Sumitomo pulls out of Aquila coal JV in Australia

SYDNEY | Mon Apr 29, 2013
(Reuters) - Aquila Resources (AQA.AX) on Monday suffered a set back to its plans to raise capital via asset sales to help fund a A$7.4 billion ($7.6 billion) Australian iron ore project after Sumitomo Corp (8053.T) pulled out of a coal exploration partnership.

A memorandum of understanding reached between the two companies a year ago was designed to pave the way for an acquisition by Sumitomo of a 20-50 percent interest in coal mining tenements held by Aquila in Queensland state.

"Following two independent valuations, averaging A$108.8 million on a 100 percent basis, Sumitomo has elected not to acquire an interest in the tenements," Aquila said.

Aquila shares tumbled almost 10 percent to A$1.83 in early trading.

The proceeds from the sale and the joint venture agreement, on top of Aquila's existing cash reserves, were aimed provide funds needed to finance Aquila's share in the undeveloped West Pilbara Iron Ore Project.

Aquila in February put the iron ore project on ice at least through June due to funding difficulties, as soaring costs and volatile commodity prices take a toll on new mine developments.

The West Pilbara Iron Ore project in Western Australia is one of a number that have stalled since the mining boom cooled last year in the world's top iron ore exporter after Chinese demand slowed.

Aquila's project requires billions to be spent on rail and port access, stretching funding prospects.

Aquila and its partners American Metals and Coal International (AMCI), a mining investment firm, and South Korean steel giant POSCO (005490.KS) effectively froze the project last September after failing to agree on a budget for the year to June 2013. ($1 = 0.9721 Australian dollars)

(Reporting by James Regan; Editing by Ed Davies)

Iron ore seen under pressure, China steel output curbs loom

Mon Apr 29, 2013
* China steel firms "should not blindly expand output" -CISA

* Iron ore at 5-wk lows, has dropped in 9 of past 10 sessions
By Manolo Serapio Jr
SINGAPORE, April 29 (Reuters) - Spot iron ore prices are likely to slip further this week as softer steel demand may prod Chinese steel mills to curb output, although a shorter trading
period in Beijing will limit market activity.

China's steel industry body on Saturday warned that an anticipated rise in demand would not be enough to justify sharp increases in production by the country's steel mills -- world's
biggest iron ore buyers -- in coming months.

"Downstream demand will gradually improve, but at the same time it is difficult to see any relatively big rises in steel consumption, and the expectations of steel firms should not be
too high, and they should not blindly expand output," Zhu Jimin, chairman of the China Iron and Steel Association, said on Saturday.

China's daily crude steel output has stayed near record highs above 2 million tonnes since mid-February as producers banked on demand that typically peaks during the second quarter.

But a tepid economic recovery in China also meant a slow pickup in steel demand.

"The mood is generally bearish. Mills are keeping their iron ore inventory low because I think they are considering production cuts in the future," said an iron ore trader in Hong
Kong.

Stockpiles of iron ore at major Chinese ports rose slightly to above 68 million tonnes last week, data from industry consultancy Mysteel showed, reflecting slack demand from
domestic mills.

"The fact that the port stocks haven't really been moving shows there is not a lot of buying interest," the Hong Kong trader said.

Benchmark 62-percent grade iron ore .IO62-CNI=SI eased 0.4 percent to $134.10 a tonne on Friday, matching a low last seen on March 20, based on data from the Steel Index.

The commodity dropped nearly 3 percent last week, its steepest such loss since mid-March. Prices have fallen in nine of the last 10 sessions.

Chinese markets are shut from Monday to Wednesday for public holidays.

  Iron ore indexes

                                    Last    Change   Pct Change
  THE STEEL INDEX 62 PCT INDEX     134.1     -0.50        -0.37
  METAL BULLETIN INDEX            132.84     +0.00        +0.00
  Index in dollars/tonne, show close for the previous trading day

(Reporting by Manolo Serapio Jr.)

China's steel industry barely returns to profits

2013-04-28
(Xinhua)
BEIJING -- China's steel industry swung back to report profits in the first quarter after recording losses in the same period of last year, an industrial association said Saturday.

Large and medium steel companies saw their situation improve slightly in the first quarter, with sales revenues adding 0.94 percent year on year to 875.85 billion yuan ($140.8 billion), according to data released by the China Iron and Steel Association (CISA).

The combined profit of CISA member companies rebounded to 2.49 billion yuan in the January-March period, with a profit margin of 0.28 percent, compared with 1.03 billion yuan in losses last year, according to the CISA.

However, 34.9 percent of the 272 member companies still reported losses in the first quarter. In March alone, 45.3 percent of steel companies were in the red, suggesting that the sector remained weak due to fiercer competition amid industrial overcapacity, said Zhu Jimin, executive vice president of the CISA.

Steel output continued to grow in the first quarter, even though China has retained its position as the world's largest steel producer, with steel production in the country equal to the rest of the world's combined output.

Crude steel output rose 9.1 percent from a year earlier to 191.89 million tons, cast iron output expanded 7.6 percent to 178.23 million tons, and rolled steel output jumped 12.3 percent in the period.

The average daily crude steel output leaped to a record-high 2.13 million tons.

"The figures have exposed many problems facing the steel sector," Zhu said, pointing to worsening oversupply in the market, rising stockpiles and more trade friction cases with foreign countries.

Overcapacity has been a longstanding problem for the energy-inefficient and polluting sector, as local governments generally prefer to increase the size of local steel companies to drive local economies.

About 44 percent of the 272 CISA member steel companies are located in northern China, which covers Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei, Shanxi and Inner Mongolia

Sugar prices to fall again, and may stay depressed

26th Apr 2013, by Agrimoney
The selldown is not over for raw sugar futures, despite their fall to near-three-year lows this week, with long-term prospects poor too thanks to the healthy levels of supplies, ABN Amro said.

The bank, in a quarterly report, said that there was "still some room left for depreciation" in New York raw sugar futures, which on Thursday touched 17.25 cents a pound, the lowest for a spot contract since July 2010 .

The forecast reflects forecasts of a bumper cane harvest in Brazil, the top sugar producer and exporter, this year, following a campaign by growers to replenish ageing crops.

While ethanol will swallow an increased proportion of the crop in the newly-started crushing season, thanks to the incentive offered by tax concessions and higher Brazilian gasoline prices and blending rates, processing economics still suggested a further decline in sugar prices.

"Sugar is currently still trading above ethanol parity," the level at which the sweetener and the biofuel offer equal financial appeal to cane mills, ABN analyst Mathijs Deguelle said.

Ethanol vs sugar

Indeed, the bank forecast that prices will "drop below the 17-cents-a-pound frontier, and briefly test the lower 16-cents-a-pound range.

"Considering ethanol parity, however, we expect this drop to be brief and prices to appreciate slightly by the end of the [current] quarter, recovering to around 17 cents a pound."

