20120323 1552 Global Market & Commodities Related News.

GLOBAL MARKETS-Asian shares fall on global growth worries
SINGAPORE, March 23 (Reuters) - Asian shares fell and growth-linked currencies such as the Australian dollar were shunned after data showing shrinking factory activity in China and the euro zone heightened concerns about a slowdown in the global economy.
"Fears of a Chinese hard landing are on the rise; overdone we think," said Vincent Chaigneau, strategist at Societe Generale. "Concerns over Europe are burgeoning again, rightly so given the weak economy and the toxic focus on enlarging the firewall."

Bernanke says U.S. consumption still too weak
WASHINGTON, March 22 (Reuters) - U.S. consumer spending is still too weak to ensure a healthy pace of economic growth, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said on Th ursday.
"Right now, in terms of debt and consumption, we're still way low relative to the pattern before the crisis," Bernanke told students in the second of two lectures at The George Washington University. "We lack a source of demand to keep the economy growing."

FOREX-Yen shade weaker after rally, but risks linger
TOKYO, March 23 (Reuters) - The yen softened on Friday after Tokyo importers took advantage of its broad rally the day before, while risk currencies like the Australian dollar were poised to end the week sharply lower on fresh concerns about the health of the global economy.
Manufacturing shrank for a fifth month in China, while factory activity in Germany and France, Europe's two biggest economies, suffered big and unexpected falls, data showed on Thursday, bolstering the yen and sending growth currencies down.

Warmest March ever drives US farmers to plant early
CHICAGO, March 22 (Reuters) - Ethan Cox is sowing corn on his 5,000-acre Illinois farm earlier than ever this year, betting that the premium he may collect for delivering an early crop is worth the risk of a damaging late-spring frost.
Lured into the fields by what is so far the warmest March since records began in 1871, Cox is toiling alongside dozens of farmers across the Midwest who have begun seeding what may be a record crop weeks earlier than usual, according to agronomists, farm managers and analysts who keep close tabs on farm activity.

GRAINS-US wheat, corn extend gains on export demand; soy up
SYDNEY, March 23 (Reuters) - U.S. corn and wheat extended gains for a second straight day as prices were supported by strong export demand, while soybeans also rose after dropping in the previous session.
&#8220Argentine grain truckers have reached a deal to end a four-day-old strike over hauling rates that had delayed deliveries to export ports, a spokeswoman for the drivers said.&#8221

Argentine grains truckers agree to lift strike
BUENOS AIRES, March 22 (Reuters) - Argentine grain truckers have reached a deal to end a four-day-old strike over hauling rates that had delayed deliveries to export ports, a spokeswoman for the drivers said.    
The FETRA group of trucking companies began the protest on Monday to press demands for a unified hauling tariff system, sharply reducing truck arrivals at terminals in the Rosario grains export hub.

Argentina sees 2011/12 corn crop at 21.2 mln T
BUENOS AIRES, March 22 (Reuters) - Argentina expects this season's corn crop to total 21.2 million tonnes versus its previous official estimate of 20.5 million to 22.0 million tonnes, the Agriculture Ministry said on Thursday.
The ministry, in its monthly crop report, also changed its 2011/12 soy harvest forecast to 44 million tonnes from a previous range of 43.5 million to 45.0 million tonnes.

India sugar seen going to Iran if exports approved
GENEVA, March 22 (Reuters) - Indian raw sugar from a possible fresh tranche of exports, which could be authorised by ministers next week, is likely to be destined for sanctions-hit Iran, European trade sources said.
The sources said a significant portion of so-called Open General Licence (OGL) sugar exports, which could be approved at a ministerial meeting in India on March 26, may be sold to Iran.

Water scarcity to cut key Indian state's sugar output
MUMBAI, March 22 (Reuters) - India's top sugar producing Maharashtra state is likely to see a nearly 17 percent drop in output in the next marketing year beginning from October as water scarcity is deterring farmers from cane cultivation, state government officials told Reuters.
Lower output in the state will trim the world's top consumer's total production and subsequently surplus available for exports in 2012/13.

Brent holds above $123 as U.S. data eases demand concerns
SINGAPORE, March 23 (Reuters) - Brent crude was steady above $123 a barrel, rebounding from sharp falls in the previous session, as better-than-expected U.S. economic data eased fears of a sharp slowdown in China hitting oil demand.
"The macroeconomic picture is getting better, especially in the U.S., and that's helping oil prices. But the recovery is very slow and there's still a lot of uncertainty regarding China and Europe," said Ken Hasegawa, a commodity derivatives manager at Newedge Brokerage in Tokyo.

METALS-Copper bounces from two-week lows; growth worries weigh
SINGAPORE, March 23 (Reuters) - London copper bounced, coming off two-week lows hit in the previous session, but prices were on track for a weekly loss as global growth concerns and tepid demand from top consumer China kept a lid on gains.  
"At the moment, more and more people realise there is weak domestic demand in China, but market insiders are still not sure when it will recover, or the scope," said Grace Qu, analyst at CRU in Beijing.

