Commodities slumped, paced by wheat and zinc, on speculation that slowing manufacturing will curb demand for raw materials.

The Standard & Poor’s GSCI index of 24 commodities fell 0.5 percent to 671.02 at 2:31 p.m. New York time after dropping as much 0.8 percent. Zinc retreated as much as 2.9 percent in London, and wheat fell the most in two months on signs that demand for U.S. supplies is slowing. The GSCI slumped below its 200-day moving average, signaling further declines……………………………………….Full Article: Source

Standard Chartered expects to post a 30 per cent year-on-year growth in its commodity trading revenue in 2011 on strong demand from its clients in Asia, Africa and the Middle East, a senior official said.

The bank is also looking to expand physical trading in commodities such as coal, iron ore, palm oil and base metals, Ashish Mittal, the bank’s global head of commodities sales said. “The commodity business is a huge focus area for the bank,” he said, adding that its commodity clients have doubled in the past two years……………………………………….Full Article: Source

All commodity indexes are not the same. But what are the differences between the S&P Goldman Sachs Commodity Index, the Reuters/Jefferies Commodity Index, the Dow Jones-AIG Commodity Index, the Rogers International Commodity Index, the UBS Bloomberg CMCI Index and the Deutsche Bank Liquid Commodity Index? Today Hard Assets Investor begins an ongoing series, examining how the major commodity indexes work by interviewing the people and strategies behind them.

Today we talk to Michael McGlone, senior director of commodities for Standard & Poor’s, which is responsible for the S&P GSCI Index……………………………………….Full Article: Source

Deutsche Bank expects further growth in its commodities business, including oil, its global head of the asset class told Reuters after cementing the bank among the biggest players in the last five years.

David Silbert, a US gas trader in the 1990s, who joined Deutsche in 2007 from Wall Street giant Merrill Lynch , said he saw tight risk control and diversified portfolios in all commodities as crucial elements of strong performance……………………………………….Full Article: Source

The Fed’s QE2 program was a failure as far as the economy is concerned. The U.S. economy is in considerably worse shape than last summer when the Fed attempted to come to the rescue with its QE2 flood of extra dollars into the global financial system.

But QE2 did have a big effect on global stock markets by producing hope that it would work to rescue the economy. And it had an equally large effect on commodity prices that had investors plowing money into commodity trading at a never before seen pace……………………………………….Full Article: Source

The Federal Trade Commission weighed into the intensifying debate in Washington about oil-market speculation, saying supply-and-demand forces drive gasoline prices, not speculative oil traders.

The FTC didn’t investigate speculation independently, but reviewed the available research and found it inconclusive. The agency also looked at competition in the oil industry and whether it affected gasoline prices from 2005 to early 2011……………………………………….Full Article: Source

The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries will raise crude shipments through Sept. 17 as consuming nations end a program of supply releases to make up for lost Libyan exports, according to Oil Movements.

Exports will rise 0.2 percent to 22.59 million barrels a day in the four-week period, the Halifax, England-based tanker- tracker said today in a report. That compares with 22.54 million a day in the month to Aug. 20. Shipments typically decline at this time of year as refiners undertake seasonal maintenance. The figures exclude Ecuador and Angola……………………………………….Full Article: Source

Oil prices rose on Thursday on positive U.S. economic reports on manufacturing and factory orders. Benchmark oil for October delivery rose 95 cents to $89.76 per barrel in early afternoon trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

In London, Brent crude increased 7 cents at $114.92 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange. The dollar rose after reports on jobs and retail sales suggested that the U.S. economy is still growing……………………………………….Full Article: Source

Seaborne oil exports from OPEC, excluding Angola and Ecuador, will rise by 50,000 barrels per day (bpd) in the four weeks to Sept. 17, an analyst who estimates future shipments said on Thursday.

Exports will rise to 22.59 million bpd on average from 22.54 million bpd in the four weeks to Aug. 20, UK consultancy Oil Movements said in its latest weekly estimate……………………………………….Full Article: Source

Crude oil production in August from members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries rose to its highest level since the 2008 global financial crisis, a Dow Jones Newswires survey showed.