The bank told Agrimoney.com that it calculates at "just under" 17.00 cents a pound, in sugar terms, the level at which making sweetener or ethanol are equally financially attractive to mills.

ABN backed the "exceptionally large short" position taken by speculators, whose net short in New York raw sugar futures and options is at 53,000 contracts, according to latest regulatory data, a historically large number, if below the record 83,000 contracts reached earlier this month.

Longer-term price weakness?

ABN signalled a downbeat stance on sugar prices longer term too, given that "production growth still manages to outpace the growth in demand", leaving the world on course in 2012-13 for a third successive season of output surplus, and initial indications of a fourth in 2013-14.

After 2013-14, "another two years would be needed to absorb surplus stocks, which press heavily on prices, as demand is picking up only modestly, while supply is ample", Mr Deguelle said.

The bank also revealed a cautious assessment on arabica coffee prices, foreseeing a drop in prices to the lowest since 2009.

But it was more upbeat on cocoa, forecasting that the potential for a world production deficit in the marketing year, to September, would lift New York prices to some $2,400 a tonne on a three-month horizon, with further gains later in 2013, taking the year average price to $2,500 a tonne.

GRAINS-Corn prices jump more than 2 pct to 1-wk high on planting delay fears

Mon Apr 29, 2013
* Corn rises more than 2 pct as further unfavorable weather forecast

* More rains could delay planting -analysts

* Soybeans hit 10-day high
By Colin Packham
SYDNEY, April 29 (Reuters) - U.S. corn futures rose more than 2 percent to one-week highs on Monday as forecasts for cold, wet weather across U.S. Plains renewed concerns over
further delays to planting.

Wheat gained, drawing support from corn, while soybeans also edged higher for the third session, touching a 10-day peak.

Chicago Board of Trade July corn futures, the most actively traded contract, had gained 1.82 percent to $6.31 a bushel by 0404 GMT, after hitting a session peak of $6.32-1/2 a
bushel, the highest since April 22.

Corn fell 1.4 percent in the previous session, pressured as investors took profits.

"It is supposed to get cold later this week and that is going to lead to ongoing delays with plantings," said Luke Matthews, commodities strategist at the Commonwealth Bank of
Australia.

July wheat rose 1.3 percent to $7.01-1/2 a bushel, recouping most of its losses from the previous session when it fell 1.6 percent.

July soybeans climbed 0.4 percent to $13.86-1/2 a bushel, just below a session peak of $13.87, the highest since April 19. Soybeans rose 0.64 percent the session before.

COLD SHOWER

The U.S. National Weather Service said a strong showery cold front will hit U.S. Plains on Tuesday.

Analysts said further rains will delay plantings, adding to concerns over potential yield losses.

Market attention is also focused on the next U.S. Department of Agriculture report on Monday for any sign of corn planting progress as well as an improvement in the condition of the U.S.
winter wheat crop.

USDA, in its weekly crop progress report released late on April 22, said only 4 percent of the U.S. corn crop had been planted, up from 2 percent a week ago but well behind the 16
percent five-year average seeding pace.

USDA said last week that the condition of the winter wheat crop eased 1 percentage point to 35 percent good to excellent amid a cold snap across the U.S. Plains.

"We are in a weather market right now," Graydon Chong, senior grains analyst at Rabobank said.

  Grains prices at  0404 GMT
  Contract        Last    Change  Pct chg  Two-day chg MA 30   RSI
  CBOT wheat     701.50     9.00  +1.30%    -0.32%     707.59   47
  CBOT corn      631.00    11.25  +1.82%    +1.04%     648.21   51
  CBOT soy      1386.50     5.50  +0.40%    +1.04%    1359.08   63
  CBOT rice      $15.10    $0.03  +0.20%    -0.07%     $15.50   29
  WTI crude      $92.64   -$0.36  -0.39%    -1.07%     $92.67   60
  Currencies                                               
  Euro/dlr       $1.305   $0.000  +0.00%    +0.15%
  USD/AUD         1.032    0.004  +0.38%    +0.39%
  Most active contracts
  Wheat, corn and soy US cents/bushel. Rice: USD per hundredweight
  RSI 14, exponential

Sugar Mills in Thailand Battle Strengthening Baht as Prices Drop

By Isis Almeida & Supunnabul Suwannakij - Apr 29, 2013
Bloomberg
Sugar revenue for millers in Thailand, the world’s second-biggest exporter, is falling faster than shipments as the strengthening baht erodes incomes and prices for the commodity extend declines.

Export revenue from sugar fell 34 percent to 7.97 billion baht ($270 million) in March from a year earlier while shipments dropped 24 percent, data from the Ministry of Commerce show. The baht climbed to 28.56 to the dollar on April 19, the strongest level since a devaluation in July 1997. It was 29.20 a dollar today. Sugar is heading for a third year of declines, which would mean the longest slump since 1992.

“Our export income has fallen by around 10 percent from the beginning of the year as the local currency climbed,” said Piromsak Sasunee, chief executive officer of Thai Sugar Trading Corp. in Bangkok, the country’s biggest exporter. “Export volume is barely affected by the baht strength but our income in baht term reduces significantly.”

A strengthening baht is more likely to affect export revenue than shipments because producers in Thailand can’t use their cane to make other products, according to brokerage Newedge Group. In Brazil, the world’s biggest exporter, producers use cane to make sugar and ethanol.

“The Thais don’t have a big option to make ethanol for the internal market like in Brazil, so the baht weakness or strength will only help or hurt the bottom line of the mills and spur more or less investment in the longer term,” said Michael McDougall, head of the Brazil desk at Newedge.

March Shipments

Millers in Thailand shipped 593,114 metric tons last month, down from 785,036 tons a year earlier, Commerce data show. Exports fell partly because millers are holding back as prices decline, McDougall said from New York. Raw sugar futures traded in New York are down 11 percent this year.

Thailand’s sugar output may total 10 million tons in the 2012-2013 crop year that started in November compared with 10.24 million tons a year earlier, Sirivuthi Siamphakdee, vice president of Thai Sugar Millers Corp., said on April 18.

Sugar revenue for Thailand millers may fall even more as producers have started to sell their output, according to McDougall. Thailand’s sugar for loading from May to July was at a premium of 0.9 cent to 1.1 cent a pound over New York raw sugar futures as of April 22, down 0.25 cent from a week earlier, Green Pool Commodity Specialists Pty. said.

“Their sliding physical premiums suggest they are throwing in the towel,” McDougall said.

China Secrecy Seen Thwarting Drive to Avoid Food Riots

By Alan Bjerga - Apr 29, 2013
Bloomberg
After India banned exports of wheat in 2007, neighboring countries panicked and limited their grain sales, which pushed prices to records and sparked food riots from Egypt to Haiti for the next year.

After the crisis passed, global leaders agreed the lack of reliable information about crop inventories led nations to hoard their own harvests, worsening the situation. In response, the Group of Eight nations in 2011 pledged to do a better job sharing agriculture data.

