South America Readies Record Crops Amid U.S. Drought (Source:Bloomberg)
South American farmers are preparing to plant record grain and oilseed crops that may temper surging food inflation caused by the worst U.S. drought in a generation. Argentine farmers, buoyed by rains that alleviated a drought, will smash a previous corn harvest record of 22 million metric tons by reaping as much as 31 million tons in the 2012- 2013 season, growers group Crea said July 23. Brazil may harvest its biggest-ever soybean crop in 2012-2013 to surpass the U.S. as the world’s biggest grower, according to Sao Paulo-based researcher Agroconsult.
Corn rose to a record $8.205 a bushel in Chicago yesterday, capping the biggest monthly gain since 1988, while soybeans reached an all-time high on July 23 and surged 15 percent last month. Corn retreated 1.2 percent today. The response from South American growers to the worst U.S. drought since 1956 will be the “turning point” in the corn and soybean rally, Wayne Gordon, the head of global agriculture markets research at UBS AG in New York, said in an interview. “We are in a great situation,” said Martin Otero, the owner of Buenos Aires-based farm investment group Hillock Capital Management that owns and manages farmland in Argentina and Uruguay. “We have very high yield prospects, and there’s a high probability that prices will be very good.”
Soil Conditions
South America may boost its soybean crop by 30 percent in the 2012-2013 season as farmers look to cash in on higher prices and improved soil conditions after a drought last season, said Karim Cherif, a Zurich-based analyst for Credit Suisse Group AG. Argentina and Paraguay are the world’s third- and fourth- largest exporters, respectively, of the oilseed behind the U.S. and Brazil. In corn, Argentina, Ukraine and Brazil trail the U.S. as the largest global exporters of the cereal. South American farmers start planting corn and soybean crops from September, while harvesting will take place between February and June next year. In the U.S., whose season runs inversely to South America, the already planted corn crop is “not save-able” in many areas, economist Dennis Gartman wrote in his daily Gartman Letter.
Ninety-four percent of U.S. corn crops have gone through the silking stage, while only 55 percent of soybean plants are setting pods, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said July 30. Both phases are critical for determining yields. Soybeans typically mature later than corn and damages can be reversed by rains now, Gartman said. Much of the U.S. Midwest may remain hot and dry through the middle of August, Matt Rogers, Commodity Weather Group LLC president, said in an e-mail today.
Weather ‘Crucial’
Prices may advance to records on the shortage, said Sudakshina Unnikrishnan, an analyst at Barclays Plc in London. “I don’t think we’ve seen the top so far,” she said in an interview. In the U.S. “weather through August is going to be absolutely crucial.” The U.S. drought will cause food-price volatility that may expand hunger to the world’s poor, threatening social stability and putting pressure on governments, World Bank President Jim Yong Kim said in a report July 30. French Agriculture Minister Stephane Le Foll said a surge in grain and soy prices is a “major preoccupation” worldwide. “South American farmers will respond to high crop prices by increasing planted acres,” Juan Luciano, chief operating officer of Decatur, Illinois-based grains processor Archer- Daniels-Midland Co. said in a conference call with analysts yesterday.
Brazilian farmers may plant a record soybean crop because of prices, the prospect of rain caused by the El Nino weather phenomenon and its higher profitability than corn, said Silvio Porto, the director of agriculture policy and information at Conab, the Brazilian government crop-forecasting agency.
Prefer Soybeans
Many Brazilian farmers will sow soybeans instead of corn because the seeds are cheaper and the cost of transporting from farms far from the eastern Atlantic coast is cheaper, said Glauber Silveira, a farmer who is also president of Brazil’s soybean growers association known as Aprosoja. “You have more safety with soy, it’s easier to sell in advance,” said Silveira, who owns farms in Mato Grosso state that borders the Amazon Jungle. “I have already sold 60 percent of my crop next year in advance.” Brazil will plant 27 million hectares (66.7 million acres) in 2012-2013 to reap a record 78 million-ton soybean crop and may even surpass that target as growers use record amounts of fertilizers to maximize yields, said Giovana Araujo, a Sao Paulo-based analyst at Banco Itau BBA SA.
