Australia, known as the lucky country for its resource abundance and temperate climate, is about to find out how long its latest winning streak will last. BHP Billiton Ltd. (BHP), the world’s biggest miner, last week mothballed projects valued at more than A$50 billion ($52 billion) by Credit Suisse Group AG and Deutsche Bank AG.
At the same time, Australia’s resources minister called the end of a bull run in commodity prices, and the central bank chief predicted the cresting of the investment wave within two years………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Prime Minister Julia Gillard has played down Resources Minister Martin Ferguson’s assertion that the “resources boom is over”, saying he had simply been talking about commodity prices. The Coalition seized on Mr Ferguson’s comment to ramp up political pressure on Labor a day after BHP Billiton shelved its $US20 billion-plus Olympic Dam expansion, saying it had undermined the government’s whole economic strategy.
Ms Gillard said: “Minister Ferguson was making a point about commodity prices and we have seen commodity prices come off a little.”……………………………………….Full Article: Source

Australia’s multibillion-dollar spending boom on resources is losing momentum unexpectedly rapidly, with several projects on hold or cancelled as commodity prices fall and banks become less willing to lend.
From copper mines in tropical Queensland to the big iron-ore pits in the country’s arid west, mining companies are laying off workers and idling equipment until metal prices rise sufficiently………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Twice in the past 15 years, the cycle in commodity prices has swung between near-total gloom and heights that, for some commodities, exceeded producers’ earlier most optimistic hopes.
Shares in businesses supplying commodities have also experienced wide moves. In recent months, pessimism has taken hold. The prevailing sentiment in markets now seems too negative from both shorter and medium-run perspectives………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The slew of results from the mining sector in past weeks has not been cheery. Gone were the reports of record profits seen in recent years. Instead, the message came through loud and clear as Xstrata, Anglo American, Rio Tinto and co updated on their performance: revenues are sliding, due to falling commodity prices as the global economy slows.
But that was, of course, backwards looking. What does the future hold for raw materials? Among the gloom, Rio Tinto stood out somewhat as offering a more upbeat assessment of the situation compared to some………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Iraq’s crude output rose above 3 million barrels a day last month for the first time since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein, according to the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries.
Iraq pumped 3.08 million barrels a day in July, 115,000 barrels more than the previous month, OPEC’s Vienna-based secretariat said today in its Monthly Oil Market Report. The Persian Gulf state for a second month outpaced Iran, where output dropped by 173,000 barrels to 2.82 million………………………………………..Full Article: Source

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Stockpiles of the biggest crops will decline for a third year as drought parches fields across three continents, raising food-import costs already forecast by the United Nations to reach a near-record $1.24 trillion.
Combined inventories of corn, wheat, soybeans and rice will drop 1.8 percent to a four-year low before harvests in 2013, the U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates. Crops in the U.S., the biggest exporter, are in the worst condition since 1988, heat waves are battering European crops and India’s monsoon rainfall already is 20 percent below normal. The International Grains Council began July by forecasting record harvests. It ended with a prediction for a 2 percent drop in output………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Cuba’s hopes for energy independence suffered another blow on Monday when its state oil company said the island’s latest offshore oil well was not successful.
Cubapetroleo said the well drilled by Malaysia’s state-owned Petronas in partnership with Russia’s Gazprom Neft found oil but in a geological formation so tightly compacted that oil and gas could not flow through it in “significant quantities.”……………………………………….Full Article: Source

The world watched in awe as American swimmer Michael Phelps became the most decorated Olympian of all time. I’ve read he’s been training in the pool for an average of 6 hours a day, 6 days per week, which equates to about 30,000 hours since age 13 and about 10,000 calories burned during a training day. It’s inspiring to see the incredible results of his tremendous sacrifice and commitment - By Frank Holmes, U.S. Global Investors.
Investing in global markets requires the same sort of stamina, especially at times like this week, when the month’s reading on the manufacturing industry was not encouraging. The J.P. Morgan Global Manufacturing PMI of 48.4 for July was the lowest since June 2009………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Natural Resources Holdings produced a terrific report—which lists the world’s top 50 producing mine and undeveloped deposits—that warns there is a paucity of exploitable gold in the coming years.
“In our view a mine or deposit is an asset no different than a farm, commercial property, or financial security. Yet when it comes to gold, there are only 439 assets that meet the industry perceived economic threshold of 1 million ounces,” writes the authors………………………………………..Full Article: Source