G-8 agricultural leaders begin a meeting in Washington today to assess progress in making crop details more accessible. The global drive faces obstacles as nations including China and companies such as Cargill Inc. keep secret information on wheat, rice and other commodities.

“Some companies will feel that if they give away too much information they’re giving business away, and countries can become very jealous about telling people what they’re selling and buying,” former Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman said in an interview. Still, “you need to get better information so that people who want to grow their farms have a better idea of when to buy and when to sell” in poorer countries.

Mars Inc. (MARS), Google Inc., (GOOG) will participate in the meeting along with the Global Harvest Initiative, a business alliance that includes Monsanto Co. (MON) and Deere & Co (DE)., and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

‘State Secret’

In China, the world’s biggest food consumer and not part of the G-8, “inventory is a state secret” and output data is “inherently unreliable,” said Li Qiang, managing director at Shanghai JC Intelligence Co., an agricultural research company, in a telephone interview. “Food security, or the ability to feed its population, is a tantamount issue in Chinese politics.”

Making crop and supply data more open helps in “reducing poverty, improving nutrition and sustainably intensifying agricultural production,” U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said in a statement last week. Still, transparency efforts can conflict with national and company interests, said Gawain Kripke, policy director at Oxfam America, a humanitarian group in Washington.

Agribusinesses including Cargill, the biggest closely held U.S. company, Archer-Daniels-Midland Co (ADM). and Bunge Ltd (BG). control 44 percent of all crop-storage capacity in the U.S., the world’s biggest crop exporter, according to the USDA.

Commodity Markets

“These companies are highly integrated, they play arbitrage between markets and they increasingly are players in financial markets,” Kripke said by telephone. “There are real questions about the integrity of their business model and whether there’s some risk that their size and control, along with lack of transparency, creates systemic risk.”

Representatives from Decatur, Illinois-based ADM will be at the meeting, Jackie Anderson, a spokeswoman, said in an e-mail. White Plains, New York-based Bunge backs global adoption of the U.S. model of releasing frequent reports on crops, Susan Burns, a company spokeswoman, said in an e-mail.

“Cargill supports policies that increase overall food security and encourage agricultural development,” Susan Eich, a spokeswoman for the Minneapolis-based company, said last week.
“Transparency is a key part.”

Businesses seeking to keep secret proprietary information often have access to resources unavailable to governments, giving them an opportunity to help public reporting, said Steve Elmore, chief executive economist for DuPont Pioneer, the seed division of DuPont Co.

Weather, Planting

“There are trends that governments may not pick up on as fast as we do” in weather and planting, said Elmore, whose company has commissioned a global food-security index with the Economist Intelligence Unit.

Companies that keep information private to gain a trading edge are probably less damaging to markets than governments that can’t or aren’t able to determine crop sizes or supplies, said Brian Wright, chairman of the Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics at the University of California, Berkeley.

Nations that are less transparent range from developed economies such as Canada, which can be ambiguous about supplies of its main export, wheat, to poorer nations like Ethiopia, which is self-conscious of its history of food shortages, he said.

Food security gained attention after a surge in prices for corn, wheat and soybeans in 2007 and 2008 sparked more than 60 riots, the U.S. State Department said. The G-8 in 2009 pledged $22 billion to boost food production in poorer countries.

Prices jumped again in February 2011 (FAOFOODI), pushing 44 million people into extreme poverty and contributing to the Arab Spring protests across North Africa and the Middle East, World Bank President Robert Zoellick said at the time. That same year, the Group of 20 nations began an Agricultural Market Information System, which monitors food markets and aggregates data.
Prices worldwide have dropped 11 percent as crop inventories rebounded.

G-8 members are the U.S., Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia and the U.K.

Centre's wheat procurement up 12.5% to over 17 mn tons so far

By PTI | 28 Apr, 2013
NEW DELHI: With the arrivals of wheat picking up in key growing states of Punjab and Haryana, the Centre's grain purchase has risen by 12.5 per cent to 17.11 million tonnes so far in 2013-14 marketing season that started this month.

The wheat procurement stood at 15.21 million tonnes (MT) in the same period corresponding year. Procurement of wheat, a major rabi crop, begins from April and continues till June.

A sharp rise in arrival of the grain has increased the government's procurement in Punjab and Madhya Pradesh, while it is lagging in Haryana as on April 26.

Wheat arrival rose to 18.47 MT so far, as against 16.34 MT in the year-ago period. Wheat is being purchased at the support price of Rs 1,350 per quintal.

Wheat purchase in Punjab has increased to 7.5 MT so far, as against 5.4 MT in the year-ago period, according to data by state-run Food Corporation of India (FCI), the nodal agency for procurement and distribution of foodgrains.

In Madhya Pradesh, procurement has increased to 4.2 MT from 3.5 MT in the review period.

However, the procurement of wheat in Haryana lagged behind at 4.7 MT as on April 26 due to poor arrival. The wheat buy in the state stood at 5.4 MT in the same period last year.

The government is targeting to procure a record 44.12 MT of wheat in the ongoing 2013-14 season as production is expected to be 92.30 MT.

Besides the central agency FCI, wheat is also being procured by the state governments, cooperatives and others.

The government buys wheat from farmers at the minimum support price to meet demands under various welfare schemes like mid-day meal programme and also for buffer requirement

Bunker Prices : 29.04.2013

Source : Bunkerworld.com

	IFO380		IFO180		MDO		MGO
Singapore	614.00		620.00		851.50		861.50
Rotterdam	583.50		606.50		-		838.50
Houston	584.50		652.00		-		963.00
Fujairah	619.50		671.00		-		1,005.00
Los Angeles	671.50		706.00		-		1,016.50
Durban	-		657.50		1,062.00		1,095.00
Tokyo	663.50		671.50		912.00		-
Piraeus	606.50		635.50		-		887.00
Sydney	720.00		736.00		-		1,045.00
Santos	612.00		633.50		-		1,000.00
Guayaquil	665.00		722.00		-		1,429.00
Mundra	620.00		670.00		-		1,100.00
New York	594.00		634.50		-		959.50

Vale mega ship enters China port, first time since ban

Thu Apr 18, 2013
* China banned Valemaxes since Jan 2012 to shield shippers

* Shipowner group says notified authorities of Valemax entry

* Vale ships compete with BHP, Rio Tinto in China iron ore
By Ruby Lian and Manolo Serapio Jr
SHANGHAI/SINGAPORE, April 18 (Reuters) - A giant iron ore carrier owned by top global producer Vale called at a port in eastern China this week, marking the first entry of the ships since Beijing banned them in January 2012.

China banned the Brazilian miner's mega ships, called Valemaxes and measuring around 400,000 deadweight tonnes, over safety concerns and to protect its own ocean-freight industry as a glut in vessels globally dragged down shipping rates.

It was unclear if China had lifted its ban on the vessels to allow the Valemax to enter the port, although Vale has said it has been in talks with Chinese authorities to regain entry.

