Record glut for rubber

Rubber fell 21 percent to 238.9 yen on the Tokyo Commodity Exchange this year and is now 55 percent below the record 535.7 yen reached in February 2011. Lower prices should reduce costs for Bridgestone Corp., Michelin & Cie. and Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co., the biggest tiremakers.

The surplus will expand 57 percent to 490,000 metric tons this year, enough to meet U.S. demand for six months, according to RCMA Commodities Asia Group, the Singapore-based company that has traded rubber for nine decades. Futures in Tokyo, a global benchmark, will drop at least another 5.8 percent to 225 yen a kilogram ($2,369 a ton) by the end of December, according to the median of 16 analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg. Five anticipate 200 yen, a price last seen in 2009.

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Longest Sugar Glut in Decade Extends on Indian Crop

Sugar will expand global supply already forecast by the International Sugar Organization to reach a record this season. Producers from Russia to Thailand raised output after prices averaged the most in three decades in 2011.

Futures fell 28 percent since March on prospects for a third straight annual surplus, helping to contain the surge in global food costs caused by droughts in the U.S., Europe and Australia.

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Rubber jumps to Four-Month High as Top Producers cut shipments

March-delivery rubber rose 4.6 percent to end at 272.5 yen a kilogram ($3,490 a metric ton) on the Tokyo Commodity Exchange, the highest settlement for the most active contract since May 30. Futures have gained 2.7 percent this year.

Rubber jumped to a four-month high, erasing this year’s losses, after the world’s largest producers began cutting exports by the most since 2009, reducing supplies.

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Upward pressure on rubber price likely

In 2008, during the financial crisis, the price of rubber lost 56%. Facing this situation, Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia, representing about 70 percent of global natural-rubber supply, agreed to withdraw 690,000 tonnes from the market. Rubber price surged more than 100% the following year.

Rubber plunged 43 percent in the past year and reached its lowest level in almost three years as growth slowed in China, the top consumer, and Europe. At the Tokyo Stock Exchange Tuesday, January harvest  was trading at 213,800 yen per tonne, the lowest price since October 2009. Same story at the Shanghai Stock Exchange, where January contracts were down to 21,150 yuan per tonne. Overall, rubber has lost nearly 27% of its value between March, its highest rate, and August.

So, after Indonesia indicated early July it was considering introducing a minimum price, Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia today signed an agreement to reduce their rubber supply by 450,000 tons. Practically, 300,000 tons will not be exported this summer and 16,000 hectares of aging trees will be cut. If history repeats itself, this should give a major boost to rubber prices. Read the rest of Upward pressure on rubber price likely » » »

Myanmar wants to be the world’s biggest rice exporter again

Myanmar has decided to develop its rice production, following its neighbors steps. The government hopes to export 2 million tons of rice in 2013, and 3 million tons in 2015.
From 778,000 tons in 2011, the volumes available for export could double this year, according to estimates by the USDA.

According to the head of crop research at International Rice Research Institute, Myanmar has a perfect environment for growing rice in many areas, untapped potentials that could quickly make it a leading exporter.

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Rubber: Major producing countries to introduce support price?

Indonesia, the world’s second-largest natural rubber producer, is considering introducing a minimum price under an agreement with other major Southeast Asian producers Thailand and Malaysia, to avert a further decline in the commodity’s price in the crisis-hit global markets.

The three countries, whose natural rubber production accounts for 70 per cent of global output, might jointly limit exports and set an export quota for natural rubber which fell 25% in four months on the Tokyo Commodity Exchange (TOCOM).

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Record rice production for the 3rd consecutive year

The 2012 rice harvest could be the best in history while global demand is softening, except in Africa.

The cultivated rice field areas have further increased this year in Asia. Consequently, world production will reach close to 490 million tonnes of white rice (according to the FAO), ten million tons more than last year, already an all-time record.

For the last 3 years, harvests kept getting bigger, and they will increase again in China, other major exporting countries like Thailand and Vietnam, but also among smaller suppliers: Pakistan, Cambodia, Burma, Australia. Only the american continent had a disappointing harvest: the United States and Brazil favoured more profitable soybeans.

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Sugar prices down due to excess production

Sugar prices have dropped further this week, cancelling the increase from last week.
The main factors are the economic climate far from being the most euphoric, a stronger dollar and a very significant production surplus.

Wednesday, prices have dropped to 548.20 dollars per tonne in London and 19.36 cents per pound in New York, which corresponds to the lowest prices since August 2010.

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Rubber Seen Poised for Glut on Weaker Chinese Growth

Supplies of rubber, used in tires and gloves, are set to exceed demand, reversing a shortage and pressuring prices as growth slows in Europe and China. Futures fell the most in two weeks.

Futures have plunged 50 percent from a record in February 2011 as Europe struggled with its debt crisis and China expanded last quarter at its slowest pace in almost three years.

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Rare earths give China immense (and worrisome) influence (2/3): Rare earths production

To understand the stakes related to rare earths, we must address the myth of their rarity. Indeed, they are all more abundant than gold or silver in the earth’s crust, and their name actually reflects a relative rarity in minerals in which they are present (that is to say in low concentrations).

For example, lanthanides can be found in over 200 minerals, but only five of them have sufficient concentrations to be economically viable.

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) estimates world reserves to be around 114 million tonnes, i.e. more than 800 years of consumption if the level of current demand is maintained. These reserves are spread between China (48%), CIS (17%), the U.S. (11%), India (3%) and Australia (1.4%). The remaining 19% are divided between Canada, Greenland, Malaysia, Brazil, South Africa, Malawi, Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia and a handful of other countries.

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