“Is water the gold of the 21st century?” asks Fortune. Answer: Yes, water is the New Gold for investors this century. In 2010 global water generated over a half trillion dollars of revenue. Global world population will explode from 7 billion today to 10 billion by 2050, predicts the United Nations. And over one billion “lack access to clean drinking water.”
Climate and weather patterns are changing natural water patterns. And industrial pollution is making water a scarce commodity. So the good news is that huge “opportunities exist for businesses that can figure out how to keep the pipes flowing.”……………………………………….Full Article: Source

The prices of raw materials surged Tuesday as investors bet the beaten-down global economy would force central banks to take fresh steps to support growth.
With many commodities markets closed on Wednesday for the U.S. Independence Day holiday, traders Tuesday took the opportunity to lock in bullish bets on copper, crude oil and precious metals in case the central bankers make moves that would stoke demand………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Oil Minister Rostam Qasemi has announced that oil reserves of up to 6 billion barrels have been discovered in southwest Iran. The reserves are located around the Yadavaran oilfield in Khuzestan province, Qasemi said.
“With this new discovery the volume of retrievable oil reserves in the country increased 5 to 6 billion barrels,” Shana news agency quoted Qasemi as saying………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Oil production from the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries fell for the second month in a row in June, largely due to a fall in output in Iran, according to a Dow Jones Newswires survey.
Crude oil production from the group averaged 31.60 million barrels a day in June, down 52,000 barrels a day from 31.65 million barrels a day in May, according to the Dow Jones survey of industry sources and analysts………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Global oil inventories rose by an average of 1 million barrels a day in May and June, reflecting easing of tightness in the world oil demand, U.S. government forecasters said Tuesday.
The Energy Information Administration, in a report assessing oil market fundamentals in countries outside Iran, said “the global oil market has loosened” since the end-April report. EIA’s bimonthly assessments for Congress meet a requirement of legislation imposing stricter sanctions on Iran’s oil trade………………………………………..Full Article: Source

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Over the decade of the 1980s, OPEC’s stated reserves increased from 425 billion barrels of oil in 1980 to 763 billion barrels by 1990—an increase twice the size of Saudi Arabia’s entire estimated oil reserves in 1982 .
By 2010, OPEC’s stated reserves had further grown to 1.1 trillion barrels of oil and accounted for 90% of the global oil reserve additions of the previous 30 years………………………………………..Full Article: Source

A scan of the daily price charts for several raw commodity markets (grains, cotton, gold, livestock, sugar and natural gas) shows that fledgling uptrends are occurring, or at least those markets have rebounded well up from their recent lows.
While the raw commodity bulls have more work to do to make a convincing case that the sector is in a fresh bull run, the rebounds in market price are a significant early clue that the entire raw commodity sector has hit or is close to a major bottom………………………………………..Full Article: Source

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As we attempt to solve the calamitous events triggered over the past five years by the 2007 sub-prime mortgage crisis, we face an even bigger challenge: how we are to feed nine billion people by 2050 while reducing the world’s use of fossil fuels, and finding acres of farmland to satisfy the increasing demand for beef.
The growth of the economies of Brazil, Russia, India and China over the past decade has generated explosive demand for consumer goods by a new and prosperous middle class. This demand has pushed the MGI Commodity Price index up from 100 in 2000 to 260 in 2011………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Figuring out what global demand will be for natural resources is a question that preoccupies many economists, investors and business people.
At stake is the future direction of commodity prices, energy prices, stock markets and economic growth in many parts of the world. Canada, for one, depends heavily on the resource sector to drive its economy………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The world’s store of oil jumped 8.3 percent last year, as exploration rose and record crude prices made marginal projects commercially viable, yet supplies will struggle to meet demand due to political factors, oil giant BP said on Wednesday.
BP said in its annual calculation of global oil and gas reserves, considered the industry’s most comprehensive, that oil reserves totalled 1,653 billion barrels at the end of 2011………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The world’s 40 biggest miners invested USD98 billion in capital projects in 2011, some USD22 billion short of announced spending for the year, according to figures in a new report from auditor PwC – Mine: The growing disconnect.
“With capital expenditure forecasts for 2012 likely to be missed due to shareholder resistance, and the challenges inherent in bringing increasingly large, remote and complex projects to completion on time and on budget, supply will likely continue to fail to keep up with demand in the near term,” according to Ken Su PwC China mining leader………………………………………..Full Article: Source