"We've been aware of this on Tuesday evening and already reported this to the National Development and Reform Commission and Ministry of Transport," Zhang Shouguo, secretary general of the China Shipowners' Association told Reuters by phone.

Ministry of Transport officials were not immediately available for comment. Vale's offices in China declined to comment, according to a spokeswoman. Officials at Vale's headquarters in Rio de Janeiro also declined to comment.

The Valemaxes, the world's biggest dry bulk vessels, are big enough to hold three soccer fields end-to-end on their decks. They can carry enough ore to make about 270,000 tonnes of steel.

The ships are central to Vale's efforts to cut transport costs and better compete with Australian miners BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto , whose mines are closer to China, the world's biggest iron ore consumer.

EN ROUTE TO SINGAPORE

Vale Malaysia, measuring 402,285 dwt, entered the Lianyungang port in China's Jiangsu province on Monday and left on Wednesday after unloading its cargo, according to Reuters shipping data and sources with knowledge of the matter.

A shipping source in China said the ship unloaded about 220,000 tonnes of iron ore and was still carrying nearly 87,000 tonnes when it left the port. The ship is headed for Singapore and expected to arrive on April 26, according to shipping data.

Before this week, the last time a Valemax entered a Chinese port was in late December 2011 when the 388,000-dwt Berge Everest called at the port of Dalian in what shipping sources said then was probably a fluke.

No Chinese ports have regulatory approval to receive dry bulk carriers of more than 300,000 tonnes. Most of the ships, though, were built in Chinese shipyards and partly financed by the country's international development bank.

With Beijing closing ports to the Valemaxes, Vale built a floating transhipment hub in the Philippines to stay closer to its biggest market. A permanent, land-based transhipment centre in Malaysia is scheduled to open in 2014.

Still, Vale said it was losing $2-$3 per tonne in iron ore shipping costs because of China's ban on its Valemaxes since Vale has to transfer the ore from the Valemaxes at sea to smaller vessels to deliver them to China.

Vale expects to have a fleet of 35 Valemax ships sailing by the end of this year, Vale's Rio de Janeiro press office said on Thursday. Of those ships, 19, including the Vale Malaysia, will be owned directly by Vale. The rest will be owned by third parties and operated under fixed cargo contracts with Vale.

Vale preferred shares, the company's most-traded class of stock, fell 1.1 percent to 30.66 reais in late Thursday trading in Sao Paulo.

(Additional reporting by Jeb Blount in Rio de Janeiro; Editing by Richard Pullin, Muralikumar Anantharaman, Alden Bentley and Bob Burgdorfer)

China seeks to lock iron ore importers into trading platform

Mon Apr 22, 2013
* China aiming to wrestle pricing power away from global miners

* Firms seeking to import have to trade on Chinese exchange-document

* China's first physical iron ore platform rivals Singapore-based exchange
By Ruby Lian and David Stanway
SHANGHAI, April 22 (Reuters) - China will refuse to grant new licenses to iron ore importers unless they participate in a domestic trading platform, in a fresh move by the world's biggest iron ore consumer to wrestle pricing power away from global miners.

China, which buys around two-thirds of the world's 1-billion-tonne plus sea-borne iron ore, has been attempting to regain the upper hand in pricing the steel making raw material since grudgingly accepting an industry-wide shift to spot pricing after four decades of a yearly-set price ending in 2010.

Under new rules, traders and steel mills seeking a new licence to import will now have to trade at least 500,000 tonnes of iron ore on the platform set up by the China Beijing International Mining Exchange (CBMX), a document on the regulations obtained by Reuters showed. Only Chinese firms are eligible for import licences.

China's first physical iron ore trading platform competes with the globalORE platform in Singapore, but the new rules, in a country with tens of thousands of iron ore traders, could give CBMX more business and boost liquidity.

Global miners BHP, Vale and Rio Tinto and Chinese steelmakers including Baoshan Iron and Steel are members of both platforms.

China has long suspected that iron ore pricing is manipulated by some miners and traders and wanted a platform that it deems more transparent, although miners may be wary of Beijing gaining control if more business flows to the exchange, particularly after Chinese pressure over ore price levels.

Last month, China's top economic planning agency accused the world's top three miners and some traders of manipulating the market to push up prices that soared more than 80 percent to near $160 a tonne .IO62-CNI=SI in February from three-year lows in September.

"Some traders have already been verbally informed of this new rule and they are keen to increase trade on the platform to get the import qualification," said an industry source familiar with the matter.

CBMX launched the physical trading platform, together with its own iron ore pricing index, on May 8, 2012, hoping to boost its price-setting influence in its biggest commodity import by volume.

The new requirements were drawn up by the China Iron and Steel Association and the China Chamber of Commerce of Metals Minerals and Chemicals Importers and Exporters, a unit that helps regulate iron ore trade on behalf of the Ministry of Commerce of China, industry sources said.

Officials at the two organisations could not immediately be reached for comment.

A CBMX official declined to comment.

Firms applying for new licences will have to show that they have traded a minimum of 500,000 tonnes of iron ore with CBMX since it was launched, according to the list of requirements in the document distributed to traders.

They also stipulate that companies should have imported more than 1 million tonnes last year.

Steel mills applying for a licence are also required to have an annual output of more than 1 million tonnes of crude steel and steel making facilities that meet state environmental requirements, according to the document.

Importers already holding a licence would not be affected by the new regulations, officials at two state-owned Chinese traders said.

BOOSTING TRADE TO BECOME BENCHMARK

Since the iron ore market moved to daily pricing, a battle between pricing platforms and exchanges has been underway to become the benchmark for the world's second-largest commodity market after oil.

Attracting the highest volume of trade is key to winning the benchmark battle. The CBMX has moved ahead of globalORE to date in 2013 in terms of the volume of iron ore traded.

The CBMX has hosted 5.92 million tonnes of trade in 2013 as of April 12, according to data from the exchange. globalORE has seen only about 1.9 million tonnes this year, according to industry sources.

That is a reversal from last year, when the CBMX saw 7 million tonnes traded of the 93 million tonnes of iron ore it put on offer in 2012. globalORE traded a total of 9.62 million tonnes of iron ore since it was launched on May 30, 2012.

Traders said there was a risk the new requirements might not operate as designed, noting that it was possible to get around them by conducting "paper only" transactions on the exchange with no actual delivery.

"The exchange does not need undertake responsibility for participants to eventually settle the physical delivery, that means they can default after they make the deal on the platform," said a trader in Shanghai.

Beijing has long tried to impose more control on how iron ore trading is regulated, seeking big reductions in the number of licensed traders and trying to crack down on speculative reselling. But smaller players in the industry have often found ways around the regulations.

The list of companies with import licences is not made public, but about 120 companies are eligible, according to industry sources.

Iron ore buyers who do not have a licence would have to go through importers with a permit to purchase iron ore on their behalf on a commission basis.

