South Korea's LG Metals Corp, the country's only refined copper producer, said on Wednesday it planned to cut copper output by 15 per cent from the fourth quarter of 1998 due to slumping demand locally and in Southeast Asia. "We are planning to cut back output by 15 per cent in the fourth quarter this year. We also plan to cut output by 15 per cent in 1999, if there is no change in economic conditions," Lee Seung-yu, vice president of LG Metals' corporate administration, told Reuters in an interview. The output cuts would amount to about 15,000 tonnes in the fourth quarter this year and 60,000 tonnes in 1999, Lee said. Lee said the production cutback also was partly in line with cutbacks by producers in China and other countries to ease a current oversupply in world markets. The production cutback was also expected to alleviate an oversupply of sulphuric acid in the domestic market, Lee said.

Copper, aluminium to test support

Copper will test support at$1,630 atonne on Wednesday after its bearish, outside day on Tuesday, dealers and analysts said. Aluminium prices would also drop, with $1,320 seen as the first line of support, they added.

China urged to hike gold reserves

China should boost the proportion of gold reserves in its foreign exchange reserves to guard against Financial risks, the China Economic Times said on Wednesday. China's current gold reserves stood at 397 tonnes, accounting for 3.0 per cent of the country's total foreign exchange reserves, the newspaper said, quoting Liu Shanen, vice director of the Gold Economic Development and Research Institute under the State Metallurgical Industry Bureau. China should boost gold reserves to 1,000-1,500 tonnes,accounting for 6.0-8.0 per cent of its $140.5 billion in foreign exchange reserves, Liu said. China was the world's third largest gold consumer and fifth largest gold producer, but in terms of gold reserves it ranked only 12th, he said.

Gold seen weak with yen

Yen weakness is seenback haunting gold on Wednesday, meaning the metal is likely to remain soft, dealers said. Silver was seen tracking gold, while platinum group metals would move sideways, they added.

Major oil firms to hold talks

About 20 leading oil companies will meet in Venice on October 3-4 to discuss industry restructuring, changing technology and petroleum geopolitics, organisers Petroleum Finance Company (PFC) said on Wednesday.

Washington-based PFC said the meeting would bring together senior executives from international, National and independent oil companies representing a cross section of different sectors. There would be no discussion of pricing arrangements, PFC said in a statement.

India to buy fuel oil

Indian Oil Corp (IOC) has issued a second tender to buy 50,000 tonnes high sulphur fuel oil for October delivery, traders said on Wednesday. The tender invited offers for 25,000 tonnes of 3.5-per cent sulphur 180-centistoke (cst) fuel oil for October 10-12 delivery into Vizag and anotherfor 25,000 tonnes of the same grade for October 18-20 delivery into Bombay, traders said. The closing date is September 29 and is valid for two days, traders said. IOC had recently issued a tender to buy another 50,000 tonnes of fuel oil for October 10-12 but for delivery into Mumbai and Goa. The tender closed on September 22.

J&K to get oil, gas pipelines

Jammu and Kashmir will have pipelines, to be introduced in phased manner, for receiving its supply of petroleum and liquid petroleum gas (LPG), union minister of state for petroleum Santosh Gangwar has said. The minister said this at a high level meeting here on Tuesday, where local leaders urged him to accord top priority to extend the pipelines up to the state to ensure a regular supply. Jammu and Kashmir minister of state for food and supplies Ajay Sadhotra, also present at the meeting, said that ensuring a regular supply of LPG would enable more and more people to use it, thus adding to the measures taken by the state for environmentprotection. In view of the militancy problem and meagre resources available in the state, Sadhotra stressed the need for installation of LPG and petroleum plants in Jammu, Srinagar and Leh to ensure proper and regular supplies to the consumers. He also appealed to Gangwar that the Kandla-Panpat pipeline be extended up to Kashmir Valley to ensure expeditious commissioning of the proposed LPG plant.

Uzbekistan cotton harvest

Uzbekistan has gathered 915,000 tonnes of raw cotton so far in 1998, one third below last year's equivalent figure of 1.362 million tonnes, an agriculture ministry spokesman said on Wednesday. This year's harvesting campaign, which is in full swing in the former Soviet republic, has been delayed by about 10 days due to cold weather during the growing season. The harvest is expected to end in early November. Unseasonal rains in spring and summer had also meant200,000 hectares of cotton had to be resown. In total 1.53 million hectares of land were sown to the crop in 1998 versus1.50 million in 1997. Actual output fell short of the Soviet-style state plan last year, when 3.7 million tonnes of raw cotton were produced. Output this year has been officially forecast at 4.16 million tonnes, which independent analysts say is unrealistically high.

European raw cotton unchanged

European raw cotton prices are unchanged Tuesday with limited price testing in Greek and Spanish varieties, said traders. Cotton futures on the New York Cotton Exchange settled slightly higher Monday amid speculator buying. The New York December cotton contract rose 0.03 cents higher to 75.83 cents a pound Monday, while the March contract also closed higher, at 74.95 C/lb, up 0.05 C/lb. "The European cotton market saw some enquiries from southern and eastern countries in central Asian descriptions," said Cotlook , the Liverpool-based cotton information company. "The European cotton market is stagnant," said a Belgian-based cotton trader.

Haryana to promote mustard

The Haryana government isplanning to spend Rs 3.20 crore on effective implementation of an ambitious scheme aimed at encouraging farmers to cultivate mustard. Disclosing this here on Tuesday, an official spokesman said 6.5 lakh hectare of land was likely to be covered to produce nine lakh tonne of mustard in the state during the current fiscal. He said the agriculture department was also providing technical know-how to farmers to cultivate this cash crop. The Haryana Seeds Development Corporation and other institutional agencies have stocked certified seeds of mustard for sale on subsidised rate to farmers in the state, he added. Besides providing subsidy on certified seeds, purchase of plant protection equipment and installation of sprinkler irrigation sets, he said the state government would continue to provide all possible assistance to farmers for cultivation of mustard.

Taiwan completes wheat imports

The Taiwan Flour Mills Association said on Wednesday it had bought a total of over 905,000 tonnes of US wheat and30,000 tonnes of Australian wheat, fulfilling the island's 1998 demand. Taiwan bought a total of 860,000 tonnes of wheat in 1997, mostly from the United States. Grain traders attributed the rise in Taiwan 1998 wheat imports to low inventories at the end of 1997 and a steady growth in the island's demand for pastry and other baked products. On Tuesday, the milling association bought 204,800 tonnesof US wheat, finalising Taiwan's fourth quarter wheat demand.

Indonesian palmolein quiet

The Indonesian palmolein market was quiet in late morning trade on Wednesday on slow demand in Medan, North Sumatra because of fears of looting, traders said. Olein, the refined form of crude palm oil (CPO), was being offered in 4,500 rupiah/kg in Medan and at 4,600 in Jakarta. CPO was on offer in Medan at 4,025-4,050 rupiah/kg. Medan traders said trading was normal despite anti-government protests at the governor's office against the rising prices of essentials. Traders in Jakarta said the market was stable, buttrading quiet. Prices were seen falling again because of expectations of increased supplies during the harvest which starts in October and lasts through to the end of the year, said traders. Most of the plantations are located on Sumatra.

(Reuters and agencies)