El Nino
To be sure, farmers across South America are counting on the downpours that arrive with El Nino that warms ocean temperatures, bringing wetter weather to the grassy plains in Argentina and Brazil. The El Nino rains may be less intense than in previous episodes of the weather phenomenon, said Eduardo Sierra, a climatologist at the Buenos Aires Cereals Exchange. Many Argentine farmers need the heavy downpours that occur during the so-called Santa Rosa storm at the end of August to sow corn, said Esteban Copati, an analyst at the exchange. Argentine farmers are still lobbying the government to ease export restrictions on food staples such as corn consumed in the South American country and may grow soybeans instead because they are not subject to the restrictions, Copati said.
The country’s soybean harvest may rise about 35 percent in 2012-2013 to 56 million tons, UBS’s Gordon said. Output in neighboring Paraguay may almost double to 7.8 million tons in the 2012-2013 season from 4 million tons a year earlier, the USDA said March 28. “The Latin American guys are going to be the turning point,” Gordon said. “What the condition of their planting is in October and November will determine the length in the rally.”
U.S. Midwest May Remain Hot, Dry Through Mid-August (Source:Bloomberg)
Much of the Midwest may remain hot and dry through the middle of August, after a month in which more than half the U.S. was covered by drought and temperature records toppled by the thousands. The Midwest is expected to stay about 5 to 8 degrees Fahrenheit (2.8 to 4.4 Celsius) above normal through Aug. 15, according to Matt Rogers, Commodity Weather Group LLC president. The area from Iowa south Arkansas, west to Nebraska and Kansas and east to Illinois will probably have below-normal rain through Aug. 15, said Joel Widenor, CWG co-founder. “While next week sees some back-and-forth variability, we still favor a hot-dominated story with the most severe conditions still over the drought areas of the western Midwest, Plains and nearby parts of the South,” Rogers said.
In July, 4,368 daily high temperature records were set or tied across the U.S. or about 2.6 percent of the total possible, according to National Climatic Data Center statistics. A year ago, 2,755 daily records were set or tied, or 1.5 percent of the total, according to the center in Asheville, North Carolina. As of last week, at least 63.9 percent of the contiguous 48 states was affected by drought considered moderate or worse. The parched soil has left corn and soybean crops in the worst condition since 1988. Ninety percent of topsoil in six Midwest states was considered short or very short on moisture. In Missouri and Illinois, 99 percent reached that level. Widenor said he expects above-normal rain to fall from Montana to southern Wisconsin from Aug. 6-10 and in Minnesota from Aug. 11-15. Those showers will probably bypass most of Iowa and Illinois.
Grains Stage Impressive Recovery (Source:CME)
The grain complex closed lower but well off session lows on a late round of buying interest as low volume trade continues to cause large spikes up and down.
Pro Farmer: After the Bell Wheat Recap (Source:CME)
Chicago and Kansas City wheat futures finished widely mixed. The September through May contracts ended slightly lower and mid-range for the day, while 2013-crop contracts posted strong gains and finished on session highs. Minneapolis wheat futures finished 16 to 26 cents lower in the September through July 2013 contracts. Futures were pressured by profit-taking as support from the corn market was lacking today.
Wheat Market Recap Report (Source:CME)
September Wheat finished down 8 3/4 at 879 1/2, 17 1/2 off the high and 17 3/4 up from the low. December Wheat closed down 8 3/4 at 893 3/4. This was 17 3/4 up from the low and 17 1/2 off the high. September Chicago wheat traded sharply lower for most of the day but managed to find support late in the day as corn and soybean began to climb. Russian government officials reported that they see their wheat production reaching 50 million tonnes and exports between 11-15 million tonnes for the 2012/13 marketing year. The market is anticipating a much lower production estimate after severe drought has stressed a large portion of that wheat crop. Algeria reportedly bought 400-500,000 tonnes of French wheat overnight and Saudi Arabia announced a tender to buy 275,000 tonnes of hard wheat this morning. Black Sea and French shippers have done a majority of the tender business that has been announced in the last week providing evidence of just how uncompetitive the US wheat market is. This has forced traders to take profits ahead of the European Central Bank meeting on Thursday and ahead of the USDA report next week. September Oats closed down 9 1/4 at 371. This was 1/4 up from the low and 15 1/2 off the high.
Pro Farmer: After the Bell Corn Recap (Source:CME)
Corn futures were under pressure for much of the day, but posted a strong recovery in late trade to end just slightly lower in all but the July 2013 contract, which finished 1 1/4 cents higher. Early losses were tied to profit-taking, as there was little fresh news for traders to digest and focus was on minimizing risk ahead of this afternoon's statement from the Federal Open Market Committee.