(Additional reporting by Manolo Serapio Jr.; Editing by Ed Davies and Simon Webb)

Iron ore eyes 2013 low as Chinese buyers wary about steel

Mon Apr 22, 2013
* Iron ore hit a 3-month low of $132.90/tonne in mid-March

* Slow Chinese steel sales curbing iron ore appetite
By Manolo Serapio Jr
SINGAPORE, April 22 (Reuters) - Spot iron ore prices may approach their lowest level for the year this week with Chinese mills in no rush to stock up on the steelmaking raw material
given an uncertain outlook for steel demand in the world's top consumer.

Shanghai steel futures were steady on Monday, having recovered only modestly after hitting seven-month lows last week during a broad-based commodities selldown, suggesting investors
were not too confident that demand would gather pace in the near term.

"Mills are still in a slow mode in terms of buying any seaborne cargo especially if the shipment date is a bit forward," a Shanghai-based iron ore trader said.

"They would prefer to take prompt cargo, or those due to arrive in ports in one to two week's time, because they are sure where prices stand, for both iron ore and steel. When there's a
lot of uncertainty, mills won't take the risk of picking up forward cargoes."

Benchmark 62-percent grade iron ore .IO62-CNI=SI dropped 0.4 percent to $138 a tonne on Friday, the lowest level in almost two weeks, according to data provider Steel Index. The
price touched a low of $132.90 in mid-March.

"I think we will see a sustained fall in the price towards the $130 level," said the Shanghai trader.

Global miner Rio Tinto is offering 75,000 tonnes of 64.5-percent grade iron ore concentrate at a tender on Monday, and traders expect the cargo to be sold at lower than last week's $142.69 per tonne.

Rio sold a 165,000-tonne cargo of 61-percent grade Australian Pilbara iron ore fines at $137.95 per tonne at a tender on Friday, down from trades above $138 earlier last week, traders said.

Traders were expecting the price of 62-percent grade iron ore, which remains 13 percent below this year's peak, to rebound during the second quarter, the period seen as the busiest for
China's construction sector.

But big stockpiles of steel in China suggest that demand has yet to pick up strongly.

Investment bank Macquarie said the results of its steel survey in March of 40 steel mills, 30 steel traders and 30 iron ore traders showed that "neither mills nor traders have seen a
clear improvement in demand, but expectations remain that this is coming".

"Traders are signalling that they expect a pick-up in sales in April, and this should help inventory fall further," Macquarie said in a note.

Stocks of steel products in 22 Chinese cities hit a record 15.56 million tonnes in March, data from industry body the China Iron and Steel Association showed.

The most traded rebar contract for October delivery on the Shanghai Futures Exchange was little changed at 3,674 yuan ($590) a tonne by the midday break.

Rebar, or reinforcing bar, a steel product used in construction, touched a seven-month trough of 3,598 yuan last Thursday, ending the week down more than 4 percent, its steepest
such drop since late February.

  Shanghai rebar futures and iron ore indexes at 0414 GMT

  Contract                          Last    Change   Pct Change
  SHFE REBAR OCT3                   3674     +5.00        +0.14
  THE STEEL INDEX 62 PCT INDEX       138     -0.60        -0.43
  METAL BULLETIN INDEX            138.43     -0.42        -0.30

  Rebar in yuan/tonne
  Index in dollars/tonne, show close for the previous trading day
 ($1 = 6.1776 Chinese yuan)

(Editing by Himani Sarkar)

China Rebar Falls as Iron Ore Price Decline, Steel Supply Rises

By Bloomberg News - Apr 22, 2013
Steel reinforcement-bar futures fell, extending the biggest weekly decline in two months, amid rising output from domestic mills and a decline in the price of iron ore.

The contract for October delivery on the Shanghai Futures Exchange fell as much as 0.6 percent to 3,665 yuan ($593) before trading at 3,678 at 10:12 a.m. local time. Futures lost 4 percent last week, the biggest weekly decline since Feb. 22.

Spot iron ore at Tianjin port fell for the fifth day to $138 a dry ton on April 19, the Steel Index Ltd. data show. China’s daily crude steel output nationwide in early April was estimated to have risen 2.5 percent from late-March, Custeel.com analyst Hu Yanping said on April 18.

“Supply still exceeds demand in the rebar market,” Jiang Yuying, an analyst at Chengdu Brilliant Futures Co., said by phone from Shanghai today.

Still, demand for the building material may rise as an earthquake, measured at magnitude 6.6 by the U.S. Geological Survey, hit China’s southwestern Sichuan, killing 188 people, according to the China Central Television.

“Demand for the building material may increase from reconstruction,” Jiang added.

The average spot price for rebar dropped 0.5 percent to 3,595 yuan a ton on April 19, according to the Beijing Antaike Information Development Co.

Karnataka iron ore mines to become fully operational in 2 years: FIMI

PTI
MUMBAI, APRIL 21: 
Iron ore mining in Karnataka will take a minimum of two years to become fully operational after the Supreme Court verdict allowed resumption of mining at category-A & B mines in the State, an industry official has said.

Also, out of the 115 mines that will be eligible to re-start operations, as many as 35-40 are not likely to start operations due to various issues he added.

“It will take over two years for all the mines to be re-opened in the State and become fully operational. After they become functional, their production capacity will be around 25 million tonnes,” Federation of Indian Mineral Industries (FIMI) Vice-President Basant Poddar told PTI.

For the current financial year, the production will not exceed 15 mt, he added.

Last week, the Supreme Court had allowed the opening of category-A & B mines in the major iron ore producing state of Karnataka, while ordering a complete closure of category-C mines.

The verdict is likely to ease pressure on the availability of iron ore for steel companies, which have resorted to import of the key raw material for running their plants.

One of the largest steel firms, JSW Steel’s Vijayanagar plant in the State is currently running at 70-80 per cent capacity due to the shortage of ore.

Poddar also pointed out that despite around 115 mines getting approval to resume operations, around 35-40 mines would not able to start at all due to issues like small leasehold, penalties imposed on them and resettlement and rehabilitation issues, among others.

Referring to the cancellation of category-C mines, he said that it would weed out non-serious players from mining activity.

Before the investigations into illegal mining operations, Karnataka used to produce around 40-50 mt of ore per annum, which was the second largest production in the country.

Evening markets: grains and softs manage gains - but not soy

19th Apr 2013, by Agrimoney
Often, especially in a weather market, investors take a cautious tone heading into the weekend.

After all, who knows what changes in the forecast the break could bring?

For soybeans, this meant selling pressure, as investors took gains on profits made from a rally of 5% in the oilseed in Chicago from 10-month lows reached in early April.

For corn, it meant buying, as investors with short positions who profited from the last session's tumble sold out – encouraged by a turn worse, indeed, in the weather outlook, bringing extra rain to slow plantings.

'New, strong cold front'

In the six-to-10 day outlook, "both the European and the GFS models are showing a new, strong cold front and fairly deep trough in the jet stream moving into the eastern Plains and the Midwest April 27-28", David Tolleris at weather service WxRisk.com said.

