Posted on 13 April 2012 by VRS | Email |Print
The UN has called for concerted political efforts to end excessive speculation on food commodities and curb food price volatility.
Food was a basic human right, and the priority for agriculture should be to produce nutritious food that was accessible to people at all times, UN assistant secretary-general for economic development Jomo Kwame Sundaram said. “Action to curb food price volatility is essential,” he warned………………………………………..Full Article: Source
Posted on 13 April 2012 by VRS | Email |Print
United Nations (UN) has called for action to curb food price volatility and suggested a proper analysis of global commodities futures market to discourage speculation that leads to price fluctuations.
“Food and nutritional security are the foundations of a decent life. Action to curb food price volatility is essential,” UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon said in a message to the General Assembly’s high-level debate on ‘Excessive Price Volatility in Food and Related Commodity Markets’………………………………………..Full Article: Source
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Commodities will decline this quarter as central banks in the U.S. and Europe refrain from adding further stimulus, removing the driver that helped to lift prices in the first three months, according to UBS AG.
“In the absence of further injections in the second quarter, we expect prices to drift lower,” analysts led by Hong Kong-based Peter Hickson said in an e-mailed report today. Crude oil, copper, nickel and cotton may decline, the report said………………………………………..Full Article: Source
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Nelson Louie, Global Head of Commodities in Credit Suisse’s Asset Management division, said, “While commodities were generally lower in March, this was due to commodity markets remaining vulnerable to global supply shocks.
We believe that the majority of the price increase of oil over recent months was driven by tight fundamentals, with much of the risk premium related to supply risk, such as geopolitical risk. Agriculture remained vulnerable to weather disruptions and has recently been supported by reports of dry weather in South America and a dramatic cooling of temperatures for much of Europe in February………………………………………..Full Article: Source
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Could it be the awkward teen phase for oil, copper and other raw materials? Fred Sturm, manager of the $4.2 billion Ivy Global Natural Resources Fund, raises the idea, or something like it, and he’s got a bullish longer-term outlook on commodities.
”It would probably be healthy, and to some extent expected, to have what I’m calling an awkward pause” in the coming months, Sturm told Dow Jones Newswires’ Matt Day. “Worries about Europe’s debt crisis and Chinese growth would likely give the market pause, he said, but not derail the long-term prospects for the continued increase in the globe’s appetite for oil, metals and other raw materials,” Day writes………………………………………..Full Article: Source
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Clean energy investment in the first quarter of the year was at its weakest level since the global financial crisis, according to new figures from Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF) that will raise fresh questions about the impact of policy uncertainty on green business confidence.
The analyst firm reported that new financial investment in clean energy during the first three months of the year reached $27bn, down 28 per cent on the previous quarter and 22 per cent year on year. Michael Liebreich, BNEF chief executive, said……………………………………….Full Article: Source
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The US has regained top spot from China as the biggest investor in clean energy in 2011, according to global rankings. The table, published in a report by the Pew Charitable Trusts, showed that US invested more than $48bn (£30bn) in the sector, up from $34bn in 2010.
China slipped to second place, the authors reported, with investment only increasing by $0.5bn to $45.5bn. Globally, overall financial backing in clean energy technologies hit a record $263bn, up 6.5% from 2010 levels………………………………………..Full Article: Source
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Oil markets appear to be turning a corner as increased output from OPEC nations, combined with “sluggish” demand, help to ease supply constraints, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said.
OPEC, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, echoed the view of well-supplied markets, saying high prices had more to do with perceived than actual shortages………………………………………..Full Article: Source
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The oil market has broken a two-year cycle of tightening supply conditions, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said on Thursday, as demand softens and Saudi Arabia increases output in response to tensions with Iran.
The agency said in its monthly report that there had potentially been a rise in global oil stocks of 1 million barrels per day (bpd) over the last quarter, and the impact on prices had not yet been fully realised………………………………………..Full Article: Source
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The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries will boost oil shipments this month by the most since at least 2008 as Asian refiners build stockpiles, according to tanker-tracker Oil Movements.
OPEC will export 24.32 million barrels a day in the four weeks to April 28, an increase of 5.2 percent on the 23.12 million a day that was scheduled for shipment in the period to March 31, the researcher said in an e-mailed report today. The data exclude Angola and Ecuador………………………………………..Full Article: Source
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OPEC’s crude oil production numbers are not easy to come by. Ask OPEC itself, and you will now get two answers.
Since OPEC accounts for the bulk of the world’s oil exports, the exact level of its production is vital information for traders, consumers and governments. The trouble is that finding that number is no easy task due to a dearth of timely official information………………………………………..Full Article: Source
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India has vaulted to the top of the list of Iran’s oil customers, overtaking China, in a first quarter buying surge ahead of tighter sanctions against Tehran this summer, data published by a leading industry consultant showed.
Direct imports to India from Iran were 433,000 barrels per day (bpd) in the first quarter compared with 256,000 bpd to China, according to data compiled by Geneva’s Petrologistics and seen by Reuters via an industry source………………………………………..Full Article: Source
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GFMS metals consultancy’s Paul Walker has tempered his firm’s optimism about the shorter-term prospects of gold with a warning that the metal could be trading “well south of $1,000” in the not-too-distant future.