Corn Market Recap for 8/1/2012 (Source:CME)
September Corn finished down 6 at 800 1/2, 17 1/2 off the high and 18 1/4 up from the low. December Corn closed down 4 3/4 at 800 1/2. This was 19 1/4 up from the low and 16 1/4 off the high. December corn traded sharply lower midday but climbed off session lows to close just under the 800 level. Pressure was linked to profit taking by speculative traders but end user buying was noted on today's dip. The Federal Reserve announced that they would leave interest rates unchanged which offered slight support to the commodity sector late in the session. Early yield reports out of the southern Delta have been average to above average as they begin harvest. The market is expecting yield declines as harvest extends to the north where drier conditions existed. The corn market continues weigh the effects of a smaller corn crop vs. the forecasted demand as many expect sharp declines in US exports and feed use in the coming year. Brazil reportedly exported 1.7 million tonnes of corn in July which was up from 134,900 tonnes in June. Ethanol production for the week ending July 27th averaged 809 thousand barrels per day. This is up 1.63% vs. last week and down 7.86% vs. last year. Total Ethanol production for the week was 5.663 million barrels. This was the first week of production increases for the month of July. Corn used in last week's production is estimated at 86.18 million bushels vs. 84.791 for the week prior. This crop year's cumulative corn used for ethanol production is 4.52 billion bushels. Corn use needs to average 108.364 million bushels per week to meet this crop year's USDA estimate of 5.05 billion bushels. September Rice finished down 0.03 at 15.585, equal to the high and 0.015 up from the low.
Crop bulls should beware falling corn and soy volumes
--Gavin Maguire is a Reuters market analyst. The views expressed are his own--
CHICAGO, July 31 (Reuters) - The corn and soybean markets may appear destined to keep rising as commercial buyers and traders scramble to secure crop coverage amid escalating fears of a potential supply shortfall due to pronounced drought across the U.S crop heartland.
But recent declines in traded volumes and open interest in both commodities suggests traders may be backing away from these markets over the near term, not racing toward them.
GRAINS-Corn rebounds as US drought worsens food supply worries
SINGAPORE, Aug 1 (Reuters) - Chicago corn rose 1.2 percent building on its biggest two-month rally since the last major U.S. drought of 1988, while soybeans gained almost 1 percent with little relief from the dryness in the Midwest.
"The concern about crop yields is continuing to support the market and there are reports that suggest we might see much lower yields," said Abah Ofon, an analyst at Standard Chartered Bank in Singapore.
Ukraine maize crop at 20 mln tonnes due heatwave-forecaster
KIEV, Aug 1 (Reuters) - Searing temperatures of up to 42 degrees Celsius expected in parts of Ukraine in early August are certain to hit the country's maize production, a state weather forecaster said on Wednesday.
"At the very best, the maize harvest (this year) will be 20 million tonnes," said Tetyana Adamenko, head of the state weather forecasting centre's agriculture department, indicating a revision downwards from the centre's previous 21 million tonne estimate.
Russia's 2012/13 exportable wheat surplus seen at 11-15 mln T - source
MOSCOW, Aug 1 (Reuters) - Russia will have an exportable surplus of wheat in a range of 11 million tonnes to 15 million tonnes depending on the final 2012 crop, which was damaged by drought, a government source told Reuters on Wednesday.
Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said on Tuseday that Russia, hit by severe drought first in the southern breadbasket regions and then in the other key growing regions, Siberia, the Volga and the Urals, could harvest 75-80 million tonnes this year, down from last year's 94 million tonnes.
France raises wheat crop estimate to 36.7 mln tonnes
PARIS, Aug 1 (Reuters) - France raised its harvest estimate to 36.7 million tonnes of soft wheat this year, a rise of 7.9 percent compared with the 2011 harvest, the French farm ministry said on Wednesday.
The ministry first estimated in July the crop would be around 35.9 million tonnes.
W.Australia grains crop seen down a third -CBH Group
MELBOURNE, Aug 1 (Reuters) - Grains production in the key producing state of Western Australia is likely to fall to 9.5-10.5 million tonnes in the 2012/13 season, down about a third from a record 15 million tonnes harvested last year, growers cooperative CBH Group said.
Australia was the world's No.2 wheat exporter in the last crop year and the government forecasts nationwide wheat production will fall 18 percent to total 24.1 million tonnes during the 2012/13 season.
Russian forecaster sees Aug weather warmer than usual
MOSCOW, Aug 1 (Reuters) - Temperatures will be higher than usual in Russia during August, putting pressure on the summer's crop, Russia's state forecaster said on Wednesday.