It wasn’t long ago that global gold-mine production had fallen to alarming lows. In 2008 this bellwether supply source was on the heels of a 5-year 13% decline, offering the markets its lowest output in 12 years.
And this precipitous plunge had left folks scratching their heads considering gold demand was on the rise and its price was entrenched in a powerful secular bull………………………………………..Full Article: Source

China may begin deep sea mining to extract gold, copper and many other key minerals by 2030, according to the former head of the State Oceanic Administration.
Sun Zhihui said China has explored more than 80,000 square kilometers of the floor of the Pacific and Indian oceans so far and with the improvement in deep-sea technology, metal resources under the ocean can be explored and mined within 20 years………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Gold prices may have fallen out of bed over the past four months. But gold as a currency is gaining ground as gold reserves are increasingly being allocated a more important role in the coming new economic order.
Under a $3.5 billion stabilization plan being promoted in Germany as the European Redemption Pact, the heavily indebted euro-zone states would use hard assets such as their gold and currency reserves to back a new type of euro bond………………………………………..Full Article: Source

OPEC oil output in May has hit its highest since 2008 as Saudi Arabia kept rates high despite a drop in prices and Iranian shipments did not fall much further ahead of an EU embargo, a Reuters survey found on Tuesday.
The increase in supplies by Saudi Arabia has helped to cushion the impact of Western measures against Iran’s nuclear programme. Still, with Iraq unable to sustain an increase in exports and Libyan output falling, analysts say further rises in OPEC supply will be harder to achieve………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Investing in natural resources offers the potential for high returns for investors, but risks are ever present. Both the demand and supply sides need to be assessed. What are the main challenges for resource companies at this moment and how best should the accompanying risks be negotiated?
Economic principles dictate that prices are set at a point that supply satisfies demand. The demand case for commodities is well known with the emerging nations of the world consuming more materials as their economies gather pace. We are very aware, especially after the global financial crisis of 2008, that this will not be in a straight line, but over a reasonable timescale this upward trend should continue as urbanisation proliferates………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Saudi Arabia has eclipsed Russia as the world’s biggest oil producer first time in six years after the country in the Middle East jacked up its crude output to a 31-year high in March.
As Iran, second-largest oil producer according to the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), reduced shipments, crude exports by Saudi Arabia ultimately registered a jump of 3 per cent in March, recording its highest level in five years, Bloomberg News reported, citing government statistics posted on the web site of the Joint Organization Data Initiative (JODI)………………………………………..Full Article: Source

When metals warehouses in top consumer China are so full that workers start stockpiling iron ore in granaries and copper in car parks, you know the global economy could be in trouble.
At Qingdao Port, home to one of China’s largest iron ore terminals, hundreds of mounds of iron ore, each as tall as a three-storey building, spill over into an area signposted “grains storage” and almost to the street………………………………………..Full Article: Source

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Silver price increases have had a positive impact on primary silver producers as global silver mine production may hit 729 million ounces this year, and total supply over 1 billion ounces, says New York-based CPM Group.
Newly refined market economy silver supply is set to surpass one billion ounces for the first time in 2012, according to CPM Group’s Silver Yearbook 2012………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Iraq, seeking to more than double oil output by 2015, is poised to overtake Iran as OPEC’s second- largest producer by the end of the year as sanctions hobble crude production in its Persian Gulf neighbor, Bloomberg reported.
Iraq is pumping at the highest rate since Saddam Hussein seized power in 1979, supported by foreign investors such as Exxon Mobil Corp. and BP Plc (BP/) that are developing new fields and reworking older deposits………………………………………..Full Article:

China looks as though it could be well on the way to overtaking India as the world’s largest gold consumer this year as the import data through Hong Kong - seen as a proxy for China’s total imports, which may be far higher - have continued to surge, growing six-fold from the same quarter a year ago.
According to figures published yesterday, Q1 imports through Hong Kong totalled 135.5 tonnes from 19.7 tonnes a year earlier - and month on month imports increased by 59% for March in comparison with February………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The International Energy Agency assumes Saudi Arabia’s sustainable oil production capacity at just under 12 million b/d, the head of the IEA’s Oil Industry and Markets Division said Monday.
“We assume Saudi Arabia’s sustainable capacity at just under 12 million b/d. We struggle to get to 12.5 million b/d,” David Fyfe said at the Middle East Petroleum and Gas Conference in Bahrain. “That is our view of what Saudi Arabia can do in a relatively short time,” Fyfe said, adding that this assumed a 30-day time span………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Iran’s oil output has reached its lowest level in 20 years, independent data showed Wednesday, as the impact of sanctions dramatically deepens. The output decline underscores how pressure on Iran is increasingly hurting the country’s coffers—-with oil and gas normally accounting for more than half of its export revenue.
According to Vienna-based JBC Energy GmbH, Iran’s crude output fell to 3.2 million barrels a day in April, down 150,000 barrels a day in two months. That level hadn’t been hit since the aftermath of the Iran-Iraq war in 1990………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Extra crude from Iraq and Saudi Arabia has helped cover for tighter sanctions on Iran, making OPEC’s April output is its highest since 2008, a Reuters survey found Monday.
A long-awaited expansion in Iraq’s oil export capacity and steadily climbing output from top world exporter Saudi Arabia are cushioning the impact of a European Union plan to embargo Iran’s crude, which has helped support oil prices this year………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The rapid growth of emerging markets is putting serious strains on commodities including agriculture and oil, although this provides sub-Saharan Africa with opportunities, according to Nick Calabrese, head of commodities trading and sales at Absa Capital.
Calabrese said in a media briefing on Wednesday that emerging markets were the “key drivers” for continuing global growth, but growth was becoming more concentrated on ommodities………………………………………..Full Article: Source

According to the latest IMF statistics at least 12 countries are known to have increased their gold reserves in March indicating the continuation of a trend now going back more than two years, and one which has been on its own a substantial supporter of the higher gold prices seen over the period.
Overall Central Banks appear to have purchased no less than 58 tonnes in the month, which could suggest an acceleration in their increases in holdings if buying at this rate continues throughout the year. While the majority of these countries only raised their reserves by a very small amount, there were indeed some quite significant purchases - notably from Mexico, which increased its holdings by 16.81 tonnes to a total of 122.58 tonnes……………………………………….Full Article: Source

Reuters cited Mr Rostam Qasemi oil minister of Iran as saying that Saudi Arabia will not be able to replace Iranian oil supplies in the long run, in case of shortfalls due to sanctions against Iran.
Mr Ali Al Naimi oil minister of Saudi Arabia said that top oil exporter Saudi Arabia was determined to bring down high oil prices, reiterating there were no supply shortages in the global markets and the kingdom stood ready to use its spare production capacity if necessary………………………………………..Full Article: Source

China’s crude-oil imports jumped to near-record levels in March, bolstering the belief among some energy analysts that the country is again hoarding oil for its strategic reserves.
If the predictions prove accurate, China’s growing thirst for oil could underpin already-high crude prices and push the country’s oil imports above market expectations………………………………………..Full Article: Source

