen unbroken after the Federal Reserve offered no clues whether it plans to buy any more major assets to keep interest rates and borrowing costs low -- a move which would lift bullion's safe-haven appeal.
FOREX-Dollar hits speed bumps as profit-takers scoop up gains
SYDNEY/TOKYO, March 16 (Reuters) - The rally in the dollar took a bit of a breather on Friday as traders booked profits on recent chunky gains ahead of key resistance levels, but the greenback's uptrend was seen intact in line with a brightening U.S. economic outlook.
The dollar stood at 83.37 yen , having retreated from an 11-month peak of 84.19. Traders said some selling kicked in after the pair gained 1.2 percent this week and as it approached the 2011 high of 85.53.
Baltic index rises as smaller vessels firm
March 15 (Reuters) - The Baltic Exchange's main sea freight index, which tracks rates to ship dry commodities, rose on Thursday as rates for smaller vessels offset weakness in the capesize market.
The overall index, a gauge of the cost of shipping commodities such as iron ore, cement, grain, coal and fertiliser, rose 11 points or 1.29 percent to 866 points.
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