Miners say operations in Mali running normally
LONDON/TORONTO, March 22 (Reuters) - Gold miner Randgold Resources  said its operations in Mali were running normally, despite worries over unrest as renegade soldiers said they had seized power in the West African country.
The soldiers earlier went on state television to declare they had seized power in protest over the government's failure to quell a rebellion in the north of the country.

Zambia won't bring back mining windfall tax-fin min
LUSAKA, March 22 (Reuters) - Zambia, Africa's top copper producer, will not reintroduce a mining windfall tax it scrapped in 2009 because it may force mine closures, the minister of finance said on Thursday.
"Mining has a long gestation period and we don't want to tax the mines out of business," Alexander Chikwanda said on state-owned ZNBC radio

Japan rolled copper output seen up 2.4 pct in 2012/13
TOKYO, March 22 (Reuters) - Japan's production of rolled copper products will rise 2.4 percent in the new financial year starting in April, after an estimated 6.6 percent slump this year, as a recovery in the global economy will brighten the electronics sector, an industry body said on Thursday.  
Japan's output of copper products used in chips, car parts and housing utensils, have been in a steep downtrend since late last year as Europe's debt crisis cooled the global economy while Japan's electronics appliance makers reduced orders in the wake of massive losses.

PRECIOUS-Gold off 2-mth low but headed for 4th losing wk
SINGAPORE, March 23 (Reuters) - Gold prices was little changed and were set for their fourth-straight week of losses, after weak economic data from China and the euro zone sent bullion to a two-month low in the previous session.
"It seems that funds have been trying to re-allocate their assets," said Peter Tse, director at ScotiaMocatta in Hong   Kong.

Japan rolled copper output seen up 2.4 pct in 2012/13
TOKYO, March 22 (Reuters) - Japan's production of rolled copper products will rise 2.4 percent in the new financial year starting in April, after an estimated 6.6 percent slump this year, as a recovery in the global economy will brighten the electronics sector, an industry body said on Thursday.  
Japan's output of copper products used in chips, car parts and housing utensils, have been in a steep downtrend since late last year as Europe's debt crisis cooled the global economy while Japan's electronics appliance makers reduced orders in the wake of massive losses.

China Feb refined copper imports hit third-highest level
HONG KONG, March 21 (Reuters) - China's inflows of refined copper rose 12 percent month-on-month in February to hit the third-highest level ever on delayed shipments from the holiday month of January and as buyers stocked up on expectations of rising demand during the peak March-May consumption season.
In February, 375,831 tonnes of refined copper arrived China, compared to 335,480 tonnes in January and up 137.6 percent from a year earlier, data from the General Administration of Customs showed on Wednesday.  

Gold Fields takes 40 pct stake in Philippines project
JOHANNESBURG, March 22 (Reuters) - South African gold miner Gold Fields  said on Thursday it had exercised an option to take a 40 percent stake in a gold-copper project in the Philippines, the next step in its strategy to diversify out of its home base.
Gold Fields, the world's fourth-largest bullion producer, said in a statement it had taken the stake after making a $110 million down payment this week and retained the option to acquire an additional 20 percent in the Far Southeast Project.

U.S. miners, steel shares drop on China slowdown
NEW YORK, March 22 (Reuters) - Shares in U.S. steelmakers and coal and metal miners dropped on Thursday on signs that industrial growth was slowing in China, a big consumer of metal and raw materials for its economic building.
Benchmark copper  fell 1.95 percent to a two-week low on the London Metal Exchange (LME) at $8,290 a tonne and other

METALS-Copper bounces from two-week lows; growth worries weigh
SINGAPORE, March 23 (Reuters) - London copper bounced on Friday, coming off two-week lows hit in the previous session, but prices were on track for a weekly loss as global growth concerns and tepid demand from top consumer China kept a lid on gains.  
Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange  rose 0.77 percent to $8,354 a tonne by 0242 GMT. It touched a two-week low of $8,262 a tonne and closed down 2 percent in the previous session, but is still up nearly 10 percent this year.

PRECIOUS-Gold off 2-mth low but headed for 4th losing wkBy Rujun Shen
SINGAPORE, March 23 (Reuters) - Gold prices was little changed on Friday and were set for their fourth-straight week of losses, after weak economic data from China and the euro zone sent bullion to a two-month low in the previous session.
Surveys showed shrinking manufacturing activity in China and an unexpected turn for the worse in the euro zone economy in March, fanning worries of faltering growth in these regions.

Asia Dry Bulk-Rates to fall on weak iron ore demand
SINGAPORE, March 22 (Reuters) - Rates for capesize dry bulk carriers on key Asian freight routes are expected to fall next week because of slower Australian iron ore shipments to China, ship brokers said on Thursday.
CAPESIZE
Benchmark capesize fixture rates from Australia to China eased to a six-week low of $7.558 a tonne on Wednesday from $7.779 last week as miners booked fewer vessels to ship iron ore.