To download the full report (PDF document) please click here COLUMN: Euro crisis speeds zombie refinery cull-Campbell
--Robert Campbell is a Reuters market analyst. The views expressed are his own--
NEW YORK, Jan 6 (Reuters) - The financial crisis at Swiss independent refiner Petroplus may herald more than the closure of a few refineries but also the death of the independent refinery model in Europe.
Petroplus was the biggest attempt to transfer the independent model from the United States to Europe and was led by Tom O'Malley, who built up and sold at a huge profit two independent U.S. refining companies. ENERGY: Brent steady near $113; Iran offsets weak euro zone
SINGAPORE, Jan 9 (Reuters) - Brent crude prices steadied around $113 a barrel as weaker euro zone employment and retail sales data boosted the dollar and dented sentiment, but concerns over Iran's threat to shut a key oil-shipping route capped price falls.
"I don't think there are big expectations from the meeting. They have met so many times and achieved nothing," said Ben Le Brun, Market Analyst at OptionsXpress in Sydney.
EU states consider delay on any Iran oil ban
BRUSSELS, Jan 6 (Reuters) - A European Union embargo on Iranian crude oil imports could take a few months to start because some EU capitals want a delay they say they need to shield their debt-stricken economies, diplomats said on Friday.
EU states have agreed in principle to an embargo on Iranian oil, part of the latest Western effort to ratchet up pressure on Tehran over its nuclear programme.
Oil over $113, Iran counters growth concerns
LONDON, Jan 6 (Reuters) - Oil climbed above $113 a barrel on Friday as concern over any possible supply disruption due to mounting tensions between Iran and the West countered worries about Europe's economy and rising U.S. stockpiles.
Crude was set to rise more than 5 percent in the first week of 2012 after Iran threatened to shut the Strait of Hormuz, the world's most important oil route, in retaliation against tighter sanctions from the United States and a possible ban on its crude exports to Europe.
Venezuela will not recognize World Bank ruling in Exxon case
CARACAS, Jan 8 (Reuters) - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said on Sunday that his country would not recognize any ruling by a World Bank tribunal in a multibillion-dollar arbitration case with Exxon Mobil Corp .
Exxon took Venezuela to the World Bank's International Center for Settlement of Investment Disputes, or ICSID, seeking as much as $12 billion in compensation after Chavez ordered the nationalization of the Cerro Negro oil project in 2007.
AGRICULTURE: Corn, soy up on Argentine crop concerns; wheat rises
SINGAPORE, Jan 9 (Reuters) - U.S. corn rose 0.7 percent, while soybeans recovered after two straight sessions of losses with harsh hot and dry weather threatening to curb crop-yields in Argentina, a top global supplier of grains and oilseeds.
"We are looking at sideways trade because of the USDA report this week with an upside bias on weather concerns in South America," said Lynette Tan, analyst with Phillip Futures in Singapore. Indonesia palm oil exports fall 5 pct in 2011
JAKARTA, Jan 9 (Reuters) - Palm oil exports from Indonesia, the world's largest producer, dropped 5 percent to 19.4 million tonnes last year, the agriculture ministry said on Monday, highlighting rising domestic consumption and downstream investment.
The export fall came despite palm output rising 2.5 percent in 2011 from the previous year, to 22.51 million tonnes, the ministry said in a statement.
Argentina says drought will reduce corn crop
BUENOS AIRES, Jan 6 (Reuters) - The drought that is drying out Argentina's farm areas will cut into the country's 2011/12 corn harvest, as crops struggle to flower under parched conditions, the government said in a weekly report on Friday.
The world's No. 2 corn producing country has been hit by dryness related to the La Nina phenomenon just as corn and soy plants need water to help them develop.
Informa lowers South American corn, soy estimates
CHICAGO, Jan 6 (Reuters) - Analytical firm Informa Economics on Friday lowered its forecasts for corn and soybean production in South America, citing dry weather that has cut yield prospects.
The firm cut its estimate of 2011/12 corn production in Argentina, the world's No. 2 corn exporter after the United States, to 24.0 million tonnes from its December estimate of 27.0 million.
South Brazil set for brief respite from drought
SAO PAULO, Jan 6 (Reuters) - Rains will return to the drought-hit grain regions in southern Brazil by the middle of next week, a forecaster said on Friday, but will be too light and brief to neutralize the threat of more crop losses in the world's No. 2 soy and No. 3 corn producer.
"Between January 11 and 15, the weather pattern will change radically. A cold front will finally bring widespread rain to the south," local meteorologists Somar said.
EU clears 107,000 tonnes wheat exports this week
PARIS, Jan 6 (Reuters) - The European Union this week granted export licences for 107,000 tonnes of soft wheat, taking the total since the beginning of the 2011/12 (July-June) season to 7.4 million tonnes, official data showed on Friday.
The total so far this season remained well below the volume in 2010/11 when 11.2 million tonnes of export licences had been cleared by the same stage.
BASE METALS: Copper drops as Europe troubles prompt shift to dollar
KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 9 (Reuters) - Copper fell, erasing gains in the previous session, as concerns over slowing growth in the euro zone strengthened the U.S. dollar, making commodities priced in the unit more expensive in other currencies.
"Across the commodity complex, gains were capped because of dollar strength," said Ong Yiling, an investment analyst at Phillip Futures in Singapore.
Alcoa cuts capacity by 12 pct, sees Q4 charge
NEW YORK, Jan 5 (Reuters) - Alcoa Inc , the largest U.S. producer of aluminum, said it will slash its global smelting capacity by 12 percent, becoming the first producer to take direct action to cut costs amid a steep drop in metal prices.
The move will result in a restructuring charge in the fourth quarter that will push the U.S. producer into its first loss in nine quarters.