President Obama’s sanctions plan on Iran follows an old Mideast policy playbook. Western moves against an oil-exporting country take place with the cooperation of Saudi Arabia. U.S. strategy requires the Saudis to ramp up production and replace Iranian exports in hope of avoiding a damaging spike in prices.
It’s a familiar scenario: At one time or another, the Saudis have been called upon to replace exports from Iran, Iraq, Kuwait and, most recently, Libya………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Saudi Arabia is likely to maintain high oil production in the event consumer countries release emergency stocks, but it will not seek to lure buyers for more oil by discounting its crude, industry sources said.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Saturday in Riyadh sought an assurance from Saudi King Abdullah that the kingdom would not neutralize a release of inventories by consuming countries by cutting its production………………………………………..Full Article: Source

“Has the Earth ever run out of a natural resource?” This intriguing question was posed to me nearly two years ago by producer Niall McGee of Canada’s Business News Network (BNN).
Many of you are aware that I am a frequent guest on BNN speaking about supply and demand fundamentals of commodities and evaluation of junior resource companies………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Global primary aluminum production fell by 141,000 metric tons in February to 1.998 million, compared to a revised 2.139 million in January, according to the latest report released by the international aluminum institute.
However, output was up from 1.95 million tons in the same month of 2011. From January to February, production fell in all seven of the IAI’s reporting regions around the world………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Venezuela’s Oil Minister Rafael Ramirez said on Tuesday that a plan by the United States and Britain to tap strategic oil reserves was unsustainable in the long term and would only have a limited impact on prices.
Ramirez told reporters that the oil-producer group OPEC had no plans to hold an extraordinary meeting to discuss the issue, which he said was primarily a political move ahead of November’s presidential election in the United States………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The harsh rhetoric being exchanged between the United States and Iran concerning the free transit of oil through the Strait of Hormuz is a factor in the dramatic increase in the price of gasoline in the United States and around the world.
Along with the harsh rhetoric leaders around the world are expressing toward Iran and its designs for a nuclear weapon, there are real concerns being expressed concerning the supply of oil necessary to meet the economic needs of both developed and emerging economies………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Record cotton harvests from India to Brazil are poised to exceed demand by the most in more than two decades, driving prices lower for Gap Inc. and Abercrombie & Fitch Co.
Farmers will reap 123.6 million 480-pound bales in the 12 months ending in July, exceeding demand by 15 million bales and expanding stockpiles by 32 percent to the second-biggest on record, the U.S. government estimates………………………………………..Full Article: Source

OPEC’s crude oil production rose for a fifth month to the highest in more than three years as Saudi Arabia and Libya boosted supply, according to the International Energy Agency.
The 12 members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries produced 31.42 million barrels a day of crude last month, the most since October 2008, the Paris-based agency said today in its monthly oil market report………………………………………..Full Article: Source

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Clean and potable water is a human right, not a for-profit commodity dependent on market logic, said the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace in a recent document.
Unfortunately, “there persists an excessively commercial conception of water which runs the risk of mistaking it for just another kind of merchandise, and making investments for the sake of profit alone, without taking into account water’s worth” as a public good, it said………………………………………..Full Article: Source

A critical or strategic material is a commodity whose lack of availability during a national emergency would seriously affect the economic, industrial, and defensive capability of a country.
The French Bureau de Recherches Géologiques et Minières rates high tech metals as critical, or not, based on three criteria: Possibility (or not) of substitution, Irreplaceable functionality and Potential supply risks……………………………………….Full Article: Source

Global wheat production is estimated to be around 690 million tons in 2012, second highest ever, according to United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO).
On the back of favourable conditions, production in India and Pakistan touches record levels in2011-12. India is expected to produce around 88.3 million tons and in Pakistan, it is estimated to be around 24.4 million tons. China is the worlds largest wheat producer and the production is expected to be around 115.5 million tons………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Demand for Rare Earth (RE) metals could grow upto 2600% over the course of next 25 years, a study published by the ACS journal Environmental Science & Technology states. China is the largest supplier of RE metals in the world.
The study shows that a shift to Green energy could significantly push up demand for these already scarce metals. With nations around the world increasingly active in proposing to cut carbon emissions, the use of Green Energy can only grow from henceforth. In such a situation, the huge demand for RE metals could cut down on the resources………………………………………..Full Article: Source