Russia, one of key global wheat supplier, will be able to maintain an exportable grain surplus, Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said on Tuesday, even as the Agriculture Ministry narrowed down its estimate of the drought-hit harvest to 80 million tonnes.
US corn crop shrinks further; bottom may be near
CHICAGO, July 31 (Reuters) - The U.S. corn crop has shrunk another 2.5 percent over the past week, but the modest decline suggests damage from the worst drought in half a century may be nearing an end, a Reuters poll of analysts showed on Tuesday.
The soybean crop is also getting smaller, and hot, dry weather forecast for the Midwest farm belt for the next two weeks could do more damage to the crop, according to the analysts.
Low corn supplies squeeze ADM earnings
July 31 (Reuters) - Tight corn supplies squeezed Archer Daniels Midland Co profits last quarter as the agribusiness giant handled less grain than expected and endured poor ethanol margins.
ADM said net earnings for the fiscal fourth quarter, which ended June 30, dropped 25 percent from a year earlier to 43 cents per share, below expectations for 60 cents. Adjusted earnings per share were 38 cents.
India buys time in drought, cuts irrigation costs
NEW DELHI, July 31 (Reuters) - India, facing its second drought in just four years, took steps to cut irrigation costs and increase fodder supplies for livestock farmers but held off from imposing any curb on exports of agricultural products or a ban of futures trading in them.
India's June-September monsoon rains, the main source of irrigation for 55 percent of its farmlands, are so far 19 percent below average. This has triggered fears of lower output and higher food inflation in one of the world's largest consumers and producers of grain.
Medvedev sees grain surplus as Russia cuts crop estimate
MOSCOW, July 31 (Reuters) - Key global wheat supplier Russia will be able to maintain an exportable grain surplus, Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said on Tuesday, even as the agriculture ministry narrowed down its estimate of the drought-hit harvest to 80 million tonnes.
The ministry cut its estimate from a previous 80-85 million tonnes and expected a 2012 exportable surplus of 12 million tonnes, according to Interfax news agency.
SOFTS-Sugar up slightly on India weather concerns, cocoa firm
LONDON, Aug 1 (Reuters) - Raw sugar edged higher on weather concerns in key producer India, while cocoa and coffee were firmer, but trading was hesitant ahead of policy making meetings of the U.S. Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank. Sugar futures nudged higher, supported by weak monsoon rains in India, plus the risk of El Nino curbing production in the world's second largest producer.
Indonesia allows imports of white sugar to rein in prices
JAKARTA, Aug 1 (Reuters) - Indonesia, Southeast Asia's largest sugar consumer, has issued import permits for 17,500 tonnes of the sweetener in a bid to ease price pressures, a trade ministry official said on Wednesday, less than six months after it banned imports for the whole year.
Late in February, Indonesia's trade minister said that despite a shortage of white sugar, the country would not import the commodity as it sought to refine more sugar in a drive to boost manufacturing.
Indonesia's July Sumatra coffee bean exports up 3 pct y/y
BANDAR LAMPUNG, Indonesia, Aug 1 (Reuters) - Robusta coffee bean exports in July from Indonesia's main growing area in Sumatra rose 3 percent from a year earlier, government trade data showed on Wednesday, with arrivals picking up as the harvest approached its peak period.
Indonesia, the world's third-largest coffee producer, shipped to 21,685.01 tonnes of robusta in July, versus 21,116.06 tonnes a year earlier. Last month's shipments were 47 percent higher than June's exports of 14,718.70 tonnes.
Oil Trades Near Two-Day High After U.S. Crude Stockpiles Tumble (Source:Bloomberg)
Oil traded near the highest level in two days in New York after stockpiles declined the most in seven months in the U.S., the world’s biggest crude consumer. Futures were little changed after climbing 1 percent yesterday, the first gain in three days. Inventories slid by 6.5 million barrels last week, the most since December, data from the Energy Department showed. They were forecast to drop by 1 million barrels, according to a Bloomberg News survey. Oil for September delivery was at $88.76 a barrel, down 15 cents, in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange at 9:16 a.m. Sydney time. The contract yesterday rose 85 cents to $88.91, the highest close since July 30. Prices are 10 percent lower this year. Brent crude for September settlement increased $1.04, or 1 percent, to $105.96 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange yesterday. The European benchmark’s premium to West Texas Intermediate closed at $17.05, the widest since May.