Indonesia will not introduce tin export tax -govt
JAKARTA, Jan 6 (Reuters) - Indonesia, the world's top refined tin exporter, will not impose export taxes on the base metal this year, a trade ministry official said on Friday.
Late last year, Indonesia's Industry Minister said it was looking to introduce export taxes for coal and base metals in 2012, as it tries to encourage more investment in its mining sector.
Spot copper premiums to China steady, demand to rise
HONG KONG, Jan 6 (Reuters) - Spot copper premiums to China were steady at the start of the year on hopes that demand will pick up next month after the Lunar New Year break, traders said on Friday.
Bonded stocks, arrived in Shanghai and not yet assessed for China's 17 percent value-added tax, and imports due to arrive in the city in less than two weeks traded at premiums of about $120 to $140 a tonne over cash London Metal Exchange copper prices, compared to about $130 two weeks earlier, traders said.
STEEL NEWS: China daily steel output slips in late Dec - CISA data
SHANGHAI, Jan 9 (Reuters) - China's daily crude steel output declined to 1.626 million tonnes in the last 11 days of December, down 2.4 percent from the preceding ten days, data from the China Iron & Steel Association (CISA) showed on Monday. CISA figures showed that daily average output in the world's largest steel-producing country stood at 1.654 million tonnes in December, down 0.5 percent from November.
Auto steelmaker will not get US DOE loan
WASHINGTON, Jan 6 (Reuters) - The Obama administration on Friday opted against closing a loan of up to $730 million for steelmaker Severstal North America, whose financing bid to expand a plant for auto steel production drew the attention of congressional investigators looking at Energy Department loan programs.
Congress has drawn no conclusion about the merits of Severstal's application, but the Energy Department said that after careful review it had decided that financing for the wholly owned subsidiary of Russia's OAO Severstal would not go forward.
PRECIOUS METALS: Gold eases on firm dollar, euro zone fear
SINGAPORE, Jan 9 (Reuters) - Gold prices lost more than half a percent, after the momentum that pushed prices up 3 percent last week fizzled as the dollar firmed with growing worries about the euro zone debt crisis.
"There is a somewhat weaker trend across the commodities, as the strength of the dollar is playing a role in limiting appetite," said Nick Trevethan, senior commodity strategist at ANZ in Singapore. GLOBAL MARKETS: Gold eases on firm dollar, euro zone fear
SINGAPORE, Jan 9 (Reuters) - Gold prices lost more than half a percent, after the momentum that pushed prices up 3 percent last week fizzled as the dollar firmed with growing worries about the euro zone debt crisis.
"There is a somewhat weaker trend across the commodities, as the strength of the dollar is playing a role in limiting appetite," said Nick Trevethan, senior commodity strategist at ANZ in Singapore.
CHART OF THE DAY: LME ALUMINIUM - 24 HRS TECHNICAL OUTLOOK 
BEYOND THE HEADLINES: Venezuela sees no W.Bank ruling on Exxon in 2012
PUERTO ORDAZ, Venezuela, Jan 7 (Reuters) - Venezuela's oil minister said on Saturday he does not expect a ruling in World Bank arbitration with Exxon Mobil this year, after another tribunal awarded the U.S. major $908 million last week.
Both cases relate to the nationalization by President Hugo Chavez of the Cerro Negro heavy oil project in the South American OPEC member, following years of legal wrangling between Exxon and his socialist government.
S.America soy crop seen shrinking; US exports eyed
CHICAGO, Jan 6 (Reuters) - Analysts expect few major shifts in U.S. soy stockpiles when the U.S. Department of Agriculture issues its January crop reports next week but dry weather should prompt downgrades in USDA's South American crop forecasts.
Such a drop would tighten world soy supplies and could eventually bolster flagging U.S. soybean exports, especially in the upcoming 2012/13 crop year.
Aluminium traders to producers: Cut like it's 1994
NEW YORK, Jan 6 (Reuters) - To find a precedent for the deep, lasting output cuts that aluminum producers must make to put a floor under prices, traders are looking a lot further back than the last recession.
Three years ago, with the global economy convulsing in the throes of a serious recession, smelters worldwide started cutting back production -- temporarily. As prices quickly rebounded, nearly doubling within a year, those companies were just as quick to fire up their furnaces again.
West readies oil plan in case of Iran crisis
LONDON, Jan 6 (Reuters) - Western powers this week readied a contingency plan to tap a record volume from emergency stockpiles to replace nearly all the Gulf oil that would be lost if Iran blocks the Strait of Hormuz, industry sources and diplomats told Reuters.
They said senior executives of the International Energy Agency (IEA), which advises 28 oil consuming countries, discussed on Thursday an existing plan to release up to 14 million barrels per day (bpd) of government-owned oil stored in the United States, Europe, Japan and other importers.
US wheat acres seen rising after disappointing crop
CHICAGO, Jan 6 (Reuters) - A U.S. government report is expected to show that farmers last fall planted the most winter wheat in three years as some much-needed rain boosted crop prospects following a dry growing season in 2011, according to analysts surveyed by Reuters.
"The increase in wheat acres was no surprise," said Farm Futures magazine market analyst Arlan Suderman. "Unexpected fall moisture led Plains farmers to aggressively plant winter wheat to get a cover over their previously parched soils."
Corn supply to shrink as Argentine crop wilts
CHICAGO, Jan 6 (Reuters) - The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) should trim its forecast for this year's ending supply of U.S. corn to a fresh 16-year low in a report next week, and more declines may occur if U.S. exports increase to compensate for Argentina's drought-hurt crop, analysts said.
"I think USDA may make a slight reduction but they won't be aggressive in this report. I recognize that additional reductions will probably be necessary, we'll know more in 30 days," said Shawn McCambridge, analyst for Jefferies Bache. | |
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