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FE NEWS SERVICE
Sri Lanka to buy wheat: Sri Lanka has tendered for 50,000 tonnes of soft wheat and 50,000 tonnes of hard wheat for December delivery, a government trade official told Reuters on Tuesday. He said the closing date for the tender for registered suppliers was not yet confirmed. He declined to give further details. US exporters said in Chicago on Monday that Sri Lanka was seeking on November 25, 100,000 tonnes of optional origin wheat. The wheat would be split into two shipments, they said. One 50,000-tonne cargo of hard wheat would be for December9-18 shipment and another 50,000-tonne cargo of soft wheat would be for December 21-30 shipment, they said.
SFE wheat flat: Sydney Futures Exchange (SFE) wheat traded quietly on Tuesday ahead of the latest USDA revision of its world agricultural supply and demand figures, traders said. The SFE January 1999 contract sold up by 25 cents to A$169.00 on seven lots while four lots of January 2000 sold steady on A$180.00. Settlement prices fell by 25 cents.Cash prices were also steady. The Australian market had been quiet since the AWB Ltd's revision of pool prices last week, one trader said.
Liffe grains down: Liffe wheat futures closed between 85 pence and GBP1.10 lower Monday, pressured by a sharp rise in the value of the pound and lack of competitiveness on export markets, said brokers. "There were fundamental reasons for prices dipping lower, namely sterling's strength and the lack of competitiveness of UK grain," said one Liffe broker. At 1715 GMT sterling traded at DEM2.8025, up four pfennigs from DEM2.7632 traded late in London Friday. A rise in the value of the pound makes UK goods more expensive on export markets, hence UK shippers have to lower prices to remain competitive on export markets. March wheat fared worst falling GBP1.10 on the day to close at GBP82.00 a metric ton. A total of 410 lots changed hands. Brokers added that given the extent of sterling's rally, greater losses were averted due to low farmer selling and the EuropeanUnion's proposal to give one million tons of wheat as food aid to Russia.
KL palm oil falls: Malaysian palm oil prices fell at midday on profit taking as the market took its cue from lower Chicago soyoil futures overnight and lack of Indian demand, traders said. However trading remained slow as players refused to commit themselves at higher price levels. "Prices had gone up too much recently and some technical adjustments were needed. India was also not in the market," said a trader who expected the fall to be cushioned by supportive fundamentals in the near-term. "October production has fallen by about eight per cent from September and we expect more double-digit drops in November output," the trader said.
Base metals featureless: All base metals were flat and dull in Australia/Asia trading on Tuesday. By about 0200 GMT the market had established no discernible tone which was likely to carry through to later trading on the London Metal exchange, a metal trader said. He described the marketas "featureless". Copper was a touch higher at $1,613/1,616 compared with the LME close of $1,613, as was zinc at $972/976 against the LME close of $973. Aluminium was very slightly down at $1,313/1,315 against the LME close of $1,316, as was lead at $501/505 against the LME close of $504. Nickel was weaker at $4,185/4,205 against the LME close of $4,200.
China to boost copper concentrate output: Large copper mining projects currently under development were expected to add 163,000 tonnes of copper concentrate per year to China's domestic supply, the official Futures Daily said on Tuesday. The newspaper said that boosting domestic production of copper concentrate to reduce China's dependence on imports was a key objective before 2000. Currently, imports supply half of the copper concentrate needed to run China's smelters. The new mining projects, once on stream, would add 163,000tonnes, on a copper content basis, to the concentrate supply per year, it said. Among the major projects, the Tangdan andthe Dahongshan mines in the southwestern province of Yunnan were estimated to produce 16,000 tonnes of copper concentrate on a copper content basis per year, the newspaper said. The Yulong mine in Tibet and the Saishitang mine in the western province of Qinghai would produce a total of 26,300 tonnes, the newspaper said.
KL tin dips on more offers: Malaysia's spot tin price dipped 21 cents to end at 20.49 ringgit ($5.39) a kg on Tuesday with sentiment hit by more offerings and a lower close overnight on the London Metal Exchange, traders said. The fall also reflected a technical adjustment following strong gains in recent days, they said. "London fell yesterday and there were also more sellers today, that's why prices were easier," said a trader who expected the market to rebound to above the 20.50 ringgit level on Wednesday. "Prices should be hovering above the 20.50," he said. Traders said there was an opening bid of 39 tonnes against offer of 83 tonnes. Final volume totalled 62 tonnes compared with48 on Monday, with buying again from Europe and Malaysia. The local price differential over the LME dropped to $65 a tonne from $105 previously.
