COMMODITIES

With energy, Senate Democrats find themselves between a rock and two hard places. Nonetheless, Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., and Sen. Joe Lieberman, I-Conn., have introduced their climate and energy bill. Its timing is awful. Its fate is uncertain. Yet its sponsors felt it had to be done now.

The frequency of strikes in metals and mining companies in Latin America are not likely to lead to rating downgrades in the region in 2010, according to Fitch Ratings.. The companies that have tapped the debt capital markets, namely in Brazil, Chile, Mexico and Peru, tend to have diversified operations, enabling them to effectively weather strike action.

In an attempt to bypass the dangerous routes in Pakistan, India and Iran are discussing building a gas pipeline between the two countries along the bed of the Arabian Sea. According to South Asia Gas Enterprise Private Ltd (SAGE), The carrying capacity of the gas pipeline's first leg will total 31 billion cu m annually, with the cost of construction estimated at $4 billion

Sovereign debt crisis in Europe, a much weaker-than-expected Euro and slightly higher-than-expected non-OPEC supply has forced Bank of America-Merrill Lynch (BofAML) to revises its WTI and Brent crude oil forecasts for second half of 2010 from $92/barrel to $78 per barrel. Yet despite the much reduced likelihood of a robust upswing in global economic activity, BofAML remain cautiously optimistic that the breadth of the recovery outside Southern Europe will prevent a double-dip scenario. Hence it...

Kuwait's General Administration of Customs on Tuesday said country's crude oil exports to China grew 17.8 percent in April to a record high of 1.081 million tons. In a report issued here it said the new figure is equal to 264,000 barrels per day. Kuwait provided 5.1 percent of China's total crude oil imports, compared with 5.7 percent in the same month of last year and 4.5 percent in March.

China's General Administration of Customs said country's imports of refined copper dropped 2.7% year on year to 309,772 tons in April, or decreased 8.1% month on month from 337,125 tons. According to the statistics released by the GAC, in the first four months of this year, the country's refined copper imports slightly declined 0.2% to 1.1 million tons from the same period in 2009.

It is often difficult to guage whether price of a commodity reflects the underlying fundamentals or reflects the mood of investors in financial markets either in terms of risk aversion or increased risk appetite.

World oil prices eased below $70 a barrel n Asian trade Tuesday on market concerns over Euro zone's debt crisis and a fragile global economic recovery. Light sweet crude for July delivery was seen trading at $69.64 a barrel at 11.30 a.m Singapore time after hitting as low as $69.32 a barrel in early trade. In London, Brent crude for July was at $70.55 a barrel at the same time.

World's largest wheat exporter, the US is likely to lose its position to Black Sea states, warned US Department of Agriculture. According to a report from the USDA, Black Sea states of Kazakhstan, Russia and Ukraine look set to raise wheat exports by one half to more than 50m tonnes by the end of the decade, overtaking US for the first time since second World War.

Gold prices dropped nearly half a percent in Asian trade Tuesday mainly after the dollar rebounded on Euro zone worries. Gold for immediate delivery was seen trading at $ 1190.71 an ounce at 11.30 a.m Singapore time after fell as low as $1184.90 an ounce earlier in the day. US gold futures for June delivery was at $1190.50 an ounce at the same time on the COMEX division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.

As the United States edges closer to issuing a fresh round of sanctions against Iran, foreign investors so far unmoved by international pressure will end up doing business with a Revolutionary Guard that makes even local firms nervous, an analyst warns.

MCX on Monday launched futures contracts in MINI Zinc (Contract Size 1 MT). Initially June and July contracts of zinc mini will be available for trading and in due course of time more contracts will be introduced. While the contract specification of zinc mini is exactly the same as that of the existing zinc contract on MCX, the tonnage has been reduced to 1 ton. The current zinc contract on MCX has a lot size of 5 tons with an average daily volume of 1,40,000 tons.

China's General Administration of Customs on Monday said country's gasoline exports surged 124.23% year on year to 696,888 metric tons in April this year. In a report, GAC said country's total gasoline exports were 2.1 million metric tons in the first four months, up 122.89% year on year.

British Petroleum (BP) on Monday said the cost of cleaning up the mammoth Gulf of Mexico oil spill had hit around $760 million so far. In a statement issued here, the oil giant said it was too early to put a figure on the ultimate bill as lawsuits continue to flood in and as cash was pumped in to efforts to halt the leak and minimize the environmental toll.

