The Bombay Bullion Association is closed on Tuesday in support of the one-day strike to protest the recent hike in octroi charges, traders said. The strike was called by the Federation of Associations of Maharshtra (FAM) which represents about 83 smaller trade associations in Bombay. The Bombay Municipal Corporation recently hiked octroi charges by 100-200 percent on various goods and commodities including sugar, spices, tea and items like medicines and paper, industry officials said. Octroi is a local government transport levy. It now stands between one percent to seven percent for different items, officials said. The bullion market will resume trading on Wednesday.

Bombay metals market closed

The Bombay Metal Exchange will be closed on Tuesday for a one-day strike called by the Federation of Associations of Maharashtra. The strike is in protest against the recent hike in octroi charges by the Bombay Municipal Corporation. Octroi is a local governmenttransport levy. The corporation recently hiked octroi charges by 100-200percent on various goods and commodities including sugar, spices, tea and items like medicines and paper, industry officials said. Octroi now stands between one percent to seven percent for different items, officials said. The metals market will re-open on Wednesday.

Australian cotton to hit new record

The Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics (ABARE) said on Tuesday it has boosted its forecast of Australia's 1998/99 cotton crop to a record 700,000 tonnes. The forecast is significantly up from the government commodities forecasting agency's previous forecast for the year of 578,000 tonnes of cotton lint. Australia's production in 1997/98 is estimated at 667,000tones. ABARE said in its latest issue of the Australian CropReport that the area planed to cotton in 1998/99 is forecast to increase by eight percent to 472,000 hectares. The area planted to irrigated cotton is expected toincrease marginally inresponse to good supplies of irrigation water across the cotton growing areas. Dryland cotton plantings are forecast to increase by almost30 percent in 1998/99 as a result of a good soil moisture profile, and a poor price outlook for summer coarse grains. The loss of winter crops across some regions of the state of New South Wales is expected to lead to a number of new dryland cotton growers in 1998/99, it said. The forecast of 700,000 tonnes production of cotton lint production is based on the assumption of average conditions.

Nippon Mining cuts copper price

Nippon Mining and Metals Co Ltd said on Tuesday it had lowered its selling price for copper by 10,000 yen to 260,000 yen per tonne, effective immediately. Major Japanese smelters periodically review their selling prices, changing them in line with market prices and currency rates.

IPE oils seen rangbound

IPE oils were seen trading in a range on Tuesday but downward bias loomed after both contracts failed to make a clean break ofresistance levels, analysts said. They said that more selling could send crude lower in London despite some higher discussions on the SIMEX market, as several technical indicators were neutral or bearish. "Brent has improved a lot recently but at the moment I don'Thave a strong buy signal," independent analyst Elli Gifford said.

HK gold opens lower

Hong Kong spot gold opened lower on Tuesday morning under early profit-taking pressure after a higher finish in London overnight, and dealers see range-trading prevailing today. Bullion opened at US$287.30/80 an ounce against London'sUS$288.20/70 close on Monday and Hong Kong's previous close of US$287.70/288.20. "There is not much interest to sell at the moment," said adealer at a local securities house. "The gold market has upward interest, supported by the weakening of the U.S. Dollar against major currencies." "We don't expect too much activity in the local market because of the market holiday yesterday in New York," the dealer added. "I guess goldwill probably trade between US$287 and US$289 today." Spot silver opened at US$5.01/04 an ounce in Hong Kong. It ended quoted at US$5.03/06 in London on Monday. Local gold opened HK$2 lower at HK$2,640 a tael.

Ecuador to defuse refineries strike

Ecuador's government said Monday it will meet with striking workers at oil refineries on Tuesday in an effort to seek a solution to an industrial dispute. Workers at Esmeraldas, the country's largest refinery, andLa Libertad began periodic strikes last week, demonstrating over poor working conditions and a lack of funds to modernise the two plants. Ecuador is Latin America's sixth largest oil producer andits fourth largest crude exporter.

International sugar meet opens

An international sugar conference at which experts will discuss key issues affecting the industry will be held on the southern Thai resort island of Phuket from September 9 to 11, organisers said on Tuesday. The conference, organised by IBC Asia Limited, will discussissues such asthe impact of recent currency devaluations on the Asian sugar industry, cost and price competitiveness, credit and finance and the global price outlook. On the first day of conference, delegates will discuss the outlook for Thailand's sugar industry, the world sugar outlook, global beet and cane markets, financing Asian sugar trade and industry technology incorporating environmental concerns. On the second day, the focus will lie on Asia's sugar economies such as Australia, Indonesia, Pakistan, India and the Philippines. The conference will be capped by views on the trade outlook, price trends and competitiveness, the futures and options trade, and the price outlook, which will be discussed extensively on September 11.

