Shares pause after rally, eye US data for clues
TOKYO, March 28 (Reuters) - Asian shares drifted lower, after rallying the previous session on hopes for further stimulus from the Federal Reserve, as investors waited for more clues on the state of the U.S. economy.
"It is natural to see a pause since equities markets have been on an uptrend for five months since hitting their lows, but the downside is limited as real money, which has lagged hedge funds and CTAs (commodity trading advisors), are catching up with the rally," said Tetsuro Ii, the president of Commons Asset Management in Tokyo.
FOREX-Yen firmer on flows related to Japan fiscal year-end
TOKYO/SINGAPORE, March 28 (Reuters) - The yen edged higher against the dollar supported by seasonal flows from Japanese exporters who bought the yen with the end of their financial year approaching.
The dollar fell 0.3 percent to 82.92 yen , while the euro eased 0.2 percent to 110.52 yen to inch away from a 4-1/2 month high of 111.43 yen hit last week on trading platform EBS.
Commodities look to simmer not boil this year
NEW YORK, March 27 (Reuters) - Even with crude oil prices nearing record territory, experts see signs that the market for commodities is running on fumes.
The prices of many commodities are losing steam as much of Europe is likely headed into a recession and China's economy is slowing down from its once torrid pace, industry analysts say.
Soy rebounds on Chinese demand, corn near 1-month low
SINGAPORE, March 28 (Reuters) - Chicago soybeans bounced back, rising for three out of four sessions with support from China's off-season demand for U.S. cargoes following tight supplies from drought-hit South America.
"The focus is turning on plantings report but beans are supported around the current levels as China is showing pretty strong buying interest," said Ker Chung Yang, an analyst at Phillip Futures in Singapore.
Japan to import 6.5 pct less food wheat in 2012/13
TOKYO, March 28 (Reuters) - Japan, the world's fifth-biggest wheat importer, plans to buy 6.5 percent less foreign food wheat in the year to March 2013 in anticipation of higher local production, helped by government initiatives to lift food self sufficiency.
A panel of experts on Wednesday approved a plan by the Ministry of Agriculture to buy 4.78 million tonnes of foreign wheat for milling use in 2012/13, compared with the 2011/12 plan for 5.11 million tonnes.
Paraguay soy seen half of last season's
ASUNCION, March 27 (Reuters) - Drought-hit Paraguay is expected to produce 4.3 million tonnes of soy this season, half the amount harvested in the previous crop year, the country's grains farmers' chamber said on Tuesday.
The South American nation is the world's No. 4 soy exporter. Dry weather earlier this season accounts for the expected sharp drop in output, according to the UGP farmers' association.
Rise in Brazil sugar output seen moderate-FOLicht
SAO PAULO, March 27 (Reuters) - Brazil's cane crop, source for half the world's sugar trade, will stage only a moderate recovery in 2012/13 as fields in the center-south region claw back from their first decline in a decade, global sugar analysts F.O. Licht forecast on Tuesday.
Crushing in the region, which begins officially in April, will put out 32.3 million tonnes of sugar, 1 million tonnes more than for 2011/12, senior sugar analyst Stefan Uhlenbrock said at F.O. Licht's annual sugar and ethanol event in Sao Paulo.
Drought hits South African maize output
JOHANNESBURG, March 27 (Reuters) - South Africa on Tuesday cut its maize output forecast for the 2011/12 season by 3 percent, exactly in line with market expectations, after late-season drought weighed on yields.
Africa's biggest maize producer would harvest 11.3 million tonnes for the season, compared with 11.7 million tonnes in the previous forecast, the government's Crop Estimates Committee (CEC) said.
Brent breaches $125 on US crude stocks rise, possible release
SINGAPORE, March 28 (Reuters) - Brent crude fell for a second session, breaching $125, on the possibility of a release of strategic oil reserves by the United States even after crude stockpiles in the world's largest oil user rose more than expected last week.
"Markets have arrived at a level where they probably need to see evidence of better economic growth and demand before they take things higher," said Ric Spooner, Sydney-based chief market analyst at CMC Markets.
Indonesia 2012 coal output seen rising by up to 5 pct -association
SINGAPORE, March 28 (Reuters) - Indonesia's coal production in 2012 is expected to rise up to 5 percent from a year earlier to 390 million tonnes, despite price declines, a senior industry group official said on Wednesday.
"This year we estimate that production will reach 380-390 million tonnes even though prices have gone down," said Supriatna Suhala, deputy chairman and executive director of the APBI-Indonesia Coal Mining Association.
Euro Coal-Rises with power, gas but outlook bearish
LONDON, March 27 (Reuters) - Prices for prompt physical coal deliveries rose on Tuesday as strengthening power and gas prices lifted coal contracts, but analysts said the coal market remained under downward pressure from ample supply and lower demand at the end of winter.
