Hong Kong spot gold at midday on Monday was quoted at $291.60/292.10 per ounce, up from its opening price of $291.30/80 but below New York's $293.50/294.00 close on Friday, dealers said. Spot silver ended at midday quoted at $5.00/03 an ounce after opening at $4.98/5.01. Tael gold at midday was quoted at HK$2,673 per tael, up HK$5 from the open at HK$2,668 per tael.

Copper seen losing momentum:

Copper prices are looking technically soft below $1,700 a tonne, and may move down to the lower end of the current range if upside momentum continues to falter, analysts said on Monday. Aluminium would be similar, with the market under pressure in recent sessions, and downside targets around $1,350/1,355 in sight, they said.

Malaysia tin ends up:

The Kuala Lumpur Tin Market price ended up two cents at 20.30 ringgit ($5.34) a kg on Monday with a higher London Metal Exchange (LME) close on Friday attracting some demand from Europe, traders said. "LME was up$40 on Friday and this prompted some European demand," a local trader said, noting bids for 88 tonnes against offers for 69 tonnes at the opening. Final turnover was 74 tonnes, up from 53 on Friday, with buying from local interests also seen. "The market could rise further as demand is picking up, but price movements are likely to remain tight," the trader said. The local price premium over the LME narrowed to $85 a tonne from $120 previously following a larger gain in London, traders said.

Taiwan to sell gas oil:

Taiwan's state-owned Chinese Petroleum Corp (CPC) has tendered to sell 0.5-per cent sulphur gas oil for October, a company official said on Monday. The tender offers one 225,000 to 250,000 barrels cargo on a free-on-board Kaohsiung basis to lift from October 21-30, the official said. It will close on September 21 and offers will remain valid for two days. In its last tender, CPC sold one 250,000 barrels of gas oil at 60 cents discount to Singapore quotes for August 26 to September 10lifting.

Chinese Petroleum eyes RFCC unit:

Taiwan's state-run Chinese Petroleum Corp said on Monday it would invest T$9.0 billion (US$260 million) to build a residual fluid catalytic cracking (RFCC) unit in its northern Taoyuan refinery. "Chinese Petroleum will invest T$9.0 billion to expand our Taoyuan refinery," a senior company executive said by telephone. The unit would have a daily refining capacity of 50,000barrels of residual oil that would produce 31,000 barrels of gasoline per day along with some diesel and propylene, another executive said. The unit would start construction in early 1999, with completion seen in 2002, they said.

Nymex target for sour crude launch:

Nymex expects to launch its much publicised Middle East sour crude futures contract in the first quarter of 1999, its president Patrick Thompson said on Monday. Thompson said at a news conference that the contract would be settled based on the average prices of the Oman and Dubai crudes as assessed by six reportingservices. The six reporting services which would have equal weightage towards the settlement are Reuters, Bloomberg, Dow Jones, London Oil Report, RIM Intelligence and Petroleum Argus. Prior to the launch of the futures contract, NYMEX would publish a price index from around mid October. The contract would trade in 1,000 barrel lots and have a cash settlement with no option for physical delivery.

Impact of Saudi supply cut seen limited:

Middle Eastern crude grades remained weak in subdued trade on Monday, with Saudi Arabia's supply cuts of five per cent for October seen having only a limited impact on the market, traders said. Trade was quiet as many market players were away to attend an industry function in Singapore. Traders said there were a few Abu Dhabi light crude cargoes and at least five Oman cargoes left in the market for October, while not firm buyers were seen in Asia. Those who still hold October cargoes -- two European majors for Abu Dhabi grades and several majors and traders forOman -- are trying hard to sell their cargoes into Europe, Africa and the United States, traders said. In the latest known deal, October Oman was traded at a discount of 35 cents per barrel to the official selling price, compared with premiums of 12 to 15 cents about a month ago. Saudi Aramco over the weekend informed its term crude lifters in Japan their contract volume will be cut by an average five per cent for October lifting.

KL palm oil lower:

The Malaysian palm oil market turned easier at midday after firming at the opening on soyoil gains in Chicago on Friday, traders said. "There were some activities in the futures market this morning, judging from the volume transacted," said a trader who expects the market to be cautious in the afternoon session ahead of a crop report from private forecaster Ivan Wong later on Monday. Official August crop data will be released on Tuesday. "Prices had opened higher in line with soyoil but lack of fresh developments saw prices ease back towards themorning close," the trader added.

Concern over feed wheat output:

Concern was increasing about the possible amount of feed wheat which would be delivered this harvest, AWB Ltd said in its weekly market report. More wet weather in central Queensland and the Darling Downs last week set back the central Queensland harvest and the window of opportunity for harvest in the region was closing rapidly, AWB said. A consequence of the wet weather in the northern grain belt had been weakness in low protein wheat markets, with the spread to higher protein wheats opening up the cash markets last week, it said. Parts of Victoria, especially around the Mallee, also remained dry, it said. The rest of the Australian crop looked very good, with AWB increasing its crop estimate to 22-24 million tonnes during the week, close to the record of 1996/97. Feed buyers went to ground last week as rain continued in the North and dry persisted in Victoria, it said.

Indonesian early olein quiet:

Indonesian palmolein entered another quiet week as the market is edgy over fresh unrest in North Sumatran city of Medan, traders said. "Any fresh outbreaks are a factor in the market. The market is quiet this morning, there were few transactions recorded but generally it is getting increasingly nervous," said one Jakarta-based trader. Thousands of public transport workers rallied in Medan on Monday to demand lower prices of spare parts, damaging a number of cars and building with stones. At least three people were injured. Traders in Medan -- one of Indonesia's key growing areas for palm olein -- said the market was quiet all morning because of the unrest with many buyers were postponing transactions. "We didn't record any transactions, the market has been dead since this morning," said one trader.

RCDF sets new milk collection record:

The Rajasthan Cooperative Dairy Federation Limited (RCDF) has set a new record of collecting over 7 lakh kilo of milk per day in Rajasthan during the first week of September. TheRCDF has surpassed all other state cooperative federations in the country in this respect. Even states like Punjab and Uttar Pradesh are currently collecting only about 6 lakh kg of milk per day. The liquid milk marketing by the cooperative dairies in Rajasthan has also gone up by 23 per cent over last year. RCDF will soon launch dairy products like cheese and calf starter. Efforts are also on to improve quality aspects of dairy products manufactured by RCDF. RCDF is importing high pedigree bulls from Denmark to set up cross breeding programme for better milk production in Rajasthan.

Area under soya to reach 50 lakh hectare:

The area under soyabean cultivation in Madhya Pradesh was expected to reach more than 50 lakh hectare by the end of the century. The state maintained its lead in soyabean production, sharing 87 per cent of the country's total soyabean output. Soyabean production has increased to 49.10 lakh metric tonne in 1997-98 from 25.95 lakh metric tonne in 1996-97. This year, 44.12 lakhhectare area is estimated to be sown despite unfavourable weather conditions. Due to heavy rains, soyabean crop was affected and in 19 districts about 32,000 hectare area had to be resown. The agriculture scientists have estimated 51.50 lakh tonne production of soyabean this year. Farmers are being advised to use pesticides in proper quantity to save the soyabean crop, an official release said.