"This is a new development which is not on the weather models earlier in the week.

"This cold front does bring some showers and maybe a few storms with it, and it reinforces the cold air," he said.

"Far more importantly it does not allow for significant drying to occur or warming temperatures in the six-to-10 day period."

'Colder, wetter forecast'

US Commodities said: "A colder, wetter forecast is now projected into the end of the April. Snow/rain is forecast about every four days.

"The confidence in a warm-up in the 11-15 day outlook is lower this morning," too.

So brokers – already forecasting US corn planting will show up on Monday's US Department of Agriculture crop progress report at 7% complete, down from an average of 18%, and 28% last year – curtailed hopes for after then too.

"US corn planting the following week, April 28, is unlikely to top 15% versus the 33% average, and 53% last year," Richard Feltes at RJ O'Brien said.

Planting thwarted

Of course, the link between delayed plantings and disappointing yields is loose with 2009, for instance, bringing a slow start to plantings, but also a bumper crop.

But it helped funds, who sold an estimated 13,000 corn contracts in the last session, replace some of them, about 5,000 lots.

"Corn and wheat are supported by the continual parade of rain and cold systems that moved down from the north and indicate very little chance of a window for planting corn and hard red spring wheat," Darrell Holaday at Country Futures said.

New crop corn for December rose 1.1% to $5.47 a bushel, closing a little of its discount to the best-traded July old crop contract, which ended 0.6% higher at $6.33 a bushel.

'Nervous market'

As far as spring wheat went, the Minneapolis May contract again did its outperforming thing, up 1.0% at $8.25 ½ a bushel, for reasons which have puzzled many observers (including Agrimoney.com).

Theories have ranged from an exit ahead of expiry to fears that river closures forced by heavy snowmelt will block off short-term supplies.

Whatever, it was ahead of the July contract, which added 0.5% to $8.05 a bushel on fears of snowmelt further delaying northern US and Canadian plantings currently prevented by snow itself.

That was ahead of Kansas-traded hard red winter wheat, grown further south, and the focus of fears of frost damage, which added 0.3% to $7.64 ¼ a bushel for May, and 0.2% to $7.50 a bushel for July.

Mr Holaday said: "Cold temperatures in hard red winter wheat areas make for a nervous market, but a market that carries a substantial premium to corn," so limiting its premium.

Soft red winter wheat fears too

Weather fears are also appearing for US soft red winter wheat, as traded in Chicago, which has hitherto been seen as having strong harvest prospects, thanks to the drought breaking in major growing areas such as Illinois (in contrast to lingering dryness in hard red winter wheat states such as Kansas).

"The soft red winter wheat area has too much rain with water standing," US Commodities said.

FCStone noted that "Illinois has seen some areas receive up to five inches of rain with localised flooding being reported".

Chicago wheat for May added 0.9% to $7.09 a bushel, with the July contract adding 0.7% to $7.11 ½ a bushel.

'Basis on fire'

Soybeans' ease back of 0.1% to $14.28 ¼ a bushel for May, and 0.5% to $13.82 ½ a bushel for July came despite continued talk of the strong market for the oilseed, and soymeal, in the US and among importers.

"Soybean and soymeal basis is on fire," Paul Georgy, president of broker Allendale, said.

"There are reports of soybean processors in Iowa bidding $1.00 over the July futures."

Soymeal basis, meanwhile, "continues to strengthen as some processors are closing and others are slowing down productivity due to lack of their ability to buy soybeans".

The November soybean  contract lagged, as might be expected with ideas of slow corn sowings, which could see farmers switch area to the oilseed, which has a later planting window.

"Corn planting pace is falling further behind and snows in the Dakotas could see further acreage move across to beans," FCStone said.

Buoyant beans

Soft commodities did better, including cocoa which gained from data showing a surprisingly strong 5.8% rise to 125,887 tonnes in the North American cocoa grind in the first three months of 2013.

This following firm data from Europe earlier in the week.

"Cocoa butter ratios have improved," boosting processing margins, Macquarie analyst Kona Haque told Agrimoney.com.

"There may also have been some inventory rebuild," after a drop in stocks of cocoa products last year.

Cocoa for July closed up 0.8% at £1,555 a tonne in London, touching £1,558 a tonne earlier, its highest since December.

In New York, July cocoa settled up 0.6% at $2,333 a tonne, having hit a four-month high of $2,348 a tonne earlier.

'Fund short-covering'

Meanwhile, arabica coffee for July gained 1.7% to 143.20 cents a pound, a gain attributed to short covering, which was seen behind a 1.6% rise to 17.97 cents a pound in raw sugar too.

"Bulls will point out there will probably be a friendly/large fund net short position out later this evening, which may trigger some fund short-covering," Thomas Kujawa at Sucden Financial said earlier.

Record large net short positions among hedge funds, which sugar had as of last week, can instil nerves in raising questions over the appetite for more such holdings.

Cargill's Aussie traders accelerate wheat selling

19th Apr 2013, by Agrimoney
Cargill's Australian grain trading business, AWB, revealed that it had accelerated the pace of wheat sales in expectation of a decline in prices, warning of a "not bullish" market outlook.

AWB, which Cargill bought last year, said it was on track to finish sales of grain held in its 2012-13 wheat pools in November, "well ahead of schedule", and only a little over a year after opening them.

"Sometimes, pools can run for 18 months, until April," AWB spokesman Peter McBride told Agrimoney.com.

Indeed, AWB is still wrapping up its 2011-12 pools, for which payouts to farmers are expected to be finalised next week.

Lower deliveries

The fast pace of sale of the 2012-13 crop was in part a reflection of a smaller volume of wheat submitted to AWB's pools, a drop Mr McBride attributed to high cash market prices at the time of harvest, late last year.

"When you have high cash prices, farmers are more likely to sell for cash than put grain into pools," he said.

"When you have prices over Aus$300 a tonne, it makes sense at that level to sell some of your crop for cash."

AWB, Australia's former wheat export monopoly, and CBH, which has a stranglehold over marketing in Western Australia, the country's top grain growing state, historically operate the largest pools, which can exceed 2m tonnes.

Mr McBride declined to comment on the size of AWB's pool this season.

Ahead of the pack

However, sales had also been accelerated for fear of sizeable crops from the likes of the European Union, the former Soviet Union and North America replenishing supplies, and so taking prices lower.

"We also acted to accelerate the programme to market volumes before the northern hemisphere crop comes onto the market," Mr McBride said.

"Once the northern hemisphere crop arrives, it can have an effect of lowering prices, especially if there is a good harvest. And signs are not too bad this time."

'Not bullish'

Many commentators are forecasting a sharp rise, in particular, in former Soviet Union production this year, following drought which curtailed output last year from a region which is a keen competitors on export markets.

Rabobank this week forecast the Russian crop rebounding 14m tonnes to 52m tonnes, although Moscow-based analysis group Sovecon cautioned over some deterioration in winter grains, which it rated at 95.1 points on a condition index, below an average of 100.