A May cargo for delivery to Europe (DES ARA) was heard at $98.25 a tonne, according to GLOBALcoal, up $1.5 on the previous day.
JSW sees 2012 coal output above target of 13.3 mln t
KATOWICE, Poland, March 27 (Reuters) - Polish miner Jastrzebska Spolka Weglowa , the European Union's top coking coal producer, expects its 2012 output to exceed a planned increase to 13.3 million tonnes on promising first-quarter figures, JSW chief executive said on Tuesday.
The state-controlled miner mainly sells its coal within the region, including Poland, Germany, Romania and Austria, with steelmaker Arcelor Mittal its biggest client.
Infrastructure key to Mongolia coal - Aspire Mining
MOSCOW, March 27 (Reuters) - Mongolia's emerging coal sector must work to build the nation's rail grid if it hopes to continue to expand in the global coking coal export market and benefit from rising Asian demand, a senior Aspire Mining executive told Reuters.
Mongolia lies between world leading steel producers China and Russia and is positioned to supply the new blast furnaces springing up on the coast of China, Aspire Managing Director David Paull told Reuters on Tuesday.
Bitterness could twist India's $211 bln coal saga
MUMBAI, March 27 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Simmering worries about India's cheapo sell-off of its coal asset could yet explode. The economic consequences may well be worse than those which followed the telecoms mess up. Consumers eventually benefited from the mobile licences scandal. Coal could prove murkier.
If India had auctioned its coalmines rather than allocating them on a first-come first-served basis it may have raised an extra $211 billion, according to a leaked draft report from India's audit office. Where have all the gains from this bargain-basement sell off ended up?
Xstrata wins approval for Australia's biggest coal mine
PERTH, March 27 (Reuters) - An Australian court ruled in favour of global miner Xstrata on Tuesday in a case which sought to halt the company's plans to build the country's largest coal mine on the grounds that it would contribute to climate change.
The objection against the A$6 billion ($6.3 billion) Wandoan mine was filed by environmental group Friends of the Earth and landowners, and comes amid increasing resistance to Australia's coal industry from green campaigners.
Glencore and Xstrata, catalyst for more mining M&A
LONDON, March 27 (Reuters) - Megadeals like Glencore's planned acquisition of Xstrata could encourage other mining companies to embark on decisive M&A of their own, senior bankers said at the Reuters Mining and Metals Summit on Tuesday.
"The market is reasonably conducive to M&A, other large strategic deals could provoke people to think about their own destiny," said David Hammond, global head of metals and mining at Morgan Stanley , speaking at the Reuters Mining and Metals summit in London.
China's copper traders play yuan for profits
SHANGHAI, March 28 (Reuters) - At Shanghai's Waigaoqiao port, a sprawling 10 square kilometre free-trade zone, thousands of tonnes of copper cathode plates sit in stacks turning green after years of exposure to the elements.
"They don't get shipped to end-users because they were bought for speculative reasons," said a warehouse manager at the port, who would only give his surname Zhu, standing in the port's control room overlooking yards piled high with metal.
Rio Tinto upbeat on iron ore, supply a concern-CFO
LONDON, March 27 (Reuters) - Rio Tinto , the world's third-largest miner, was optimistic about demand for iron ore, especially in China, but concerned that supply would not be enough to satisfy appetite, Chief Financial Officer Guy Elliott said Tuesday.
"We remain very positive about the outlook for iron ore in terms of demand over the next few years. We are more concerned about supply," Elliott said at the Reuters Mining and Metals Summit televised to London from New York.
Copper slips ahead of U.S. manufacturing data
SINGAPORE, March 28 (Reuters) - Copper slipped with investor focus shifting to upcoming U.S. manufacturing data for fresh insight into the health of the world's top economy, while hopes for further monetary policy easing continued to cushion prices.
"U.S. macro numbers seem to be topping out a bit. We seem to have lost some of this really good momentum we had earlier in the year - the slowdown in other countries and energy prices is taking its toll," metals analyst Edward Meir at INTL FCStone said.
Alcoa agrees to postpone closing Italy smelter
MILAN, March 27 (Reuters) - Alcoa has agreed to keep its Italian smelter running past the planned closure date while it looks for new buyers, the U.S. aluminium company, the Italian Industry Ministry and labour unions said on Tuesday after hours of meetings.
Alcoa had planned to close its Portovesme smelter on the island of Sardinia by mid-year as part of efforts to cut global output and costs. The plan has run into fierce opposition from Italy's government, Sardinia's authorities and unions.
NLMK to boost 2012 steel output to over 15 mln T
MOSCOW, March 27 (Reuters) - Novolipetsk Steel , Russia's fourth-largest steel producer, said on Tuesday it plans $1.7 billion in capital expenditure this year as it presses ahead with plans to increase production capacity.