NYMEX crude slides

NYMEX October crude futures were lower on the ACCESS trading system in Asia on Tuesday, catching up with Brent losses on Monday. IPE October Brent fell 26 cents to $13.06 per barrel inLondon on Monday, while NYMEX was closed for Labor Day holiday. At 0125 GMT,NYMEX October crude on ACCESS was lasttraded at $14.39 per barrel, down 20 cents compared with Friday's close in New York. NYMEX October volume was a moderate 410 lots. The fall in London was attributed to a correction oflast week's near $1.00 gains.

LME copper seen facing downward pressure

Copper prices were expected to come under pressure later on Tuesday after edging lower in light pre-market Asia trading, metals dealers said. Copper had already slipped in the Shanghai market early on Tuesday as some investors took profits. Three-month copper seesawed between US$1,678 and $1,680 atonne -- little changed from Monday's kerb close -- ahead of pre-market trading in London. Three-month aluminium was parked at US$1,415 a tonne,unchanged from Monday's kerb, while three-month nickel was up $15 at $4,365 a tonne. Uncertainty over how much aluminium will be consumed inJapan this year and concerns of an emerging supply surplus were weighing on aluminium, dealers said. Part Australian smelter owner EasternAluminium Ltd said this week it expects aluminium demand in Japan to decline two percent this year. Nickel prices were being capped by anticipated new supplysources and declining demand for stainless steel in parts of Asia, dealers said.

China grain yields at record high

Summer grain yields have hit a record high in China's southern Guangdong province, with harvests over 9.0 million tonnes, Xinhua news agency said on Tuesday. The harvest topped last year's by 52,800 tonnes andrepresented an average output of 60.5 kg per hectare (24.2 kg per acre) -- a 25 percent increase over last year's average of 45.6 kg per hectare (18.2 kg per acre), Xinhua said. The area in which grain was sown was also up 2,900 hectares (7250 acres) over last year reaching some 1.5 million hectares (3.75 million acres), Xinhua said. A provincial agricultural department attributed the rise toincreased agriculture investment, which acted to offset losses in some areas hit by floods, Xinhua said. The harvest marked the fifthconsecutive annual increasefor the province, Xinhua quoted the official as saying.

LG Metals cuts copper price

South Korea's only copper producer LG Metals Corp said on Tuesday it had cut its monthly domestic copper selling price for September by 13,000 won per tonne to 2,401,000 won from the previous month. Traders attributed the price cut to a decline in copperprices on the London Metal Exchange (LME) and the stable won against the dollar in August. LG Metals with an annual refining capacity of 420,000tonnes posts the monthly fixed price for its copper sales on the domestic market to reflect the average LME cash prices and foreign exchange rates of the previous month.

SFE wheat rises slightly

Sydney Futures Exchange (SFE) wheat futures rose slightly on Tuesday amid jitters over big increases in Australia's forecast 1998/99 wheat crop. Market leader January 1999 rose by A$1.00 a tonne toA$153.00 on nine lots. Settlement prices generally also rose by about A$1.00 a tonne. Phil Lindsayof Ord Minnett Jardine Fleming Futures saidgrowers were more nervous and concerned after the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics (ABARE) forecast of a 1998/99 wheat crop of more than 23 million tonnes. Concern over the domestic wheat price was growing, he said.

Dalian soybean end higher

Dalian soybean futures ended higher across the board on Tuesday, boosted by short-covering in the November 1998 contract, traders said. "Institutions were shorting November contracts when themarket was falling in the previous few trading days," a trader said. "Their short-covering pushed the contract sharply onTuesday, lifting prices in other contracts to rise as well." The November contract ended at 2,685 yuan ($324) per tonne,rising 14 yuan from Monday's close. It opened at 2,672, hitting an intraday high of 2,686 and a low of 2,669.

Australia generates jump in canola output

The Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics (ABARE) has further increased its forecast ofAustralia's 1998/99 canola production, to a record 1.6 million tonnes. This is almost double last year's canola crop of 860,000tonnes, the Australian government forecast agency said in its latest issue of the Australian Crop Report. ABARE's last forecast of Australia's 1998/99 canolaproduction was 1.4 million tonnes. The largest production increase was in Western Australia,where an estimated 500,000 hectares had been sown in 1998/99, double last year's plantings, ABARE said. Western Australia is forecast to overtake New South Walesas the major canola producing state, with the crop forecast to be around 567,000 tonnes in 1998/99, it said. Australia's exports of canola oil are forecast to jump to78,000 tonnes in 1998/99 from 26,000 tonnes the year before and a mere 6,000 tonnes in 1995/96.