Dalian soyabean futures ended down on Thursday on fresh institutional selling following weak performance on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) and bet on bumper crop this year, traders said. The key November 1998 contract ended at 2,565 yuan ($310) per tonne, off 24 yuan from Wednesday's close. It opened at 2,585 yuan, hitting an intraday high of 2,586 and a low of 2,557. After opened at intraday highs, heavy short-selling by both institutions and retail players pushed contracts straight down, traders said.

Indonesian cocoa exports may rise

Indonesia expects cocoa exports to earn $595.9 million in 1998 compared with $294.8 million the previous year, Bisnis Indonesia reported on Thursday. The newspaper said Indonesia's trade and industry ministry estimated the value of first-half 1998 cocoa exports at $219.2 million, with $376.6 million expected in the second half. On Wednesday, prices for average beans were quoted at around 19,000 rupiah/kg while fob priceshovered at $1,320-1,350/tonne. The rupiah was quoted at 13,475/13,675 against the dollar at 0325 GMT on Thursday.

Broker cuts aluminium forecast

Australian stockbrokers JB Were & Son on Thursday lowered its forecast average aluminium price for 1998 to $0.65 a pound from $0.69/lb, citing a weaker fundamental market outlook. The medium-term outlook for aluminium had weakened since its last forecast in March, it said in a report. "As a result of the weaker fundamental outlook, we now believe that the aluminium market will record moderate surpluses both this year and next," Were said. Aluminium currently fetches only about $0.60 a pound.

Australian firm's nickel output rises

QNI Ltd said on Thursday its production of nickel rose 32 per cent in the June quarter to 15,080 tonnes from the previous quarter. Full year production was up 13 per cent to 53,972 tonnes, it said.

Hong Kong gold easier

Hong Kong spot gold was slightly easier on Thursday under profit-taking in pre-openingtrade, but dealers said they expected the price to firm during the day. Bullion opened at $293.30/80 an ounce against New York's $293.50/294.00 close on Wednesday and Hong Kong's previous close of $292.60/293.10. "We saw some demand and short-covering that should provide support to gold after the local market opened," said a dealer at a local securities house. "The market has a little upward interest and the price of gold will continue firming to try the upside."

Nissho to buy stake in vanadium firm

Nissho Iwai Corp said on Thursday it had bought a 25 per cent stake in major US vanadium producer, Strategic Minerals Corp, for about five billion yen. The Japanese trading house has obtained the right to sell vanadium, a rare metal widely used in the production of steel, outside North America, a Nissho Iwai spokesman said. Nissho Iwai will also receive technology from Stratcor to recover vanadium from waste materials to start a recycling business overseas, the spokesman said. "We plan to start sellingthe metal in Asia, the Middle East and Europe within this year. We also believe the recycling business is very promising," he said. As a result of the deal, Nissho Iwai's annual vanadium sales are expected to reach 40 billion yen in the next several years from the current 10 billion yen, the spokesman said.

Shanghai copper up

Shanghai copper futures advanced smartly on Thursday on the back of solid overnight gains on the London Metal Exchange (LME), traders said. The benchmark October 1998 contract was up 210 to 16,240 yuan ($1,961) per tonne in early morning trade after opening at 16,250 yuan. "The firmer LME triggered speculative buying on the Shanghai market and pushed prices up," one trader said. "But the flagship October contract was still capped below the key resistance level at 16,300 yuan." Traders said the Japanese yen's steady tone also helped improved market sentiment in Shanghai. Dollar was at 139.85/95 yen in late Tokyo trading from 140.50/53 yen in late New York onWednesday.

China sets prices for metals

China's Nonferrous Industry Trade Group, the government corporation responsible for allocating metals to key state enterprises, has set copper and aluminium prices for July 1998, the Futures Herald said on Thursday. Copper had been set at 15,417 yuan ($1,857) per tonne and aluminium at 12,705 yuan per tonne, falling by 720 yuan per tonne and 932 yuan per tonne, respectively, compared with last month, it said.

LME copper prices gain

LME copper prices seen extending gains on Thursday. A trader pegged resistance for copper prices at $1,680 a tonne and $1,700, with support at $1,650 and then $1,630. Aluminium prices were also expected to pick up later on Thursday and test a resistance of $1,320 a tonne, backed by strong gains in copper prices, traders said. "The aluminium market is relatively lacklustre, but prices appear to be firm," said a trader. The trader pegged resistance for three-month aluminium prices at $1,320 a tonne and support at $1,280.At 0430 GMT, the three-month aluminium bid price rose to $1,313 a tonne from the previous day's kerb close of $1,310.

Malaysian tin ends down

Malaysia's spot tin price closed 25 cents lower at 22.85 ringgit ($5.53) a kg on Thursday following a drop in London overnight and further strengthening of the ringgit against the US dollar, traders said. "LME was lower last night and ringgit is stronger, so the price here has to go down," said a local trader. The ringgit strengthened to 4.1350 to the dollar on Thursday morning against 4.1550 late on Wednesday. Volume was 77 tonnes, against 66 on Wednesday, with buyers from Europe and Malaysia appearing at the lower levels. "Prices could fall a little more as the premium over LME has increased," the trader said. The local price premium over the London market widened to $200 a tonne from $185 previously, traders said.

Gold dealers see choppy session

Gold may face a choppy trading session in Europe due to an easing in the currency markets, bulliondealers in Australia said. Spot gold was fetching about $294.00 an ounce in late afternoon trading, up about $1. "The US dollar lost some ground against the yen, so we're expecting some draw down in selling from Japan as a result," one dealer said. The US dollar was being quoted at 139.50 yen late on Thursday in Asia versus a Wednesday New York close of 140.50. Failure of the Australian dollar to make a clean break above $0.63 continued to encourage Australian producer sales. Dealers said concerns existed among miners that the Australian dollar will eventually move higher, erasing a cushion between the US and local gold prices. "A rise in the exchange rate would not help miners much, there's just so much you can cut from costs," said Ian Burston, managing director of Aurora Gold NL, which mines about 250,000 ounces.

Tokyo palladium ends up

Yen-based palladium futures surged to end up by their daily limit on Thursday, as investors rushed to cover short positions due to rekindled concerns overRussian supplies, traders said. Platinum and silver futures also ended higher, led by strong palladium prices, but gold ended mixed in directionless trade, they said. All palladium contracts closed up by their daily limit of60 yen per gram. Benchmark June ended at its life-of-contract high of 1,203 yen.

IOC sells naphtha

State-owned Indian Oil Corp (IOC) has sold one 25,000-tonne low aromatics naphtha (LAN) cargo lifting in July to Dutch trader Vitol at around a $24.50 per tonne discount to Japanese quotes, traders said on Thursday. The tender closed July 10 and was valid for one day. The cargo was sold on a free-on-board basis from the east coast Port of Cochin and lifts July 21-23. IOC last awarded a 27,000-tonne LAN cargo lifting July18-20 from the east coast Port of Madras to Vitol at a $19.73 discount to Japanese quotes, traders said.

Indonesia revises oil subsidies

Indonesia on Thursday set oil subsidies in its revised 1998/99 (April-March) budget at 27.53 trillion rupiah, up from7.45 trillion rupiah in the earlier version. The budget, announced in parliament, also assumed an average crude oil price of $13 per barrel during the financial year and set revenues from the oil and gas sector at 49.71 trillion rupiah.