查看更多>>摘要：Intervention by ECB and US Feds on behalf of BOJ in currency market shook off many currency related speculators from gold. Spot traded as low as 310 dollars/oz for a few minutes in its last trading session in New York on Friday. Here again, in spite of weakening US dollars we had forecast the gold prices to come under pressure last week. But quite frankly we never expected the prices to go much lower than 315 dollars. Silver had little time to react but lost some ground.
查看更多>>摘要：London Metal Exchange metals in Asia were mostly steady in lackluster trading Friday, while benchmark three-month aluminium was higher due to a weaker dollar. The dollar fell to a nine-month low of Y118.92 overnight in New York. Despite a slight rebound, the U.S. currency remained below Y120 in Asian trade, prompting the Japanese to buy three-month aluminum. "We've seen orders from Japanese clients but today's (aluminium) buying is below our expectations. The current price (of three-month aluminium) remains high" thus limiting buying, a Tokyo-based dealer said.
查看更多>>摘要：As predicted by this report the base metals led by copper firmed up this week retaining a medium term upward momentum. It is worth mentioning that we were in the extreme minority in refusing to write off base metals in the near term. Our logic is simple and sound, that confidence crisis in US equities is to be distinguished from underlying fundamentals that have shown little cause for panic. However, please note that in my personal opinion it is safe to be cautiously optimistic rather than outright bullish as we have a lot of distance to cover before the base metals prices un-shackle.
查看更多>>摘要：Aluminium prices are expected to remain unchanged in calendar 2002 from 2001 before recovering in 2003, the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics said. The government forecasting agency projects the average aluminium price in 2002 to be 1,440 US dollars a metric ton, compared with 1,443 US dollars/ton in 2001. The latest forecast is slightly higher than the previous Abare forecast of 1,435 US dollars/ton issued in March. These prices refer to the cash price on the London Metal Exchange. Abare projects aluminum prices will shake off the falls seen so far in the second half of 2002, with a pick-up in the global economic activity in the latter half of the year to lead to a faster growth in demand than production.
查看更多>>摘要：Turning to supply, Abare said production restarts in Brazil Turning to supply, Abare said production restarts in Brazil and U.S.-based facilities, due to the cessation of power problems in those countries, have added to supply. However, further restarts by producers in the Pacific Northwest of the U.S., particularly those with higher operating costs or ongoing financial difficulties, are unlikely to occur in the short term, said Abare. This is because the Bonneville Power Authority, the government agency that authorizes power contracts to the aluminum smelters, recently announced the possibility of withdrawing supply to the smelters altogether by 2006. "This prospect means companies will need to investigate sourcing power from the volatile open (power) market or smelter closure," said Abare.
查看更多>>摘要：The Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics lifted its forecast of the 2002 world copper price in its latest forecast issued Monday, due to improved economic growth in the U.S. and production cutbacks. The government forecaster projects the London Metal Exchange's spot copper price to average 1,620 US dollars a metric ton, about 2.7 percent higher than the 1,577 US dollars/ton in 2001. The latest forecast is also higher than the 1,570 US dollars/ton forecast Abare issued in March.
查看更多>>摘要：The Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics is upbeat on the outlook of nickel, forecasting in a report the metal's average price in 2002 17 percent higher at 6,950 US dollars a metric ton. The average price in 2001 was 5,944 US dollars/ton, and Abare's previous forecast, issued in March, was 6,500 US dollars/ton. These figures refer to cash prices on the London Metal Exchange.
查看更多>>摘要：High levels of official zinc stocks this year, due to a lack of major production cutbacks, will limit the scope for price rises despite an expected pickup in world demand, the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics said. The government forecaster projects official zinc stocks to rise to the equivalent of around 9.5 weeks of consumption by the end of 2002. This is a large stockpile, compared with Abare's forecast that copper stocks will reach the equivalent of 7.7 weeks of consumption by end-2002. "In the absence of major (production) cutbacks, world zinc production is forecast to continue to exceed consumption in 2002," said Abare. Strong growth in China's zinc exports will also damp prices. It forecasts the spot London Metal Exchange zinc price to average 810 US dollars a metric ton in 2002, down 9 percent from 2001's average. The latest forecast is also lower than the 850 US dollars/ton Abare projected in its previous forecast issued in March. World zinc mine production is likely to grow by more than 1 percent in 2002 to 9.3 million tons, Abare said. This is despite the closure of major zinc mines in 2001. This year, a few new mines will reach full capacity and there could be restarts of idled capacity, said Abare. Abare expects to see increased production this year from the new 275,000-ton Antamina copper-zinc mine in Peru, the Lisheen mine in Ireland, and a likely restart of the Tara zinc mine in Ireland. The recently expanded Red Dog mine in the U.S. is also expected to add production in 2002 and 2003. In Australia, rising production is likely to come from an expected startup of the Mount Garnet mine in early 2003 and further production increases from the Century mine. The country's mine zinc production is estimated to have risen by 2.7 percent to 1.52 million tons in fiscal 2001-02, and is forecast to rise by another 2.4 percent in 2002-03, to 1.56 million tons. Abare expects world refined zinc production to rise by 2.6 percent to almost 9.5 million tons in 2002, and to grow moderately by 1.8 percent to around 9.6 million tons in 2003.
查看更多>>摘要：Sterlite Industries is palnning to raise Rs 5-billion debt in the domestic and international markets to meet future expenses. Anil Agarwal-promoted Sterlite has tied up 50 million dollars of foreign currency loan (Rs 2.45 billion) through a syndicate of banks led by DBS, Singapore. Company finance director Tarun Jain said the money has not been drawn down. "We will use the amount partly for converting our short-term debt into long term loans," he added as the company is planning to restructure its finances. According to reports, Sterlite will raise another Rs 2.6 billion of secured non-convertible debentures (NCDs) of 5-year tenor. A "AA" rating has been obtained from Crisil signifying high safety of timely payment of interest and principal. Sterlite has made major payouts in the past one year. It paid Rs 5.51 billion for public sector Balco and another Rs 4.45 billion for Hindustan Zinc (HZL). It faces such huge payouts in future as well. The company targeted a total fund requirement of 800m dollars of both debt and equity over the next three years in a recent roadshow for foreign investors. Future commitments include a Rs 50-billion expansion plan for Balco and a Rs 4.20-billion outgo for the ongoing buy back.
查看更多>>摘要：The central government would merge two public sector undertakings -Rajasthan State Mineral Development Corporation (RSMDC) Ltd and Rajasthan State Mines and Mineral Ltd (RSMML)-to ensure their economic viability in the era of liberalisation. A public notification for merging RSMDC into RSMML has already been published early this week on which objections have been invited as per legal requirements, an official spokesman said.
NSTL