The Associated Press story on cadmium in Miley Cyrus jewelry has created a scare about adverse health effects of jewelry in both children and adults. However, Fashion Jewelry and Accessories Trade Association (FJATA) has come out against the story stating that the agency has relied on private testing conducted by Prof Jeffrey Weidenhamer which they are not willing to share with FJATA.

U.S. crude oil fell back below $70 a barrel on Monday, giving up an earlier gain on persistent worries that Europe's debt crisis would slow the global economic recovery.

U.S. crude rose above $70 a barrel on Monday, recouping some of last week's losses, but analysts said sentiment remained fragile and prices could again be hit by macroeconomic pessimism.

World oil prices advanced above $70 a barrel in Asian trade Monday but remained highly volatile, analysts said. Light sweet crude for July delivery was seen trading at $70.35 a barrel at 11.00 a.m Singapore time while Brent crude eased to $71.21 a barrel at the same time in London.

The IMF said Sunday it expects to record a profit of $ 5.1 billion from the sale of gold in the financial year ended April 30, 2010. In a statement, the International Monetary Fund, which sold gold to member countries including India last year, said gold sales is a part of the multilateral lending agency's new income model, mainly aimed at increasing its resources to lend to low-income countries.

Gold prices moved up in Asian trade Monday as investors remained confident on yellow metals status as a safe haven asset in troubles. Gold for immediate delivery was seen trading at $ 1184.51 an ounce at 11.30 a.m Singapore time while gold futures for June delivery was at $US1185.10 an ounce at the same time. Analysts said, Long-term investors maintained their affinity for the precious metal despite the recent rise in volatility in other markets, including stocks.

Globally, commodity prices have stabilized after a week of declines although Reuters-Jefferies CRB commodities index dropped 2.3% on the week and 9% so far this month, Financial Times (FT) reported. The report quoting Adam Sieminski, energy economist at Deutsche Bank in Washington said that a combination of the sovereign debt crisis in Europe, credit tightening in China and a cluster of worrisome economic indicators in the US has revived concerns about a W-Shaped recovery.

China's largest oil producer, PetroChina Co Ltd said Friday it plans to earmark $60 billion to increase its overseas oil and natural gas output. In a statement, the company said it aimed to increase the output to 200 million tons per year, or equivalent to 4 million barrels output per day.

India's wheat procurement hit a record 31 million tones so far and the country is likely to export a major chunk of it mainly due to lack of storing facilities. This season's whet procurement mounted to 31 million tones, almost eight times its target of 4 million, forcing authorities to pile up nearly 7 million tones of grain under tarpaulin in Punjab and Haryana, its two main wheat producing states.

Gold for immediate delivery was seen trading at $1165.41 an ounce at 11.30 a.m Singapore time while US gold futures for June delivery was at $1171.84 an ounce. Equity markets across Asia fell Friday with Japan's benchmark Nikkei average sliding more than 3 percent and hitting a five-month low as exporters were hurt after the yen strengthened against the euro on worries about disunity among euro zone leaders on how to address the region's debt crisis.

U.S. oil prices dropped to near $70 on Friday, after falling the previous day for a seventh time in eight sessions, on unabated fears that Europe's debt crisis could hurt global economic growth and slow energy demand.

Since last Wednesday, May 12, natural gas spot prices generally rose at market locations across the lower 48 States, with only a few exceptions. The Henry Hub natural gas spot price increased about 2 percent since last Wednesday, from $4.18 per million Btu (MMBtu) to $4.28 per MMBtu.

World crude steel production for the 66 countries reporting to the World Steel Association (worldsteel) was 122 million metric tons (mmt) in April. This is 35.7% higher than April 2009.China's crude steel production for April 2010 was 55.4 mmt, an increase of 27% compared to April 2009. It is the highest amount of crude steel China has ever produced in a single month.

Amid widespread speculation over future gold prices, experts in the industry are of the opinion that the gold price bubble will soon scale down to significantly lower levels in the short to medium term. Giving the gold price outlook for the short to medium term, Rajesh Mehta, Chairman of India's largest gold jewellery maker and exporter, Rajesh Exports Ltd (BOM:531500) maintained that the bull-run in the bullion metal will come to a halt and prices will soothe somewhat in near term.

According to World Gold Council (WGC), the Middle East non-resident Indian community demonstrated on May 16 that cultural traditions and heritage remain alive and well. Gold retailers in the GCC saw the best day of sales so far this year on the back of the festival, in which gold plays an important part.