From Reuters: Institutional investors looking for higher returns expect to raise their exposure to commodities this year, a Barclays Capital survey taken last week showed.

The survey of 250 institutional investors attending Barclays Capital annual European commodities conference in Barcelona showed 64 percent expect commodity inflows this year to equal or exceed last year’s record $70 billion……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From AP: European officials urged the U.S. to join in a crackdown on speculators who bet against Europe’s currency union, warning they might ban some credit default swaps — opaque financial instruments blamed for worsening the world financial crisis.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Tuesday that “quick action is needed,” calling on the U.S. to “make a gesture” and curb the trades. Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou, in Washington to meet with President Barack Obama, is also calling for curbs on speculation that he blames for making his country’s debt crisis worse……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Forbes: Touting $90 billion expansion plan, Saudi Aramco chief says no matter how fast alternatives are ramped up, world will depend on oil for decades to come. Despite slowing some projects last year, Saudi Arabia’s national oil company is sticking fast to its expansion plans while cautioning the world against “wishful thinking” on alternative energy sources.
After $62 billion in investments over the past five years, Aramco plans $90 billion in additional oil and gas projects between now and 2015, Saudi Aramco Chief Executive Khalid Al-Falih said Tuesday morning at the CERAweek conference in Houston……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Dow Jones: OPEC will earn some $767.2 billion from net oil exporters in 2010, a 33.9% jump from a year earlier, the U.S. Energy Information Administration said Tuesday.
That rise follows a 41% drop to $573 billion in 2009. In 2011, the oil revenues for the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries is expected to rise a further 7.2%, to $822.6 billion but still be 14.7% below the 2008 record of $964.7 billion……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Hardassetsinvestor.com: Commodity traders love patterns, and over time, natural gas has exhibited one of the asset class’s most consistent patterns: seasonality.
Data aggregated between 1989 and 2008 reveal that in March, natural gas prices increase, on average, 7 percent over February’s levels……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Domesticfuel.com: Last September, the G-20 leaders announced during an event in Pittsburgh, that they are committed to phasing out controversial fossil-fuel based subsidies.
According to the Global Subsidies Initiative, the G-20 leaders blame subsidies for encouraging wasteful consumption and undermining efforts to combat climate change……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Panda.org: Japan is at risk of undermining its own recent commitments on carbon emissions reductions during a confused – and confusing – debate on forthcoming climate legislation, WWF said today.

WWF is calling on a high-level Cabinet Member Committee meeting regarding climate change on Thursday to stick with the already outlined absolute emissions reductions of 25 per cent below 1990 levels by 2020 agreed under the Copenhagen Accord framework, and with the ‘cap and trade’ scheme outlined as a key mechanism for achieving the target……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Arabnews.com: Environmentalists have traditionally seen Gulf countries as pantomime villains when it comes to tackling climate change. This view is unlikely to have changed in light of a rather non-committal approach from nations in the region, in particular to extensive talks on establishing a legally-binding global agreement on cutting carbon emissions in Copenhagen in December last year.

The position of Gulf countries is clear. They want to be compensated one way or the other if their oil-based economies are significantly undermined by such an agreement……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Commodityonline.com: Gold Bullion’s position as a commodity rather than a currency sets it in good stead with regards to its price relationship with the US dollar, it has been said.

That is the opinion of Marc Faber, the reputed investment analyst and author of the Gloom, Boom and Doom Report newsletter, who states that while governments can create fresh money supplies, the same cannot be done for gold, according to CNBC……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Commodityonline.com: America’s worst fears are coming true now. China’s is hugely converting its foreign reserves into gold. This fear was there for quite some time for the US as it realized the value of dollar was hit badly during the recession.

Realising that the financial meltdown has badly dented the dollar, China is on a spree to increase its gold reserves. This has resulted in China becoming the fifth country in the world as far as gold reserve is concerned……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Coinupdate.com: Something is developing in China which will have a major impact on the value of the US dollar and the price of gold. The difficulty is in trying to figure out what is going to happen.

It is extremely rare for China to reveal its policies directly. Typically, such announcements are gleaned from the statements made by minor officials, former officials, or researchers……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Commodityonline.com: Gold dipped sharply in US trading yesterday from $1,136/oz to $1,118.50/oz before closing down 1% to $1,120/oz. Gold also fell in pounds, euro and Swiss francs but remains near record nominal highs in these currencies.
Gold rose to $1,123/oz so far in Asian trading and is currently trading at $1,119.50/oz and in euro and GBP terms, it is trading at €825/oz and £749/oz respectively……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Marketwatch.com: China’s appetite for gold as a way to diversify its foreign-exchange reserves is limited because of the metal’s poor returns over the past 30 years, the nation’s foreign-exchange regulator was cited as saying in a report Tuesday.

