To download the full report (PDF document) please click here ENERGY: Brent crude up above $108 on China, Iran
SINGAPORE, Jan 3 (Reuters) - Brent crude rose to above $108 a barrel as China's manufacturing activity expanded slightly, lifting hopes of higher oil demand, and as rising tensions between Iran and the West created supply disruption fears.
"Over the next few months, it will be a balance of economic issues in Europe and the U.S. versus bullish geopolitical factors and the reality of economic growth in major Asian economies," Victor Shum, an oil consultant at Purvin & Gertz, said.
Ohio suspends well operations after series of quakes
CLEVELAND , Jan 2 (Reuters) - Ohio has suspended operations at five deep wells used to dispose of fracking-related fluids after nearly a dozen earthquakes in the town of Youngstown over the past year, the latest sign of local unease over the booming shale gas industry.
One day after a 4.0 quake, the Ohio Department of Natural Resources said on Sunday it was halting operations at five Mahoning County wells owned by Northstar Disposal Services LLC as a precaution, citing concerns of a possible link between well activity and the quakes. The wells were used to store wastewater from oil and gas drilling operations, not for production.
Petrobras confirms oil, gas find at offshore well
BRASILIA Jan 2 (Reuters) - Brazil's state-controlled energy company Petrobras on Monday announced discovery of light oil and gas at a well off the country's coast.
The discovery took place at a well known as Tambuata with the identification number 4-GLF-31-ESS, 74 km (46.3 miles) from the coastline and 7 km from the Cidade de Vitoria floating production and storage platform.
Venezuela shrinks nationalization payment to Exxon
CARACAS, Jan 2 (Reuters) - Venezuela's PDVSA said on Monday it will pay Exxon Mobil Corp $255 million in compensation for nationalized assets - less than a third of what the U.S. oil giant said it was awarded by an arbitration panel.
The South American OPEC member's state oil company issued a defiant statement saying it was deducting debts owed by Exxon, including PDVSA's repurchase of bonds linked to the nationalized project.
Nigerian anger heats up as petrol prices rocket
ABUJA, Jan 2 (Reuters) - Nigerian motorists and unions vented their anger on Monday at a sudden more than doubling of fuel prices, a day after government subsidies were removed in a sweeping economic reform that could trigger mass protests.
Opposition leaders, unionists and local rights groups have condemned the move by the state's fuel regulator, which they say will hike the prices of goods at a time when many Nigerians, the majority of whom live on less than $2 per day, already find basic commodities too expensive.
French refinery unions mull action on Petroplus closure
PARIS, Jan 2 (Reuters) - Workers at the French Petit Couronne refinery owned by Petroplus will meet union representatives from nearby refineries on Wednesday to decide whether to call for strike action after the Swiss refiner announced temporary shutdowns at three plants, a union official said.
The general meeting on Wednesday morning will include the plant's 550 workers as well as trade unionists from other plants, the Petit Couronne trade union official said on Monday. Total's Gonfreville and Exxon Mobil's Port Jerome are in the vicinity.
Petroplus announced the closures last week after bankers abruptly froze credit lines used by the company to buy crude oil supplies. AGRICULTURE: Vietnam 2011 rubber imports jump, exports hit record
HANOI, Jan 3 (Reuters) - Vietnam, the world's fourth-largest exporter of natural rubber, stepped up its imports of the commodity last year which helped enable record shipments in 2011, customs data show.
The Southeast Asian nation imported 343,000 tonnes of rubber as of Dec. 15, 2011, or 14.7 percent above the amount it imported during the whole of 2010, Vietnam Customs data seen by Reuters on Tuesday showed. Brazil industry, analysts expect record soy crop
SAO PAULO, Jan 2 (Reuters) - Brazil's 2012/13 soy crop, now starting into its first round of harvesting, should be of record size, the grains industry association and an independent analyst said on Monday, despite a dangerous dry spell hitting the country's far south.
Grains association Abiove, whose members include Bunge, ADM, Louis Dreyfus and Brazil's Maggi, estimated the world's No. 2 soy producer would harvest 74.6 million tonnes, up from its estimate for last season of 74.3 million tonnes.
Indonesia's Lampung Dec cocoa exports rise 25 pct y/y
BANDAR LAMPUNG, Indonesia, Jan 2 (Reuters) - Cocoa bean exports from Indonesia's Lampung province on Sumatra island rose 25 percent in December from a year ago, government trade office data showed on Monday.
Lampung's exports have been volatile in recent months, although mostly falling throughout the year, as the Indonesian industry battles with pests and disease.
Indonesia's Dec Sumatra coffee bean exports fall 68 pct y/y
JAKARTA, Jan 2 (Reuters) - Indonesia's robusta coffee bean exports from the main growing area in southern Sumatra slumped 68 percent in December from a year ago, government trade data showed on Monday, as adverse weather conditions hit output.
Indonesia shipped 8,415.400 tonnes of robusta coffee beans in December, versus 26,255.23 tonnes last December, Muchtar Lutfie, research head of the Indonesia Coffee Exporters Association's (AEKI) Lampung branch, said in a statement.
India's Maharashtra sugar output up 18.8 pct in Oct-Dec
MUMBAI, Jan 2 (Reuters) - Sugar output from India's Maharashtra state, top producer of the sweetener in the country, was 18.8 percent higher on year in the first three months of 2011/12 crushing season that started on Oct. 1, an industry official said.
The increase in production is because of higher sugar recovery rate and an increase in the number of mills that are operational this year, said the official, who declined to be named.