The survey of oil company officials and industry analysts put total OPEC production at 30.518 million barrels a day in August, up 0.151 million barrels a day from July……………………………………….Full Article: Source

We review our metal prices quarterly. We increased our 2012 price by 11% to $1,750/oz. Today, gold is at $1,763/oz., so I would say that that’s a reasonable view. For long-term pricing of gold and silver, our team reviews the 36-month trailing average prices. That methodology is endorsed by the Securities and Exchange Commission for mining companies to estimate resources and reserves.

With base metals and iron ore, we review the marketplace for the marginal cost of production for the commodity. We typically set our long-term pricing with some reference to that marginal cost……………………………………….Full Article: Source

The world needs at least 100 million tonnes of additional iron ore supply each year for the next eight years to meet demand growth projections in steel making, miner Rio Tinto said on Thursday.

At that rate, global iron ore production would almost double over the period, based on industry trade data — largely covered in the early years at least by expansions underway among the major miners, including Rio Tinto……………………………………….Full Article: Source

Gold prices flat lined Thursday as a rally in the U.S. dollar weighed on prices and as investors remained jittery ahead of Friday’s jobs number.
Gold for December delivery closed down $2.60 at $1,829.10 an ounce at the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The gold price has traded as high as $1,833.60 and as low as $1,815.15 while the spot gold price was up $5, according to Kitco’s gold index……………………………………….Full Article: Source

As traders close the books on August, the volatility that was the hallmark of this month’s activity is likely to continue into September and year-end. Market watchers said the factors
that caused the run up continue to be in place for Gold – strong speculative interest, worries about the eurozone debt problems and political intransigence in the U.S.
Gold prices will likely march even higher, with $2,000 an ounce expected by the end of this year, if not sooner; however, sizable price swings probably will accompany the uptrend……………………………………….Full Article: Source

India and China accounted for more than half of overall global demand for gold jewellery in three months ended June 2011, says a report. According to World Gold Council’s (WGC) Gold Demand Trends report for the 2011 second quarter, the two nations also made up 52 per cent of global investments in gold bars and coins.

Noting that year-on-year growth gold demand in the second quarter was broad-based, WGC said that India and China were the major contributors to growth in both jewellery and investment demand……………………………………….Full Article: Source

Gold and silver prices continued to rally in India over the past few days. Upcoming Diwali festival of lights normally leads to an increasing demand for precious metals among domestic jewellers, while investment demand remains high, as investors returned to gold and silver.
According to Rajesh Metah, chairman of India’s largest jewellery producer Rajesh Exports, India´s gold demand has the potential to climb by 25% in the upcoming festival season……………………………………….Full Article: Source

The increased investor interest and rebound in prices for Silver have made it the new favorites in Asian commodity exchanges. In China’s Hunan Province, a new precious metals exchange focussed on silver began trading from late June while the Hong Kong Mercantile Exchange has started offering a new silver futures contract from July 22.

In India’s largest commodity bourse, Multi-Commodity Exchange of India (MCX), silver continues to be one of the hot favourites for investors with total value of contracts traded at Indian Rupees 302863.283 crore when compared to INR 247071.058 cr for fortnight August 1-15, 2011……………………………………….Full Article: Source

Gold is for wealth preservation and silver is for bartering. If we are talking about protecting wealth in the amount of several million dollars then a good spread to own in precious metals would be 80% gold and 20% silver.
If we are talking about a “Mad Max” scenario where we are trying to set ourselves up for a black market bartering system then a good spread would be 75% silver and 25% gold. I will leave it to you to determine what would be an appropriate ratio for you based on the assets you are trying to protect……………………………………….Full Article: Source

Global commodities trader Glencore International announced Thursday its intention to acquire a controlling interest in South African thermal coal miner Optimum Coal via a consortium with South African businessman Cyril Ramaphosa.

The commodities giant valued the ordinary shares of Optimum Coal at Rand 34 ($4.86) each — a total value of about $1.2 billion — representing a 35.9% premium to the 30-day volume weighted average Optimum share price on August 16, the day before Optimum released its first cautionary statement……………………………………….Full Article: Source