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.
UKRAINE, NVIDIA: The US leader said the subject of Russia’s war had come up ‘very strongly,’ while Jenson Huang was hoping that the conversation was good Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) and US President Donald Trump had differing takes following their meeting in Busan, South Korea, yesterday. Xi said that the two sides should complete follow-up work as soon as possible to deliver tangible results that would provide “peace of mind” to China, the US and the rest of the world, while Trump hailed the “great success” of the talks. The two discussed trade, including a deal to reduce tariffs slapped on China for its role in the fentanyl trade, as well as cooperation in ending the war in Ukraine, among other issues, but they did not mention
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi yesterday lavished US President Donald Trump with praise and vows of a “golden age” of ties on his visit to Tokyo, before inking a deal with Washington aimed at securing critical minerals. Takaichi — Japan’s first female prime minister — pulled out all the stops for Trump in her opening test on the international stage and even announced that she would nominate him for a Nobel Peace Prize, the White House said. Trump has become increasingly focused on the Nobel since his return to power in January and claims to have ended several conflicts around the world,
GLOBAL PROJECT: Underseas cables ‘are the nervous system of democratic connectivity,’ which is under stress, Member of the European Parliament Rihards Kols said The government yesterday launched an initiative to promote global cooperation on improved security of undersea cables, following reported disruptions of such cables near Taiwan and around the world. The Management Initiative on International Undersea Cables aims to “bring together stakeholders, align standards, promote best practices and turn shared concerns into beneficial cooperation,” Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said at a seminar in Taipei. The project would be known as “RISK,” an acronym for risk mitigation, information sharing, systemic reform and knowledge building, he said at the seminar, titled “Taiwan-Europe Subsea Cable Security Cooperation Forum.” Taiwan sits at a vital junction on
LONG-HELD POSITION: Washington has repeatedly and clearly reiterated its support for Taiwan and its long-term policy, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said US Secretary of State Marco Rubio yesterday said that Taiwan should not be concerned about being used as a bargaining chip in the ongoing US-China trade talks. “I don’t think you’re going to see some trade deal where, if what people are worried about is, we’re going to get some trade deal or we’re going to get favorable treatment on trade in exchange for walking away from Taiwan,” Rubio told reporters aboard his airplane traveling between Israel and Qatar en route to Asia. “No one is contemplating that,” Reuters quoted Rubio as saying. A US Treasury spokesman yesterday told reporters
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