He based this on his view that the demand for gold will not be sustained at present price levels once real interest rates start returning to positive territory………………………………………..Full Article: Source
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Despite the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 suffering their worst day of the year on Tuesday, precious metals were able to decouple and climb higher. Gold futures for June delivery increased almost $17 to settle at $1,660, while silver gained 16 cents to close at $31.68.
Although gold prices declined in March and had the media buzzing once again about a possible bubble, the world continues to be more interested in precious metals than ever before………………………………………..Full Article: Source
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The CME Group will cut margins for silver, copper and palladium futures after close of business on April 16, it said in a statement late on Thursday.
The initial margin for COMEX 5000 silver futures will be cut by 12.5 percent to $18,900 per contract, and the maintenance margin will be lowered to $14,000 from $16,000 per contract………………………………………..Full Article: Source
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While fundamentals have been especially significant for trade in platinum group metals lately, speculator positioning could be a key in the short term, said Union Bank of Switzerland (UBS) in a commodity research note.
“The elevated level of short positioning in palladium could be the catalyst that prompts a sizeable rally.” In fact, the high level of speculative shorts in platinum started off this metal’s impressive first-quarter performance, Switzerland’s largest bank added………………………………………..Full Article: Source
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The third consecutive annual copper shortage and accelerating U.S. growth will drive prices to the highest in a year in the next quarter, according to the most accurate forecasters.
Supply will fall 278,000 metric tons short of demand in 2012, more than North America uses in a month, Barclays Capital estimates. Hedge funds, which were betting on lower prices as recently as January, are now the most bullish in eight months, Commodity Futures Trading Commission data show………………………………………..Full Article: Source
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An exchange traded note tracking copper futures is on a six-day losing streak, falling nearly 8% and signaling investor concerns about global growth.
Copper prices rebounded about 1% Thursday morning on hopes the European Central Bank will buy more bonds to ease the debt crisis. Investors keep an eye on copper as an indicator for the health of the global economy, particularly China………………………………………..Full Article: Source
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Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Ltd is in talks with banks for a loan to help it finance an offer for the London Metal Exchange, sources told Reuters, a sign that the world’s most valuable bourse is aggressively pushing ahead with a bid.
The holding company for the Hong Kong stock exchange, known as HKEx, could be looking for as much as $3 billion in its first acquisition loan to back a bid for the 135-year old commodities exchange, said one source with direct knowledge of the matter………………………………………..Full Article: Source
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IntercontinentalExchange announced a big push into US agricultural futures, in a challenge to the dominance of CME Group. Atlanta-based ICE is plans to launch futures in corn, wheat, soybeans, soybean meal and soybean oil in May, competing with long-established products offered by CME’s Chicago Board of Trade unit. ICE lost out to CME in a bid battle for the CBOT.
While agricultural commodities futures market is dwarfed by the size of interest rate and equity-related contracts, it is also one of the most profitable for CME and is still expanding at a time when overall volumes are falling………………………………………..Full Article: Source
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The Forward Markets Commission (FMC), the commodity derivatives market regulator, is contemplating a 12-15 member monitoring body for each agri commodity currently traded on the futures platform.
The body would comprise a member of FMC and one from each national commodity exchange, while the remaining members are proposed to be nominated by the regulator from the industry, including trade associations, producer and consumer sectors………………………………………..Full Article: Source
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Sterling surged to a 19-month peak on a trade-weighted basket of currencies on Thursday, posing risks to exports and the British government’s aim to rebalance the economy.
Trade-weighted sterling rose to 82.4, its highest since August 2010 according to Bank of England data. Its rise came as data showed the UK’s trade deficit deepened more than expected in February to 8.772 billion pounds as imports outpaced exports………………………………………..Full Article: Source
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Singapore’s central bank unexpectedly tightened its monetary policy stance by raising the slope of the local dollar’s trading band “slightly,” and said inflation remains persistent while economic growth has improved.
The Monetary Authority of Singapore also restored a narrower trading band for the local dollar, indicating lesser tolerance for volatility, while continuing with its policy of a modest and gradual appreciation of the Singapore dollar nominal effective exchange rate policy band. There will be no change to the level at which the band is centered, it added………………………………………..Full Article: Source
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International companies specialising in the carbon market and low-carbon technologies are beginning to jockey for position in Australia, with the carbon price due to begin in just under three months and a trading scheme to start in 2015.
Switzerland-based South Pole Carbon, one of the largest carbon offset project developers in the world, has snapped up a majority stake in the Australian-based Climate Friendly, a specialist in the voluntary carbon market………………………………………..Full Article: Source
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New Zealand’s greenhouse gas emissions were flat in 2010 on the previous year, and the country is on track to beat its Kyoto target for 2008-2012, the government said on Thursday.
Soft economic growth, greater reliance on gas and renewable energy and less use of coal for power generation, resulted in a fractional increase in emissions, Climate Change Issues Minister Tim Groser said………………………………………..Full Article: Source
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