"In 2012 we plan to increase crude steel output to over 15 million tonnes on the back of incremental capacity growth thus becoming the largest steel producer in Russia," it said in a statement.
Iron Ore-Shanghai rebar slips; caution on ore
SHANGHAI, March 28 (Reuters) - Shanghai steel futures dipped modestly on Wednesday, as investors stayed on the sidelines and were reluctant to chase gains after prices jumped to a two-month high in the previous session.
The wait-and-see attitude spilled over to the iron ore market, a key steelmaking raw material, with more traders now
opting to stay on the fringes after miners pushed to raise prices.
Brazil's Vale moderately optimistic about iron ore outlook
SINGAPORE, March 27 (Reuters) - Brazil's Vale , the world's second-largest mining company, is moderately optimistic about the outlook for iron ore and expects significant demand from top consumer China, Claudio Alves, global marketing director, said on Tuesday.
This comes on the heels comments by BHP Billiton , the world's biggest miner, that it was seeing signs of "flattening" iron ore demand from China - a news that unsettled financial markets as they are sensitive to any hint of softening demand in the world's second largest economy.
US sets import duties on India, Vietnam steel pipe
WASHINGTON, March 27 (Reuters) - The U.S. Commerce Department on Tuesday set a preliminary import duty of nearly 286 percent on a certain type of steel pipe from India to offset government subsidies and a duty of slightly more than 8 percent on the same product from Vietnam.
It declined to set preliminary duties on imports from Oman and the United Arab Emirates, saying it found little or no subsidies for steel pipe producers in those countries.
JX Nippon says stocks weigh on China copper demand
TOKYO, March 27 (Reuters) - The appetite for copper remains weak in China, weighed down by swollen inventories and tight monetary policy, with destocking likely to continue until after May, according to JX Nippon Mining and Metals Corp , parent of Japan's top copper smelter.
China's economic growth and demand for industrial metals seem now to be the market's most serious concern after BHP Billiton last week warned of faltering Chinese demand for iron ore, a key steelmaking ingredient, which spooked metal markets.
METALS-Copper slips ahead of U.S. manufacturing data
SINGAPORE, March 28 (Reuters) - Copper slipped although hopes for further U.S. monetary policy easing supported prices, while investor focus shifted to U.S. manufacturing data later in day for fresh insight into the health of the world's top economy.
London copper rallied about 2 percent on Monday and then rose to a one-week high of $8,585 on Tuesday on hopes of further easing from the United States, but gains have been tempered by worries about slowing growth in China, the world's leading consumer of metals.
Gold hovers around $1,680/oz; US data eyed
SINGAPORE, March 28 (Reuters) - Gold hovered around $1,680 an ounce, as investors awaited more trading cues from U.S. data after recent hints from the U.S. Federal Reserve chairman on more stimulus propelled bullion to a two-week high near $1,700 in the previous session.
"Bernanke was highlighting his uncertainty about the sustainability of the recent uptick in the U.S. data," said Jeremy Friesen, commodity strategist at Societe Generale in Hong Kong.
PRECIOUS-Gold hovers below $1,680/oz; US data eyed
SINGAPORE, March 28 (Reuters) - Gold slipped below $1,680 an ounce as investors awaited more trading cues from U.S. data after recent hints from the U.S. Federal Reserve chairman on more stimulus propelled bullion to a two-week high near $1,700 in the previous session.
After defending very low interest rates and triggering a rally in bullion prices earlier in the week, Ben Bernanke cautioned it is too soon to declare victory in the U.S. recovery and said the Fed would take no options off the table on further action to stimulate growth.
Baltic sea index up, smaller vessels firm
March 27 (Reuters) - The Baltic Exchange's main sea freight index, tracking rates for ships carrying dry commodities, rose on Tuesday as rates for smaller vessels remained firm.
The main index that reflects the daily freight market rates for capesize, panamax, supramax and handysize dry bulk transport vessels rose 5 points or 0.55 percent to 917 points.
Slump hits Italian ship firm, bondholders up in arms
LONDON, March 23 (Reuters) - A slump in world freight threatens to sink Italian shipping firm Deiulemar Compagnia di Navigazione, hurting thousands of small investors who fear it issued around 550 million euros of bonds hat were not on the balance sheet while selling off its ships.
Shipping companies worldwide ordered large numbers of new vessels between 2007 and 2009, when rates to carry freight - notably dry bulk cargo such as a coal, grain and iron ore - hit record highs, and now they face a glut.
Baltic sea index up, capesizes still weak
March 26 (Reuters) - The Baltic Exchange's main sea freight index, which tracks rates to ship dry commodities, rose on Monday despite continued weakness in capesize rates.
The overall index, a gauge of the cost of shipping commodities such as iron ore, cement, grain, coal and fertiliser, rose 4 points or 0.44 percent to 912 points.
No comments:
Post a Comment