COMMODITIES

While the gowns varied in style and color, A-list television stars opted for classic elegance at the Primetime Emmy Awards tonight wearing platinum jewelry. Whether it was a pair of stud earrings with brilliant white diamonds as seen on Kim Kardashian, or stacked cuff bracelets with colored gemstones on Kyra Sedgwick, platinum transcended all jewelry trends, making our favorite stars stand out on the red carpet. Not only is platinum the highest quality metal, but its natural white color also max...

Diwali is set to ignite the gold boom in India and the prices are expected to cross Rs 20,000 per 10 gm. According to market analysts, gold prices are expected to rise to Rs 20,000 per 10 gm and silver to run up to Rs35,000 per kg.

Russia said it is considering selling off the diamonds it bought last year for $1 billion from state-owned Alrosa, the world's largest rough diamond producer.

India's gold demand is on a makeover shift as the yellow metal is seen turning paper with rising demand of Gold ETFs in the country. According to an industry estimate, the gold holding by ETFs in India has surged to 11-12 tonnes, almost double against last year.

Platinum miners are on a song this year with their profits scaling new heights. This week, Impala Platinum announced that production of platinum, palladium, rhodium and other associated metals rose from 3.43 million ounces to 3.69 million ounces this year.

World oil prices continued to move upwards in Asian trade Monday as regional stocks also took advantage of US Fed chief Bernanke's speech last week. Light sweet crude for October delivery was seen trading at $75.37 a barrel at 12.00 noon Singapore time while Brent crude was at $76.83 a barrel in London.

Anticipating excessive palm oil production this year, Thailand is considering increasing palm oil use in fuel. According to Thai Oil Palm and Palm Oil Association, palm production in the country this year is forecast at 1.5 million tones, and the industry has an additional 200,000 tones in producers' stockpiles.

After last year's drought that led to fall in food production, India's kharif crop acreage has shown tremendous improvement in 2010 on the back of good monsoon rains. So far kharif sowing has taken place in 950.22 lakh ha area which is 78.93 lakh ha more than the acreage on this date last year (871.29 lakh ha).

Gold eased in Asian trade Monday as positive trends ignited by Fed moves were offset by speculation of profit selling. Gold for immediate delivery was seen trading at $1235.34 an ounce at 12.00 noon Singapore time while US gold futures for December delivery was at $1,237.40 an ounce.

Oil prices recovered some lost ground Friday after Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke said the Fed stands ready to do whatever it takes to support economic recovery.

Malaysia has lowered the crude palm oil production forecast to 17.8 million tons from 18.1 million tons due to the La Nina weather that is disrupting harvesting cycles.

Major new energy issues are about to transform still further the strategic balance of the Horn of Africa and the Red Sea, with foreseeable consequences for the global energy market over the coming decade. Soon-to-be-evident new wealth in the Red Sea/Horn of Africa region will transform the intensity of conflict there, which in turn will affect not only the region, but the world's most important trading route: the Red Sea/Suez sea line of communication (SLOC).

Copper and other base metal prices rose up to 5 per kg in the non-ferrous metal market on Thursday on continued buying by stockists on industrial demand amid firming trend at the London Metal Exchange.

Rejecting demand for a total ban on iron ore exports from some States, Indian government said states need to take stringent steps to prevent illegal mining. Replying to a debate on illegal mining in country's upper house of the parliament, Mines minister B K Handique said Merely because state governments are not able to prevent and stop illegal mining, we should not ban export of iron ore.

Global oil prices reversed trends in Asian trade Friday and dropped below $73 a barrel as the market awaits for more clues from US Fed chairman's scheduled speech later today. Light sweet crude for October delivery was seen trading at $72.99 a barrel at 12.00 noon Singapore time while Brent crude was at $74.69 a barrel in London.

DuPont has begun production of polyvinyl fluoride (PVF) polymer resin, a critical raw material used to make high-performance DuPontTedlar polyvinyl fluoride film to support solar energy industry, at its Fayetteville Works facility.

Australia, one of the world's largest wheat exporters, said its exports to China have already tripled this year. According to Australian Wheat Board (AWB), demand from the world's most populous nation in the nine months ended June 30 totalled 740,000 tonnes, of which 80 per cent was in bulk and 20 per cent in containers, or about 7 per cent of total wheat shipments.

International Grain Council on Thursday further slashed global wheat output estimate for 2010-11 by 7 m tones to 644m tones. In its latest report, the IGC however said wheat consumption will hit a record despite soaring prices because of a dearth of alternatives in Russia.

Junk silver coins may be the next gold rush for those looking for an affordable way to hedge against the global finacial market. Gold investors who are savy on precious metal investment have been discovering the value of junk silver and are buying up the coins in bulk quantites, according to Regal Assets, a precious metals investment advisor.

It seems there is no end to China's appetite for metals. China's economic health is robust and it is continuing with the metal buying spree. China's imports of all metals rose in July with imports of refined lead in particular jumping by over 80 per cent compared with June, while refined zinc and nickel imports both surged by over 50 per cent.

India's environment and forests minister Jairam Ramesh rejected the environment clearance accorded to state-owned Orissa Mining Corporation (OMC) to mine bauxite in Niyamgiri Hills on December 11, 2008 for supply to Anil Agarwal-promoted Vedanta Aluminium Ltd's refinery in Lanjigarh.

Finding of a new type of oil eating bacteria at the sites of recent Gulf of Mexico oil spill raised new hopes for environmentalists. Scientists discovered the new microbe while studying the underwater dispersion of millions of gallons of oil spilled into the Gulf following the explosion of BP's Deepwater Horizon drilling rig.

Although the Iranian government insists that countries like China and Russia can make up lost Western investment in the petroleum sector, rising gas prices and stalled energy projects are signs that the regime is beginning to buckle under international sanctions.

World oil prices advanced towards $73 in Asian trade Thursday mainly on a weak dollar after overcoming impacts over a massive increase in US crude reserves. Light sweet crude for October delivery was seen trading at $72.81 a barrel at 11.30 a.m Singapore time while Brent crude for October delivery was at $73.85 a barrel in London.

Gold prices remain higher in Asian trade Thursday a day after the WGC said regional giants India and China were likely to provide the main thrust to demand growth this year.

India's food inflation eased further but remained in double digit for the third week in a row. According to official figures from country's commerce ministry, the food inflation based on wholesale price index eased to 10.05 percent for the week ended August 14, compared with previous week's 10.35 percent.

China remains world's second largest gold consumer behind India though its gold demand increased by 26 percent year-on-year in the second quarter. According to World Gold Council (WGC), China's gold demand in the April-June period reached 111.7 tons.

India, the world's largest gold consumer accounted for 30 percentage of the global gold jewelry demand. According to World Gold Council, jewellery was dominated by India, with demand of 123t or 30% of the world total, just down from the 32% market share of Q1.

India's love affair with the yellow metal is gaining strength every year with the 2010 first half showing a 94 per cent rise in demand for gold in India as compared to the 2009 first six months.