Wheat prices fell over the past week despite a brief late surge on reports that drought-ravaged Russia plans to import the commodity, while oil futures extended losses on poor US economic data.
GRAINS AND SOYA: Wheat futures rallied on Thursday as a report said Russia was planning this year to return to the Soviet practice of importing millions of tonnes of grain to overcome a shortfall caused by a record drought.
For the 2010-2011 agricultural year, Russia could import at least 5 million tonnes of grain, a source close to the leadership of the ministry of agriculture told the Vedomosti daily.
Until the current drought, which has destroyed one-quarter of its crops, Russia was one of the world’s top grain exporters. In the last year, it was the world’s No. 3 exporter of wheat. Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has banned Russian grain exports in a bid to keep the Russian domestic market well supplied with grain and prevent sharp rises in prices.
Wheat soared to US$8.68 a bushel (about 25kg) on Aug. 6 — the highest level for 24 months.
By Friday on the Chicago Board of Trade, wheat for delivery in December fell to US$7.13 a bushel from US$7.34 the previous week.
Maize for December rose to US$4.29 a bushel from US$4.27.
November-dated soyabean meal decreased to US$10.04 a bushel from US$10.44.
OIL: Prices fell further this week, hammered by a raft of poor economic data which sparked questions about the strength of the recovery in leading energy consumer the US.
Despite a positive start to the week, oil was hit hard on Thursday when gloomy data showed the number of Americans filing new weekly claims for jobless benefits jumped unexpectedly to 500,000, the highest level in nine months.
The mood was further dampened when the Federal Reserve of Philadelphia said manufacturing activity in the mid-Atlantic region has dropped this month.
By late on Friday on the New York Mercantile Exchange, Texas light sweet crude for delivery in September sank to US$73.81 a barrel from US$75.58 the previous week.
On London’s Intercontinental Exchange, Brent North Sea crude for October stood at US$74.62 compared with US$75.28 for the now-expired September contract.
PRECIOUS METALS: Gold prices reached seven-week highs, helped by the metal’s safe-haven status in times of economic unease.
By late on Friday on the London Bullion Market, gold advanced to US$1,223.50 an ounce from US$1,214.25 a week earlier.
Silver grew to US$18.14 an ounce from US$18.06.
On the London Platinum and Palladium Market, platinum fell to US$1,512 an ounce from US$1,527.
Palladium climbed to US$478 an ounce from US$473.
COFFEE: Coffee futures rallied close to 12-year highs on keen demand from speculators, traders said. Prices hit US$1.8150 a pound (0.45kg) in New York on Monday.
By Friday on the New York Board of Trade, Arabica for December stood at US$1.8090 a pound compared with US$1.7735 for September, which had been the most traded contract the previous week.
On London’s futures exchange, Robusta for delivery in November fell to US$1,760 a tonne from US$1,774.
MORE VISITORS: The Tourism Administration said that it is seeing positive prospects in its efforts to expand the tourism market in North America and Europe Taiwan has been ranked as the cheapest place in the world to travel to this year, based on a list recommended by NerdWallet. The San Francisco-based personal finance company said that Taiwan topped the list of 16 nations it chose for budget travelers because US tourists do not need visas and travelers can easily have a good meal for less than US$10. A bus ride in Taipei costs just under US$0.50, while subway rides start at US$0.60, the firm said, adding that public transportation in Taiwan is easy to navigate. The firm also called Taiwan a “food lover’s paradise,” citing inexpensive breakfast stalls
TRADE: A mandatory declaration of origin for manufactured goods bound for the US is to take effect on May 7 to block China from exploiting Taiwan’s trade channels All products manufactured in Taiwan and exported to the US must include a signed declaration of origin starting on May 7, the Bureau of Foreign Trade announced yesterday. US President Donald Trump on April 2 imposed a 32 percent tariff on imports from Taiwan, but one week later announced a 90-day pause on its implementation. However, a universal 10 percent tariff was immediately applied to most imports from around the world. On April 12, the Trump administration further exempted computers, smartphones and semiconductors from the new tariffs. In response, President William Lai’s (賴清德) administration has introduced a series of countermeasures to support affected
CROSS-STRAIT: The vast majority of Taiwanese support maintaining the ‘status quo,’ while concern is rising about Beijing’s influence operations More than eight out of 10 Taiwanese reject Beijing’s “one country, two systems” framework for cross-strait relations, according to a survey released by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) on Thursday. The MAC’s latest quarterly survey found that 84.4 percent of respondents opposed Beijing’s “one country, two systems” formula for handling cross-strait relations — a figure consistent with past polling. Over the past three years, opposition to the framework has remained high, ranging from a low of 83.6 percent in April 2023 to a peak of 89.6 percent in April last year. In the most recent poll, 82.5 percent also rejected China’s
PLUGGING HOLES: The amendments would bring the legislation in line with systems found in other countries such as Japan and the US, Legislator Chen Kuan-ting said Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Chen Kuan-ting (陳冠廷) has proposed amending national security legislation amid a spate of espionage cases. Potential gaps in security vetting procedures for personnel with access to sensitive information prompted him to propose the amendments, which would introduce changes to Article 14 of the Classified National Security Information Protection Act (國家機密保護法), Chen said yesterday. The proposal, which aims to enhance interagency vetting procedures and reduce the risk of classified information leaks, would establish a comprehensive security clearance system in Taiwan, he said. The amendment would require character and loyalty checks for civil servants and intelligence personnel prior to
RSS