Yi Gang, director of China’s State Administration of Foreign Exchange, said China’s gold reserves, at 1,054 metric tons, were the fifth-largest in the world, Dow Jones Newswires reported, citing comments by Yi at a press conference at the National People’s Congress……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Reuters: A jump in steel prices at the start of 2010 looks hard to sustain as growth in global demand remains weak, industry officials and traders said at an Arab steel conference in Morocco.

Several top steel producers have announced price increases since the start of the year after a sharp rise in raw material costs such as iron ore and scrap metal……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Reuters: Palladium is an appealing investment because future jewelry and industrial demand will be strong, Norilsk Nickel, the world’s largest palladium producer, told the Reuters Global Mining and Steel Summit.

“For many people it is an attractive investment opportunity because of very healthy demand,” Norilsk Marketing Director Anton Berlin said in response to a question on whether volumes flowing into exchange traded commodity funds would be maintained……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Mineweb.com: As the global credit crisis choked off access to debt and capital for many mining and metals companies and metals prices plummeted, mining companies made cost reductions their mantra.

Western Canadian mining and metals giants made few deals and suspended many of their exploration and new production plans in 2009……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Foxnews.com: China supplies most of the rare earth minerals found in technologies such as hybrid cars, wind turbines, computer hard drives and cell phones, but the U.S. has its own largely untapped reserves that could safeguard future tech innovation.

Those reserves include deposits of both “light” and “heavy” rare earths - families of minerals that help make everything from TV displays to magnets in hybrid electric motors. A company called U.S. Rare Earths holds the only known U.S. deposit of heavy rare earths with a concentration worth mining, according to a recent report by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS)……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Commodityonline.com: Experts maintained stable outlook for oil & gas and base metal industry. However, the long term outlook for thermal coal is positive, with 220 GW of coal-fired electricity generation capacity expected to come online over the next 5 years, requiring over 750 Mt of coal.

The outlook for oil and gas prices remains broadly unchanged, with oil prices still expected to rise……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Reuters: Trend-following commodity funds rebounded to profit last month after a dismal January, data from industry tracker BarclayHedge showed on Tuesday.

BarclayHedge’s CTA index — which tracks Commodity Trading Advisors, or funds that buy and sell commodity derivatives according to price trends — was up 0.3 percent for February, versus a loss of 1.5 percent for January……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Cnbc.com: The Baltic Dry Shipping Index, a leading economic indicator used by market insiders to gauge global demand for dry commodities, gained 17 percent over the last five trading days. Over the past year, however, the index has lagged against the Dow. Is it still an accurate measure?

Doug Mavrinac, Maritime Group research head at Jefferies, and Amrita Sen, commodity analyst at Barclays Capital, shared their insights……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Mondovisione.com: The Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE) approved today the listing of 14 foreign commodity ETFs. These foreign ETFs are managed by ETF Securities Limited and their main market is the London Stock Exchange. The 14 ETFs are scheduled to be listed on Friday, March 19, 2010.
With these listings, there will be a total of 86 ETFs listed on the Tokyo market, bringing us closer to the goal of 100 listed ETFs by the end of fiscal year 2010, as laid out in our medium-term management plan. The TSE will continue to broaden the variety of ETFs and enhance market convenience for all investors……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From WSJ: International momentum is building for stricter oversight of derivatives trading, as a top U.S. regulator recommended new limits on credit-default swaps and European leaders pushed for a ban on speculative bets against government debt following recent financial turmoil in Greece.

In the U.S., Commodity Futures Trading Commission Chairman Gary Gensler in a speech Tuesday offered his most-specific criticisms yet of credit-default swaps, the insurance-like contracts often blamed for the near-collapse of American International Group Inc. during the financial crisis……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From WSJ: Commodity Futures Trading Commission Chairman Gary Gensler on Tuesday said the U.S. could adopt new regulations for credit-default swaps, the derivative often blamed for the near-collapse of American International Group Inc. during the financial crisis.

Mr. Gensler’s comments, to be made in a speech later Tuesday at a New York conference held by Markit, come as the European Union’s executive arm threatened to ban some credit default swaps in a swipe at speculators who made huge bets against the euro amid Greece’s debt crisis……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Commodityonline.com: At a time, when India’s commodity markets are growing with rapid pace, the increased participation has attracted many players to come up with trading platforms so as to benefit investors and traders.
Technology, quality and variety of derivatives products are the key factors that prompt for betterment of commodity trade in India……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Businessweek.com: Palm oil demand will expand faster than output this year as El Nino curbs supply and Asian consumption expands, TransGraph Consulting Pvt. said.

Global demand will rise 6.2 percent to 46.8 million metric tons in the year ending Sept. 30, from 44.1 million tons a year earlier, said Nagaraj Meda, managing director at Hyderabad-based TransGraph, which says it advises commodity suppliers and buyers including Bunge Ltd.’s India unit. Output will rise 5.9 percent to 47.4 million tons, he said……………………………………….Full Article: Source