Dalian soybean ends up: Dalian soybean futures ended firm across the board on Monday fuelled by concerns over floods in the northeast province of Heilongjiang, China's key soybean producing area, traders said. The key November 1998 contract ended at 2,673 yuan ($319)per tonne, rising 24 yuan from last Friday's close. It opened at 2,646, hitting an intraday high of 2,678 and a low of 2,643. "Worsening floods in Heilongjiang spurred the shorts to cover their positions before further price rises," a trader said.The September 1998 contract edged up one to 2,721, the January 1999 contract rose 32 to 2,522, March rose 29 to 2,523, May 16 to 2,608 and July 25 to 2,636. Combined volume fell to 142,130 lots from 171,778 lots. Traders said strong domestic fundamentals would help Dalian soybeans offset the impact of weak prices on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) and prices in Dalian would continue to rise. CBOT soybeans ended down 5 to 11 U.S. Cents on Friday.

Grain, oil importers await price drop: South Korean importers are likely to maintain a low profile this week as grain and oilseed prices are expected to extend losses on weak world equity markets and good crop weather in the U.S. Midwest, traders said on Monday. They said local importers were not in a hurry to cover their needs for corn and soymeal as they were believed to have covered until October delivery under slowing local feed demand due to the country's financial crisis. The trader said there may be one or two corn buyers for November delivery this week, but the amount would be small as they appeared reluctant to cover ahead of their requirements and a possible drop in prices. Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) corn futures ended mostly lower on Friday and September futures fell 2 cents per bushel to $2.05-1/2, below the previous low of $2.06 set a week ago.

Japanese retail petrol price flat: Japan's retail gasoline price, which slid in the first of this year due to a vicious price war, averaged 92 yen per litre as of August 10, unchanged from June and July levels, an energy think tank said on Monday. "It appears that little financial strength is left among retailers to carry on waging a war of price cuts," said an official for the Institute of Energy Economics' (IEE) Oil Information Service Centre, which conducts the monthly survey. Gasoline prices at the pump have fallen by 20 percent in Japan over the last three years amid intense sales competition triggered by a series of industry deregulation.

IOC issues diesel tender: Indian Oil Corp (IOC) has issued a second tender to buy 1.0-percent sulphur diesel for delivery in the second half of October, traders said on Monday. The tender seeks cargoes of 40,000 to 45,000 tonnes each for delivery into Kandla in the West coast of India and Madras/Haldia ports in the east, they said. The tender closes September 3, with offers valid until September 4. In its first October diesel tender, IOC bought seven cargoes totalling up to 315,000 tonnes but six cargoes were awarded into the West coast India. Iran details product operations Iran has boosted refined oil products output but will have to maintain gasoline imports to keep up with surging demand and offset extensive fuel smuggling. Mohammad Aqaie, deputy oil minister for oil refining and distribution at the National Iranian Oil Company, told the official IRNA news agency that output of refined products rose a year-on-year 9.5 percent in the first four months of the current Iranian year (March 21-July 22).Output at Iran's refineries would rise to an average of1.509 million barrels per day (bpd) in the current Iranian year, Aqaie was quoted as saying in an IRNA report on Sunday. Industry analysts have previously estimated throughputs at Iran's refineries at around 1.3 million bpd. Gasoline consumption rose 4.6 percent in the first four months of the Iranian year to 36.1 million litres a day while output reached 31 million litres, IRNA reported.

Japan's brass mill output down: Japan's brass mill output in July fell 19.8 percent from the same month a year ago to a seasonally adjusted 79,310 tonnes, according to preliminary data issued on Monday by the Japan Brass Makers Association. It was the 12th consecutive month that output fell on a year-on-year basis, the industry group said.

RGC sells Renison tin mine: Australian miner RGC Ltd said it had agreed on commercial terms for the sale of its Renison tin mine to Murchison United NL. Consideration involved an initial cash payment of A$20 million followed by five annual payments of A$4 million commencing in the 1999/2000 financial year. RGC shareholders would also benefit from a revenue-related royalty that would be paid from 1999/2000 through to 2004 whenever the tin price received was above A$7,500 per tonne of tin, it said. The Renison mine is on the West coast of the Australian island of Tasmania and is the second largest underground tin mine in the world, RGC said. In the financial year just ended the mine produced 9,867 tonnes of tin in concentrate, five percent of the western world's production, it said. The sale is subject to completion of documentation and regulatory approvals, RGC said.

Indian gold weak: Indian gold prices opened lower at the local market on Monday due to sluggish demand and softness in world prices, dealers said.Standard gold 24 carat was quoted Rs 10 lower at Rs 4,200 per 10 grams. Gold was down by Rs 40 on Friday. The bullion market was closed on Saturday for a local holiday. Gold biscuits (116.64 grams) rose Rs 100 to Rs 49,300 per piece on shortage of ready stock and renewed enquiries, dealers said. In the European market, gold opened at $284.0/$284.50 per ounce compared to Friday's New York spot close at $284.50/$285.00. In Bombay, silver (.999) opened unchanged at Rs 7,800 per kg in limited trade. Silver was up by Rs 10 on Friday. In Europe, silver was priced at $5.16/$5.18 per ounce against its previous close of $5.17/$5.20.

HK gold opens firmer: Hong Kong spot gold opened slightly firmer in early Monday trading after prices slipped in New York on Friday, dealers said. Bullion opened at US$284.20/70 an ounce against New York's US$283.90/284.40 close on Friday. "There's been a little bit of Asian short-covering this morning, but an absence of positive factors to support gold, as well as the U.S. Dollar staying above 144.50 yen levels, prompted gold selling interest," said a dealer at a local bullion house. "The metal's overall trend remains mixed in the immediate term and the price of gold is seen keeping in a range of US$283 to US$286 today," the dealer added. Spot silver opened at US$5.15/18 an ounce in Hong Kong,unchanged from New York's Friday close. Local gold opened HK$1 higher at HK$2,614 a tael.

Tokyo rubber futures end lower: Tokyo rubber futures closed mostly lower on Monday on sales correcting Friday's sharp gains and on position-squaring before the spot contract's expiry, traders said. Prices ranged from 2.3 yen per kg down to 0.1 yen up. Benchmark January closed down 1.2 yen at 100.7 ye. "The losses were a correction to the market's surges on Friday," one brokerage analyst said. "Sentiment remained bearish due to concerns that major rubber producers will withdraw from INRO (the International Natural Rubber Organisation)." The spot August contract expires on TOCOM on Tuesday. Traders expect an expiry price of around 100 yen per kg, against the contract's Monday close of 100.5 yen.