WORLD COMMODITIES TRADING
Oil prices post biggest quarterly rise in a decade
Oil prices rose about 1 percent on Friday, posting their biggest quarterly rise in a decade, as US sanctions against Iran and Venezuela as well as OPEC-led supply cuts overshadowed concerns over a slowing global economy.
The May Brent crude oil futures contract, which expired Friday, gained 57 cents, or 0.8 percent, to settle at $68.39 a barrel, marking a first-quarter gain of 27 percent. The more-active June contract settled up 48 cents at $67.58 a barrel.
US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures rose 84 cents, or 1.42 percent, to $60.14 a barrel, and posted a rise of 32 percent in the January-March period.
For the two benchmarks, the quarterly rise was the biggest since the second quarter of 2009, when both gained about 40 percent.
US sanctions on Iran and Venezuela have boosted prices this year. Washington is keen to see that Malaysia, Singapore and others are fully aware of illicit Iranian oil shipments and the tactics Iran uses to evade sanctions, a US sanctions official said on Friday.
Meanwhile, the United States has instructed oil trading houses and refiners to further cut dealings with Venezuela or face sanctions themselves, even if the trades are not prohibited by published US sanctions, sources familiar with the matter quoted as saying.
Also lifting prices this year has been a deal between the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies such as Russia to cut output by around 1.2 million barrels per day, which officially started in January.
[divider style=”normal” top=”20″ bottom=”20″]
Gold climbs, on path to rise in second quarter
Gold gained on Friday en route to its second quarterly rise as the dollar eased on tepid US economic data, while palladium snapped three straight sessions of sharp losses, ending the quarter on a positive note.
Spot gold was up 0.2 percent at $1,292.93 per ounce. Prices struggled to break past resistance around $1,300 per ounce, a level it had fallen through on Thursday, with momentum capped by rising global equities.
US gold futures settled 0.2 percent higher at $1,298.50 per ounce.
US consumer spending rebounded less than expected in January and incomes rose modestly in February, adding to concerns that slowing global growth was affecting the world’s largest economy as well.
Also propping up bullion were cautious signals from the US Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank.
Gold, however, was still bound for a second consecutive monthly drop, losing about 1.4 percent – its biggest decline since August – weighed down by the dollar’s recent strength. The yellow metal had declined about 1.5 percent on Thursday.
Palladium gained 1.5 percent on Friday to $1,368.21 per ounce, having slid over 12 percent in the week amid worries that industrial demand for the precious metal would be hurt by a weakening economy. Among other metals, platinum rose 1.3 percent to $847.50 per ounce, extending weekly gains. Silver was up 0.7 percent at $15.11.
[divider style=”normal” top=”20″ bottom=”20″]
Brazil center-south sugar output to rise 11pc
Brazil’s center-south region will produce 29.5 million tonnes of sugar in the 2019/20 season, up 11 percent over the previous crop but less than projected previously, broker and analyst INTL FCStone said in a report on Thursday.
FCStone had projected in January sugar production of 30.2 million tonnes in the new season that starts officially in April, although some mills are already harvesting. In the previous season, the region produced 570 million tonnes.
Mills will tend to increase the amount of cane earmarked for sugar production and cut ethanol production in the new crop, but not by much, INTL FCStone said.
Brazil’s 2019/20 center-south cane crop is seen at 568.6 million tonnes, up from the 564.7 million tonnes seen in January, as above-average rains in February and March improved prospects for the crop, which is still expected to be a bit smaller than the previous season that should reach 570 million tonnes.
The global sugar supply balance in 2018/19 is seen at a deficit of 300,000 tonnes versus a surplus of more than 8 million tonnes in the previous crop year.
[divider style=”normal” top=”20″ bottom=”20″]
[ads1]
Copper marches higher on hopes for Us-China deal, shortages
Copper and other industrial metals gained broadly on Friday, lifted by optimism about a US-China trade deal and potential shortages due to low stocks and mine disruptions.
US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said he held “constructive” talks in Beijing aimed at resolving the bitter trade dispute between the world’s two largest economies.
Copper prices have rebounded 13 percent from an 18-month low hit in early January, boosted by hopes for a trade deal.
[divider style=”normal” top=”20″ bottom=”20″]
CBOT wheat may retest support at $4.58-3/4 per bushel
CBOT May wheat may retest a support at $4.58-3/4 per bushel, a break below which could cause a loss to $4.55-1/4.
The support is provided by the 61.8 percent projection level of an upward wav C from $4.40-1/4. A bounce triggered by this support could have completed, following the drop below $4.63.
Wave theory suggests that the low at $4.40-1/4 may be approached. The depth of the fall from the March 26 high of $4.78 confirmed a reversal of the uptrend from the March 11 low of $4.27.
On the daily chart, wheat is expected to test a support at $4.56-1/2, the 14.6 percent retracement of the downtrend from $6.30-1/4 to $4.27. A break could open the way towards $4.41.
[divider style=”normal” top=”20″ bottom=”20″]
Russia’s Rusal boosts aluminium smelter capacity
Russian aluminium giant Rusal has launched new production at its Boguchansk aluminium smelter in Siberia on Friday, doubling its capacity to 298,000 tonnes a year.
The new line, part of a larger project, is being started two months after Rusal was removed from a US sanctions list. The world’s largest aluminium producer outside China is now seeking to restore sales contracts to pre-sanctions levels. The smelter, which first started in 2015, previously had capacity of 150,000 tonnes a year. Rusal produces about 3.8 million tonnes of aluminium a year and plans to keep its output flat in 2019.
[divider style=”normal” top=”20″ bottom=”20″]
China’s iron ore posts best quarter in 9 on supply concerns
China’s iron ore futures rose sharply on Friday, with the benchmark contract posting its strongest quarter in nine, after Vale SA slashed its 2019 sales estimate and Rio Tinto declared force majeure on some contracts due to damage from a cyclone.
The May 2019 iron ore contract, the most active on the Dalian Commodity Exchange, rose as much as 4.7 percent to 638.5 yuan ($94.96) a tonne, before ending 3.5 percent higher at 631.5 yuan.
The contract climbed 26 percent in the first quarter of the year, the third biggest quarterly gain since its launch in 2013, having hit its loftiest ever on Feb. 12 at 657.5 yuan in the wake of the Vale dam disaster in January.
Brazil’s Vale, the world’s biggest iron ore miner, on Thursday estimated selling up to 75 million tonnes less iron ore this year, after several mines were halted following its second deadly dam burst in less than four years.
On Friday, miner Rio Tinto said it issued force majeure notices to some iron ore customers due to damage from tropical cyclone Veronica, which hit Western Australia earlier this week.