HK gold shade down: Hong Kong spot gold was quoted a shade down at midday from the opening, while silver remained unchanged, dealers said on Tuesday. Bullion was quoted at $292.10/60 an ounce at midday, slightly down from its opening price of $292.20/70. Spot silver ended at midday quoted at $5.02/05 per ounce, unchanged from the opening. Tael gold at midday was at HK$2,691 per tael, down HK$3 from its opening at HK$2,694 per tael.
NYCE cotton up: Cotton futures on the New York Cotton Exchange settled higher Monday on speculative short covering sparked by talk of decertification of some of the December deliverable cotton. There was also some commercial buying ahead of the 1998-99 US cotton crop outlook due out Tuesday from the US Department of Agriculture, traders said. Friday the market ended slightly higher on mill fixation ahead of the USDAreport, traders said. "There was some cotton ready for delivery in December that was decertified," said a US-based trader. "As a result, specs and fund were covering their short positions." According to the trader, about 29,608 bales of cotton set for delivery in December had been delisted from the NYCE last Friday, but appeared as officially canceled only Monday. First notice day for the December cotton future is November 23. "The prospect of less deliverable cotton ahead of the December contract expirations was a bullish signal for the market," said Ann Prendergast, commodities analyst for Refco Inc, a commission house in New York. "There's going to be a lot of option-related trading this week ahead of the expiration date on Friday," Prendergast said. Last trading day for the December cotton option contract is November 13. Monday's volume was estimated at 21,000 lots by a US-based trader.
Nymex ACCESS steadies: Nymex crude on ACCESS was almost unchanged in morning trade on Tuesday, with Decemberdown by one cent per barrel to $13.37. In New York on Monday, prices fell by a sharp 49 cents to close at $13.38, moving down with IPE Brent prices after a bearish demand outlook by the International Energy Agency (IEA). December Brent dropped by 45 cents to close at $11.90 on London's IPE, after the IEA said that world consumption this year was proving to be even weaker than expected. Front month Brent last settled below $12.00 on August 12,when it closed at $11.77. On Monday, the IEA cut its fourth quarter global demand forecast by 600,000 barrels-per-day (bpd). It also reduced next year's demand estimates by 400,000 bpd. The December Brent contract on SIMEX was quoted slightly higher at $11.90/$12.00, but no trades were done.
Japanese ethylene output down 7.2%: Japan's ethylene output in October fell 7.2 per cent from a year earlier to 575,300 tonnes as more production capacity was affected by maintenance closures last month than the same period a year ago, the Trade Ministry said on Tuesday.Three plants were shut for routine checks both in October1998, and in the corresponding period in 1997. However, total output capacity of the plants closed last month was some 40,000 tonnes per month larger than the three ethylene centres shut in October 1997, a Trade Ministry official said. Despite persistently sluggish domestic demand for basic petrochemical products, operations at plants left unaffected by maintenance checks was as brisk as a year earlier, supported by healthy demand from China, he said.
China's Daqing output normal: Crude production at China's northeastern Daqing oilfield remains normal at 150,000 tonnes per day (1.125 million bpd), an oilfield official said on Tuesday. "Our crude production is normal," the official said. "Daily crude output is at around 150,000 tonnes now." On Monday, Japanese traders said they were told by China National Chemicals Import and Export Corp (Sinochem) that it could not meet Japan's demand for Daqing exports in November. The traders said Sinocheminformed them of the cut without elaborating on a reason. Sinochem officials declined comment on the crude export cuts. Sinochem supplies more than 60 per cent of Daqing exports to Japan. The remainder is supplied by China National United Oil Corp (CHINAOIL). Traders said on Monday there had been no communication from CHINAOIL. In annual negotiations concluded in May, Japan agreed to lift six million tonnes of Daqing crude oil this year. Traders said recent lifting volumes have been around350,000 to 400,000 tonnes a month.
Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
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This story was printed from Net Express located at http://www.expressindia.com. Net Express provides a portal to India, with news from The Indian Express and The Financial Express along with sites on travel and tourism, the entertainment industry, the power sector, the environment and much more.
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