19 Nov 2004 18:13
19.11.2004 17:11:42 Commodities News Summary
TOP NEWS
> NY gold bolts to new 16-1/4-yr high as dollar hit [nN19373870]
NEW YORK - U.S. gold futures surged to a fresh 16-1/4-year peak on Friday morning, hoisted by a sharply weaker dollar after bearish comments on the currency by U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan.
It was the sixth-straight session featuring a new multiyear peak for the dollar-denominated precious metal, as a lower greenback boosted the buying power of non-U.S. investors.
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> Ivory Coast cocoa sector shaken by expat exodus [nL19506451]
ABIDJAN - Cocoa exporters in Ivory Coast may be forced to restructure their operations after thousands of expatriates fled days of rioting and others consider leaving the world's top grower, industry executives said on Friday.
More than 8,000 French nationals have fled their former colony in the past 10 days, according to the French foreign ministry, and hundreds from other countries have also left fearing the West African state may slide into civil war.
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METALS > Europe aluminium premiums up on low nearby stocks [nL19604046]
LONDON - Spot European physical aluminium premiums have perked up this week as an outflow of metal to the United States caused lower inventory levels in main European warehouses, traders said on Friday.
"The European spot market is pretty firm. Good Western duty-unpaid in Rotterdam material is around $60 a tonne," one European trader said. In early November, it was $45/55.
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> UPDATE 1-Talks press on at striking Alcoa Quebec s [nN19412238]
MONTREAL - Contract talks continued on Friday between Alcoa Inc. (/AA.N) and the union for striking workers at its big aluminum smelter at Becancour, Quebec, the two sides said.
Negotiators for Alcoa and the union sat down for their fifth straight day of discussions at Becancour, located about 150 km (95 miles) northeast of Montreal, a company spokesman said.
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> Talks to resume Friday on Chile Phelps copper mine [nN19557563]
SANTIAGO, Chile - Striking union workers at Chilean copper mine El Abra, majority-owned by U.S.-based Phelps Dodge Corp. (/PD.N), plan to meet company officials on Friday to discuss wage hikes and try to end a 15-day strike.
If the talks are successful, the 450 striking workers could be back at work this weekend or on Monday.
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> Ormet workers OK strike at Ohio aluminum plant [nN19561113]
NEW YORK - Union members at privately held Ormet Corp. voted Thursday night to allow representatives from the United Steelworkers of America to call a strike at the Hannibal, Ohio, aluminum plant should they deem it necessary during talks with the company, a union source said on Friday.
Ormet filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in January, citing rising medical benefit costs, low aluminum prices, and weak demand, and has asked union members to make concessions as part of the company's reorganization plan.
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SOFT COMMODITIES
> Deep EU divisions to surface over sugar reform [nL1934040]
BRUSSELS - A radical overhaul of EU sugar subsidies is likely to bring out deep divisions among member states next week in their first full-scale debate on overhauling a system little changed in 35 years, officials say.
Plans presented by the European Commission, the EU's executive arm, recommend slashing internal prices by some 40 percent, scrapping the safety-net intervention system and cutting EU output. This would also result in much lower exports.
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GRAINS, OILSEEDS, LIVESTOCK > CBOT soy down after hitting 2-month high this week [nN19331990]
CHICAGO - Soybean futures at the Chicago Board of Trade fell early on Friday on a setback after climbing to two-month highs this week, traders said.
Cargill Investor Services was the featured seller of 700 March, traders said.
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> Western Europe to increase area sown to 2005 wheat [nL19208914]
LONDON - Western Europe should see a notable increase in wheat plantings for harvest 2005, boosting output at the expense of other crops like maize and rye, analysts said on Friday.
In top wheat producer France, traders and producers say a slump in maize costs will encourage a major shift to soft wheat and put the rise at between three and five percent over last season when 4.84 million hectares were drilled.
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> WTO case leaves protected food name list intact-EU [nL19154921]
BRUSSELS - The European Union dismissed on Friday reports its system of protecting the names of famous foods and wines like Parma ham and Roquefort cheese had been undermined by a recent World Trade Organisation (WTO) ruling. The WTO, in a still-confidential decision in a case brought by the United States and Australia, found that the EU system "was perfectly compatible" with WTO rules, European Commission trade spokeswoman Arancha Gonzalez said, breaking a pact of silence on such verdicts.
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> Germany reopens farms sealed off in dioxin scare [nL19177910]
HAMBURG - Five German farms which had been sealed off in a dioxin scare earlier this month may now work normally again, German authorities said on Friday.
The North Rhine-Westphalia state Agricultural Ministry said that tests on meat from the farms showed that levels of cancer-causing dioxin were under the legally permitted limit.
19 Nov 2004 18:14
19.11.2004 17:34:15 UPDATE 1-Europe gold surges as dlr wanes on Greenspan
(Updates with new high, quotes, details)
LONDON, Nov 19 (Reuters) - Gold surged to its highest in more than 16 years for the sixth session in a row on Friday in Europe after comments by U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan reinforced the euro's rally against the dollar.
The dollar slumped across the board after Greenspan said appetite for dollar investments could eventually wane. A weaker U.S. currency makes dollar-priced gold cheaper for non-U.S. investors.
Spot gold surged to close in Europe at $446.75/447.50 -- its highest since July 1988 -- and up compared with $442.95/443.70 quoted late in New York on Thursday. The metal was fixed on Friday afternoon at $445.60.
"The dollar weakened again and gold took off just before the fix, mainly on fund buying," a dealer said.
Gold has now gained more than seven percent since the beginning of this year.
LIQUIDATION THREAT
Analysts said gold's bull run would probably continue while the dollar remained weak, but raised the possibility of a sell off due to high speculative exposure.
"The dollar is looking really, really weak and with all the comments that we've seen from Greenspan -- this points to the dollar getting even weaker and that will lift the gold price," UBS Investment Bank analyst John Reade said.
Reade said the market's bullish glow would fade at some point however, as speculators became increasingly overexposed on New York's COMEX gold futures market.
"You don't stand in the way of the falling dollar, but there will be a shakeout at some stage," he said, adding that gold was unlikely to outperform the euro if the dollar continued to weaken substantially.
The euro was last at $1.3025, off its all-time high of $1.3074 on Thursday.
Analysts said gold was still within sight of its next upside target of $450 -- last seen in June 1988.
Traders have also attributed gold's recent bullish streak to hype generated by the launch of a new U.S. investment product on Thursday.
StreetTRACKS Gold Shares , a bullion-backed exchange-traded fund, debuted on the New York Stock Exchange on Thursday, with the aim of broadening investor access to the market.
San Francisco-based Barclays Global Investors also filed a registration with the Securities and Exchange Commission for iShares COMEX Gold Trust, which will mimic the price of COMEX gold futures.
Silver was seen broadly consolidating, tracking gold and currency moves. Spot silver was quoted at $7.57/7.60, up from New York's $7.52/7.55.
Platinum weakened to $852.00/857.00 from New York's previous $857.50/862.50.
Palladium was at $214.00/218.00 from $214.50/220.50.
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