AWB's Richard Williams said: "The market continues to maintain a degree of risk premium in prices until we get a clearer picture of the northern hemisphere production.

"However, unless crop problems develop somewhere globally, the outlook for Australian wheat prices is not bullish.

"We continue to look for pricing opportunities internationally and domestically in a weather driven market to lock in good sales."

Early payout

The accelerated sales mean farmers who have signed up to AWB pools will obtain payment faster than had been expected, with 35% of the estimated total payout made already, compared with the 15-30% which had been pencilled in.

The group kept its pool payment estimates unchanged, at Aus$386 a tonne in Western Australia for prime noodle wheat, prized by Asian buyers, down to Aus$293 a tonne for feed in the south.

For 2011-12, the top price, of Aus$402 a tonne, was for high-grade durum wheat, with 13% protein, in eastern Australia, with Western Australia feed faring worst, at Aus$207.50 a tonne.

Europe Sugar-Quota Ban May Raise African Trade, Ecobank Says

By David Malingha Doya - Apr 19, 2013
Bloomberg
An end to sugar quotas in the European Union, expected by the EU Council as early as 2017, may promote trade of the sweetener within Africa as Ethiopia and Nigeria plan to raise output, said Ecobank Transnational Ltd.

“There is a deficit of sugar in Africa, yet producers still export to Europe and import from Brazil,” Edward George, head of soft-commodities research at Ecobank, said in an April 17 interview in Kenya’s capital, Nairobi. “This will change if and when Europe bans quotas.”

Producers in the EU, the world’s largest sugar importer, can by law only sell a limited amount in the common economic area, and some local demand must be met by duty-free shipments from African, Caribbean and Pacific states that have preferential access to the market. Africa produces less than it needs, according to the International Sugar Organization.

The council, which represents governments of EU member states, wants an end to quotas in 2017, while the European Commission, the bloc’s regulatory arm, has proposed limits should end two years earlier. The European Parliament voted to extend them to 2020. All three are negotiating the quotas from April 11 to June 20, Martin van Driel, team leader for sugar at the commission, said yesterday.

Crowded Out

The curbs restrict sales to 13 million metric tons in the 27-nation bloc, which has faced sugar shortages in the past two seasons after imports from nations with preferential accords fell short of estimates. The EU will produce 17.6 million tons of sugar in the 2012-13 season that starts in October, the Commission said in a June 28 report on its website, 19 percent less than a year earlier.

“If the ban is effected, and European producers increase production, we will be crowded out of that market,” Devesh Dukhir, chief marketing officer at the Mauritius Sugar Syndicate, said in an interview in Nairobi. Most of the Indian Ocean island nation’s output goes to the EU.

Raw-sugar imports from ACP nations cost an average 620 euros ($810) a ton in January, according to the commission. That was the second-highest price since at least 2006 and 63 percent above the average of the white-sugar futures traded on the NYSE Liffe exchange in London that month.

Raw sugar for July delivery climbed for the first time in three days, advancing 0.6 percent to to 17.71 cents a pound at 3:08 p.m. in London.

Doubling Funds

Africa produced 6.85 million tons of sugar in 2008-09, less than the 8.7 million tons it consumed, Peter Baron, executive director of the International Sugar Organization, said in Nairobi on April 15. Consumption in the sub-Saharan region could reach 11.8 million tons by 2020, he said. Illovo Sugar Ltd. (ILV), the Mount Edgecombe, South Africa-based company that is the continent’s biggest producer, also has operations in Tanzania, Swaziland, Malawi and Zambia.

Ethiopia wants production to exceed 2 million tons by 2020 from 300,000 tons now and has set up a fund to pay for expansion, said Shimelis Kebede, the deputy director general of planning and projects at Ethiopia Sugar Corp., the state-run sugar company.

“We expect to double our fund, which is currently 4.5 billion birr ($243 million), in two to three years,” Kebede said in an April 17 interview in Nairobi.

The Horn of Africa nation, which imports the sweetener, wants to be one of the world’s 10 biggest exporters by 2025. It plans to build 10 sugar-producing plants that can also make other cane by-products such as ethanol and electricity by 2020, he said. Each plant may cost $170 million, he said.

Sugar Corp. said Sept. 26 it signed agreements with state- owned China Development Bank Corp. for $500 million in loans to build two refineries.

Nigeria Expansion

Nigeria, which has sub-Saharan Africa’s second-biggest sugar refinery in Lagos, will expand its fund for development of the crop to as much as 6 billion naira ($38 million) this year, Hezekiah Kolawole, the acting director for planning at the National Sugar Development Council, said in an April 15 interview in Nairobi

“In a couple of years Nigeria will turn from a net importer to exporter of sugar, just like it did with cement,” Ecobank’s George said.

Dangote Group, owned by Africa’s wealthiest man, Nigerian Aliko Dangote, controls Africa’s largest cement manufacturer and the Lagos sugar refinery.

Nigerian importers of the sweetener have had to pay a levy on incoming shipments since January, with proceeds going into the fund, Kolawole said.

The country, which produces 40,000 tons of sugar now, plans to raise output to meet annual consumption of 1.1 million tons, Ecobank’s George said.

GRAINS-U.S. corn, wheat fall as weather conditions improve

Mon Apr 22, 2013
* Corn farmers nervous due to soggy soil

* Some corn area may shift to soybean in U.S.

* Wheat falls in line with corn
By Mayank Bhardwaj
NEW DELHI, April 22 (Reuters) - Chicago corn futures fell on Monday after settling up more than 1 percent in the previous session after some reports of an improvement in weather
conditions but concerns remain about a slowdown in planting due to recent heavy rains.

Better weather conditions pushed down wheat, which had jumped nearly 1 percent in the previous session due to worries that rain could damage the soft red winter crop in the Midwest
and that cold could hurt hard red winter wheat in the Plains.

May corn shed 0.61 percent to $648 a bushel by 0427 GMT on the Chicago Board of Trade, having gained 1.2 percent in the last session. May wheat lost 0.60 percent to $7.07 a
bushel, after closing up 0.9 percent in the previous session.

May soybeans futures slipped 0.56 percent to $13.74 a bushel. They had settled at $14.28-1/4 per bushel on Friday, down 0.2 percent.

"There have been some reports in the past 48 hours which suggest less severe weather conditions, and to me that's the most plausible reason behind the fall of all the three," said
Luke Mathews, commodities strategist at Commonwealth Bank of Australia.

On Friday, corn fell as an agricultural meteorologist said more rain was expected in the U.S. Midwest after deluges last week. Forecasts of further rain had raised apprehensions of a
delay in planting.

U.S. farmers are beginning to become nervous due to the soggy soil but they have time until May to make up for any sowing delay. But some experts are already talking about the
potential of some corn area shifting to soybeans.

Corn drew support from previous projections of U.S. farmers harvesting a record crop this year.

On the back of some improvement in weather, wheat fell in line with corn, said Mathews.