U.S. gasoline supplies dropped 2.2 million barrels last week, the Energy Department report showed. They were forecast to rise 800,000 barrels, according to the median estimate of 12 analysts in the Bloomberg News survey. Oil fluctuated after the Federal Reserve said it will take steps to boost the U.S. economy if necessary as a two-day meeting ended in Washington yesterday, while refraining from announcing fresh stimulus immediately. European Central Bank policy makers meet in Frankfurt today.
OIL-Brent steadies after slipping on China data; Fed eyed
SINGAPORE, Aug 1 (Reuters) - Brent crude steadied below $105 per barrel after slipping to its lowest in almost a week on softer official manufacturing data from top energy consumer China, while fading hopes for U.S. stimulus measures kept prices in a tight range.
"We may see the market lighten its hold with the China PMI coming in below expectations, but it's not the end of the world, at least this week because, the main focus is still the FOMC and ECB meeting," said Ben Taylor, sales trader at CMC Markets.
Iraq oil exports up to 2.516 mln bpd in July-SOMO
BAGHDAD, Aug 1 (Reuters) - Iraq's oil exports rose to 2.516 million barrels per day (bpd) on average in July compared with 2.403 million bpd in June, the head of the State Oil Marketing Organisation (SOMO) told Reuters on Wednesday.
Exports from Basra in the south were 2.216 million bpd in July, while shipments from northern Kirkuk were 300,000 bpd, including 6,000 bpd by truck through Jordan, SOMO chief Falah Alamri said.
Iran Loses $133 Million a Day From Sanctions as Oil Buoys Obama (Source:Bloomberg)
U.S.-led sanctions against Iran are costing OPEC’s third-largest producer $133 million a day in lost sales without raising global crude prices, handing President Barack Obama an election-year foreign-policy victory. Shipments from Iran have plunged by 1.2 million barrels a day, or 52 percent, since the sanctions banning the purchase, transport, financing and insuring of Iranian crude began July 1, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Annualized, that would cost President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s country about $48 billion in revenue, equivalent to 10 percent of its economy. While Iran’s threats to disrupt the flow of oil through the Persian Gulf sent crude to a three-year high in March, increased production from Saudi Arabia, a U.S. output boom and the slowing global economy have left prices 1.3 percent lower in 2012. That’s helping Obama avoid steeper domestic fuel costs before the November presidential election. Iran has to contend with a weakening currency and rising unemployment.
“It’s been an unqualified success,” Mike Wittner, head of oil-market research for the Americas at Societe Generale SA, said in a telephone interview from New York on July 25. “There were a lot of concerns sanctions could backfire by causing an oil-price spike, but in the end the U.S. and Europeans got their cake and they ate it too, because volumes are down and prices are down.”
Gas Liquids ‘Bloodbath’ Brings Shale Pain to Oil Market (Source:Bloomberg)
The shale boom that sent natural-gas prices to a 10-year low is being felt for the first time in the oil markets. Williams Partners LP (WPZ) joined Marathon Oil Corp. (MRO) and Devon Energy Corp. (DVN) yesterday in blaming a glut of propane and related products for lower profits in the second quarter. Next week more companies are expected to show the effects of falling prices for so-called natural-gas liquids used in backyard barbecues and motor fuels as producer Chesapeake Energy Corp. (CHK) and Targa Resources Partners LP (NGLS), a pipeline and storage company whose trading symbol is NGLS, release earnings.
The “NGL bloodbath,” as it was dubbed by Tudor, Pickering, Holt & Co. last month, is rippling across the oil and gas industry as explorers cut production and reduce cash flow projections, service companies forecast lower demand for drilling rigs, and pipeline partnerships suffer falling revenue for their gas liquids processing plants. The price of an ethane- propane NGL mix is down 58 percent from a high in January, outpacing the 19 percent drop in crude from a February peak. “The same thing is now happening to liquids that happened to natural gas itself,” said James Williams, an energy economist at WTRG Economics in London, Arkansas. “We now have too much. We have an oversupply, so it’s depressing the price.”
Iron Ore-Shanghai rebar falls on weak China data
SHANGHAI, Aug 1 (Reuters) - Chinese steel futures fell more than one percent, ending six consecutive sessions of gains, as weaker-than-expected Chinese manufacturing data dented market confidence and rekindled worries about sagging demand.
"The economy is really weak. Before we see any bigger recovery in the economy, the steel market will soon enter a weak demand season from late November," said an iron ore trader with a state-owned company's trading unit in Shanghai.