Indonesia sees 2012 unmilled rice output up 10 pct
JAKARTA, Jan 2 (Reuters) - Indonesia's unmilled rice output is expected to rise 10 percent to 72.02 million tonnes this year as it expands plantation areas in line with its 2014 self-sufficiency target, a government minister said on Monday.
Southeast Asia's biggest economy has forecast that unmilled rice output would hit 65.4 million tonnes for 2011, less than it previously estimated, as hot weather and disease hit production.
Egypt's Alcotexa sells 2,072 T cotton in past week
CAIRO, Jan 1 (Reuters) - Egypt's Alexandria Cotton Exporters' Association (Alcotexa) committed to sell 2,072 tonnes of cotton in the week that ended on Dec. 31, an Alcotexa official said on Sunday.
The sales comprised 1,650 tonnes of the Giza 88 grade of cotton and 422 tonnes of Giza 86, the official said.
BASE METALS: Copper rises after China's manufacturing expands
KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 3 (Reuters) - London copper rose, the first trading day of the year, as an expansion in China's manufacturing boosted hopes that demand for industrial metals will increase, but investors remained cautious as Europe's debt crisis persists.
"China's PMI number looks positive, better than most people had expected earlier on," said Huang Yiping, chief economist for emerging Asia at Barclays Capital in Hong Kong.
Rio to cut Quebec smelter output after lockout
Jan 1 (Reuters) - Rio Tinto Alcan will shut down about a third of the production at its 438,000-tonne Alma aluminum smelter in the Canadian province of Quebec after locking out hundreds of unionized workers in a contract dispute, it said on Sunday.
Earlier the unit of the Anglo-Australian mining giant said it locked out about 800 workers at the smelter in Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean, Quebec, located 480 km (about 300 miles) northeast of Montreal.
STEEL NEWS: India hikes iron ore export duties to 30 pct
NEW DELHI, Jan 2 (Reuters) - India raised iron ore export duties to 30 percent from 20 as it seeks to conserve supplies for its own steel industry, sending down shares of iron ore producers and boosting those of steelmakers.
The government issued a formal order removing the previous 20 percent duty, and two revenue officials said this meant the rate reverted to 30 percent, which one of them said was the "peak tariff" level. PRECIOUS METALS: Indian gold imports plunge in Q4, seen down in Q1
MUMBAI, Jan 2 (Reuters) - Gold imports by India, the world's top consumer, plunged 56 percent to 125 tonnes in the fourth quarter, cutting full-year imports by 8.4 percent as record high prices and high interest rates hit demand, the head of India's leading bullion body said.
India, whose appetite for gold dates back centuries, imported about 878 tonnes of gold in 2011, down from 958 tonnes in 2010, Bombay Bullion Association President Prithviraj Kothari said in an interview on Monday. GLOBAL MARKETS: Asian shares rise; Oil spikes on Iran tension
SINGAPORE, Jan 3 (Reuters) - Asian stocks rose as the first trading day of 2012 in most markets brought renewed appetite for riskier assets, while U.S. crude jumped 1.5 percent to above $100 a barrel on escalating tensions between Iran and the West.
"(The euro) ended last year on a downtrend, breaking key levels. Through much of last year, people were surprised how well it held up," said Greg Gibbs, a strategist at RBS. CHART OF THE DAY: LME COPPER - 24 HRS TECHNICAL OUTLOOK 
BEYOND THE HEADLINES: Indian gold imports plunge in Q4, seen down in Q1
MUMBAI, Jan 2 (Reuters) - Gold imports by India, the world's top consumer, plunged 56 percent to 125 tonnes in the fourth quarter, cutting full-year imports by 8.4 percent as record high prices and high interest rates hit demand, the head of India's leading bullion body said.
India, whose appetite for gold dates back centuries, imported about 878 tonnes of gold in 2011, down from 958 tonnes in 2010, Bombay Bullion Association President Prithviraj Kothari said in an interview on Monday. Natgas price plunge puts heat on producers
Dec 30 (Reuters) - A steep drop in natural gas prices is squeezing the profits of producers such as Southwestern Gas Corp , EXCO Resources and Quicksilver Resources , which may need to shut wells, raise cash, cut staff or seek merger partners in the coming year.
Spot natural gas futures dipped below $3.00 per million British Thermal units on Friday, the lowest level in more than two years, as a glut of gas from shale fields across the United States pushed inventory levels to historic highs. Kyrgyz election emboldens Aussie miner to dig gold
SYDNEY, Dec 30 (Reuters) - Production from the long-delayed Andash gold mine in Kyrgyzstan will start in about 15 months following the election of a new prime minister who promises to alleviate poverty and restore order in the volatile Central Asian republic, the mine's Australian owner said on Friday.
Kentor Gold plans to employ 450 people, mostly locals, to work the mine at a rate of 70,000 ounces of gold per year starting in early-2013 -- worth more than $108 million at current bullion prices -- the company's managing director, Simon Milroy told Reuters in a telephone interview from Brisbane. Vietnam coffee supply to slow next month
HANOI, Dec 30 (Reuters) - Coffee supply from Daklak, Vietnam's largest growing province, is expected to slow next month when the harvest ends as most farmers and buying agents will wait for higher prices before selling, a senior provincial official said on Friday.
Some analysts expect global coffee prices to surge early next year as tighter bank lending in top robusta producer Vietnam could choke off cash to exporters, cutting supply and pushing up premiums, even as the harvest rolls in. 
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