Grains prices at 0427 GMT

 Contract    Last    Change  Pct chg  Two-day chg MA 30   RSI
 CBOT wheat  707.25  -4.25  -0.60%    +0.28%     710.74   54
 CBOT corn   648.00  -4.00  -0.61%    +0.54%     677.87   44
 CBOT soy    1374.75 -7.75  -0.56%    -3.90%    1411.49   56
 CBOT rice   $15.16  -$0.07 -0.49%    -1.43%     $15.25   32
 WTI crude   $88.42  $0.41  +0.47%    +0.79%     $92.78   34

(Editing by Clarence Fernandez)

Corn Slumps to One-Week Low on Demand Concerns for U.S. Grain

By Luzi Ann Javier - Apr 22, 2013
Bloomberg
Corn slumped to its lowest level in almost a week as a bird flu outbreak in China added to concern that demand for the U.S. grain for poultry and livestock feeds may wane. Soybeans and wheat also declined.

Corn for delivery in July slumped as much as 1.4 percent to $6.24 a bushel on the Chicago Board of Trade, the cheapest since April 16. Futures were at $6.27 at 2:01 p.m. in Singapore on volume that was 58 percent above the 100-day average for that time of day.

Two more people died of H7N9 virus in China, taking the nationwide death toll to 20, Xinhua News Agency reported yesterday, citing health authorities. In the U.S. the world’s largest corn producer, demand for the grain from domestic users and importers including China, will drop 11 percent to 11.14 billion bushels this marketing year, from a year earlier, U.S. Department of Agriculture data show.

“The rising death toll from avian flu is intensifying concerns that China’s corn and soybean imports may decline,” Hiroyuki Kikukawa, general manager for research at Nihon Unicom Inc. said by phone from Tokyo today. “Demand is declining as corn planting in the U.S. gets under way.”

The USDA will update corn-planting progress in Washington today. About 2 percent of the crop was planted as of April 14, behind an average of 7 percent in the previous five years, the USDA said April 15.

Pilgrim’s Pride Corp., the second-largest U.S. chicken producer, plans to buy 10 percent of its corn from late December 2012 to early July 2013 from Brazil, Chief Executive Officer Bill Lovette said in an interview on April 19.

Soybeans for July delivery declined as much as 0.8 percent to $13.7125 a bushel, before trading at $13.755. Wheat for delivery in July fell 0.5 percent to $7.08 a bushel.

Wheat exports feasible as global prices firming up: FCI

By PTI | 21 Apr, 2013,
NEW DELHI: Amid demands from traders to cut floor price of government wheat for exports, Food Corporation of India (FCI) today said global price of the grain is firming up and it is still feasible to undertake shipments.

Last month, the Centre had allowed export of additional 5 million tonnes (MT) wheat (of 2011-12 crop) from its godowns via private trade to ease storage burden. The export allocation was to be done via bidding process with floor price set at USD 274 per tonne (Rs 14,840) plus 12.5 per cent of local taxes.

"Traders are demanding reduction in the floor price. But currently, our wheat is sold at USD 304-306 per tonne, while Australia and the US wheat at USD 260 and 270 a tonne. Why our wheat is purchased above Rs 300 level? It is still feasible," FCI Chairman and Managing Director Amar Singh told PTI.

He noted that the global wheat prices fell sharply in the last one month but have started firming up now. "If international prices remain firm above USD 300 a tonne, it is feasible to export," he said.

The FCI has floated a tender for empanelment of traders for export of 5 MT of wheat. These empanelled traders will then participate in the FCI wheat tender to be issued next week, he added.

"We will issue tender for sale of wheat (2011-12 crop) to private exporters next week. We will sell wheat to the highest bidder among the empanelled traders," Singh said.

When asked what if it receives poor response to the tender, the FCI chief said, "We have 40 lakh tonnes of wheat from the 2011-12 crop. If exports do not happen, we can supply each month 7-8 lakh tonnes of wheat through PDS and clear it."

In a recent report, the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) had emphasised that India will have to explore measures for improving the viability of exports of FCI wheat given the historically unprecedented pressure of massive grain stocks and lack of sufficient storage space.

The report had also warned that expected foodgrains stocks of 90 MT by June 1 on higher procurement would pose an unprecedented storage crisis for the government. The current storage is estimated at around 71 MT.

Wheat production is expected to surpass last year's record of 93.90 MT in 2012-13 crop year (July- June).

Indian coal imports during current year revised upwards to 80mt

By: Ajoy K Das
22nd April 2013
KOLKATA (Mining Weekly) - India’s coal-based thermal power plants would have to ship in 80-million tons of coal during 2013/14, up from 70-million tons projected earlier, according Central Electricity Authority (CEA) under the Power Ministry.

According to a CEA official, in the previous year’s (2012/13) actual imports of 31-million tons had exceeded projections by seven-million tons.

Elaborating on the break-up of the imports, the official said that while 50-million tons would be required to meet shortfall in supplies from domestic miners like Coal India Limited and Singareni Collieries Company Limited, while the remaining 30-million tons would be for exclusively imported coal-based power plants that have gone operational.

India’s largest power generation utility, NTPC Limited with total installed capacity of  40 675 MW, would require an estimated 164-million tons of coal during the year of which the company would have to import 17-million tons to bridge the shortage in supplies from domestic mines, the official said.

India planned to construct 16 thermal power plants with 4 000 MW capacity each, called ultra mega power plants (UMPPs), based on imported thermal coal. Two of the plants were developed by Tata Power and another two by Adani Power, both at Mundra in western province of Gujarat.

However, while coal import projections have been finalised by CEA, the Indian government was yet to finalise a pricing policy for imported coal to cut through opposition to the proposal for a pool pricing regime or averaging prices of domestic and imported coal to determine an uniform feedstock price.

The government’s apex body, the Cabinet Committee for Economic Affairs (CCEA), was scheduled to meet on April 22 to take a final decision on the pool price mechanism.

The pool price proposal has drawn opposition on grounds that it would force an across board upward revision of electricity tariffs, erode competitiveness of thermal power plants located near domestic coal pitheads and NTPC Limited’s reluctance to purchase imported coal based on pooled price.

Edited by: Esmarie Swanepoel

Bunker Prices : 22.04.2013

Source : Bunkerworld.com

	IFO380		IFO180		MDO		MGO
Singapore	602.00		615.50		832.00		841.50
Rotterdam	573.50		597.50		-		817.50
Houston	577.50		647.50		1,025.00		937.00
Fujairah	608.00		662.00		-		1,000.00
Los Angeles	603.50		649.00		-		992.00
Durban	-		648.50		1,020.50		1,067.50
Tokyo	665.00		672.50		915.50		-
Piraeus	594.00		620.00		-		856.00
Sydney	720.00		736.50		-		1,044.50
Santos	594.00		615.50		-		1,000.00
Guayaquil	656.00		712.00		-		1,429.00
Mundra	636.00		696.00		-		1,080.00
New York	585.00		623.00		985.00		954.00