Global iron ore output hit record high in 2011 - UN
GENEVA, July 31 (Reuters) - Global production of iron ore, vital for the steel industry, hit a record high of 1.92 billion tons in 2011, largely to feed surging demand from China, the United Nations reported on Tuesday.
The UN's trade and development agency UNCTAD said in a new report, Iron Ore Market 2011-13, that last year's total output was up 4.7 percent on 2010, with major producer Australia increasing its total by 12.7 percent, Brazil by 5.1 percent and China by 2.1 percent.
Indian steel makers double pellets imports in May
MUMBAI, July 30 (Reuters) - Imports into India of iron ore pellets, used in making steel, more than doubled in May to 174,319 tonnes as a partial mining ban in southern Karnataka state hit supplies, an industry body said.
Production in India, once the third-biggest global supplier of iron ore, has been hit as the government and state authorities raise taxes and freight rates to try to curb exports and retain supplies for domestic use.
Bank of Korea Increases Gold Reserves for First Time This Year (Source:Bloomberg)
The Bank of Korea, which has the world’s seventh-biggest foreign-exchange reserves, boosted gold holdings for the first time this year. The central bank bought 16 metric tons last month, boosting reserves to 70.4 tons, according to Lee Jung, head of the investment strategy team at the bank’s Reserve Investment Division. Holdings increased by $810 million to $2.98 billion, or the equivalent of 0.9 percent of total reserves, the bank said in a statement today. Central banks are expanding reserves after bullion appreciated for 11 consecutive years as investors sought a hedge against everything from accelerating inflation to Europe’s debt crisis to slumping equities. Central-bank purchases this year will probably exceed the 456 tons added in 2011, the World Gold Council estimates.
The Bank of Korea bought 25 tons over a one-month period from June to July last year, the first purchases in more than a decade, and added a further 15 tons in November, joining other emerging-market countries in expanding holdings to guard against currency volatility and to diversify portfolios. Central banks and the International Monetary Fund are the largest bullion owners with 29,500 tons at the end of last year, or 17 percent of all mined metal, council data show.
Gold Is Seen Advancing on Speculation About More Easing (Source:Bloomberg)
Gold declined after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke held off on increasing stimulus measures, lowering demand for the precious metal. The Federal Open Market Committee “will closely monitor incoming information on economic and financial developments and will provide additional accommodation as needed to promote a stronger economic recovery and sustained improvement in labor market conditions in a context of price stability,” it said today at the conclusion of a two-day meeting. Earlier, a report by ADP Employer Services showed companies in the U.S. added more workers than projected in July. “We saw a knee-jerk reaction, but the stage was already set after we saw strong ADP numbers,” Donald Selkin, the New York-based chief market strategist at National Securities Corp., which manages about $3 billion of assets, said by telephone. “There may be some announcement from the Fed either later this month or next.”
Gold futures for December delivery slid 0.6 percent to $1,605.10 an ounce in electronic trading at 3:20 p.m. on the Comex in New York. The prices settled earlier at $1,607.30, down 0.5 percent. Bullion surged 70 percent from the end of December 2008 to June 2011 as the U.S. central bank kept borrowing costs at a record low and bought $2.3 trillion of debt in two rounds of so- called quantitative easing.
METALS-LME copper drops to near 1-week low after China data
London copper dropped to its lowest in almost a week after official manufacturing data from top metals consumer China fell short of expectations, while fading hopes for monetary stimulus in the United States and Europe also dragged down prices.
"Copper is likely to stay range bound for the next few weeks. China's copper demand is not good and there's no sign of any recovery at the moment," said Beijing-based metals analyst Wang Ling of consultancy CRU.
PRECIOUS-Gold steady as investors eye central bank decisions
Gold was locked in a tight range on Wednesday, as investors awaited monetary policy decisions from the U.S. Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank, which will determine the direction of markets.
"The ECB is the major source of uncertainty," said Nick Trevethan, senior metals strategist at ANZ in Singapore. "The focus is whether Draghi has promised action without ensuring support from the members of the ECB governing council."
Slump in activity pushes Baltic index down
July 31 (Reuters) - The Baltic Exchange's main sea freight index, which tracks rates for ships carrying dry commodities, fell on Tuesday for a sixteenth straight day due to a slump in activity.
The overall index, a gauge of the cost of shipping commodities such as iron ore, cement, grain, coal and fertiliser, lost 18 points or 1.97 percent to 897 points.
