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Patrick Petroleum Co said itsigned a definitive agreement to buy Bayou Resources Inc. As previously announced, the transaction is valued at about8.8 mln dlrs, including 2.8 mln dlrs in debt. Under the agreement, Patrick will pay six dlrs per sharefor each Bayou share, with additional value being given forBayou's preferred and options. Bayou has 827,000 shares out. Depending upon the results of the re-evaluation of asignificant Bayou well as of Jan. 1, 1988, Bayou stockholdersmay receive up to an additional two mln dlrs in stock and cash,which has not been included in the 8.8 mln dlrs.
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[
"acq",
"crude"
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Thyssen AG <THYH.F> expects a fall ofbetween 15 and 20 pct in consolidated turnover in 1986/87,chief executive Dieter Spethmann said. He told journalists the exact decline would depend ondollar developments. The Thyssen group did over 50 pct of itsbusiness outside West Germany. Spethmann made no comment on 1986/87 group earnings. Worldgroup net profit fell to 370.1 mln marks in the year endedSeptember 1986 from 472.4 mln a year earlier on group saleswhich fell to 40.00 billion marks from a previous 44.32billion. Last week Spethmann told the annual meeting Thyssenexpected to post a good profit in 1986/87 despite expectedlosses in the mass steel-making operations this year. Spethmann said engineering turnover would not be lower thisyear, but lower steel prices would result in a drop in steelturnover and sales volume. This would also affect Thyssen'strading operations, he said. Spethmann also categorically denied a magazine articlepublished this week which spoke of a dispute between him andHeinz Kriwet, management board chairman of Thyssen Stahl AG,over planned job cuts in steel plants in the Ruhr area.
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[
"iron-steel",
"earn"
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The U.S. Agriculture Departmentforecast the European Community's 1986/87 wheat crop at 71.60mln tonnes, vs 71.50 mln tonnes last month. It estimated1985/86 output at 71.70 mln tonnes, vs 71.71 mln last month. E.C. 1986/87 coarse grain production is projected at 81.22mln tonnes, vs 81.19 mln tonnes last month. The 1985/86 crop isestimated at 88.21 mln tonnes, vs 88.28 mln last month. E.C. wheat exports in 1986/87 are forecast at 28.22 mlntonnes, vs 28.31 mln tonnes last month. Exports in 1985/86 areestimated at 27.77 mln tonnes, vs 27.62 last month.
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[
"wheat",
"grain"
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Japan has no plans to liberalise its farmmarkets, but will try to narrow the gap between the price offarm products at home and overseas, Agriculture MinisterMutsuki Kato said. He told reporters the move is aimed at deflecting criticismof Japanese protectionism on its agricultural goods. But Kato said he has no plans to start bilateral tradetalks with the United States over rice, Japan's staple food. Washington has called Tokyo's rice policy an extremeexample of protectionism and has demanded access for U.S.Growers to the Japanese market. This is closed to importsexcept in emergency. Kato said Japanese farmers should however "shed some blood,"to relieve the dangerous state of international farm trade. His comments precede a meeting on July 1 and 2 of the RicePrice Council at which the government advisory body willdiscuss the 1987 crop producer rice price. Kato said he welcomed the outcome of last week's recentsummit of leaders of leading industrialised democracies inVenice and of farm trade talks at the Organisation for EconomicCooperation and Development (OECD) in May. Ministers at both conferences agreed on the long-term needto cut subsidies worldwide, Kato said. Kato said that Japan is not the only country to protectproducers. He said the United States spends some 25.8 billiondlrs a year to support producer prices and on its exportenhancement program and the EC 21.7 billion, while Japan spendsonly 2.9 billion. He said that although Japan provides theworld's highest level of subsidies per acre, its subsidy perfarm family was several times lower than in the United States. Expressing concern about growing protectionist moves inU.S. Congress, he said Japan should make efforts to preventfarm trade issues between the two countries from becoming afactor increasing protectionism in the United States. Japan and the United States are holding panel discussionsat the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade over Japan'simport restrictions on 12 farm items. Bilateral talks on beef and citrus trade in the period fromnext April are due to start this autumn.
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[
"rice",
"grain"
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Gross domestic product is expected togrow by 4.4 pct in the year ending June 30, Finance MinisterMohammad Syeduzzaman told reporters. Inflation fell to an estimated 12 pct this fiscal year from17 pct in 1981/82, he said last night. The World Bank and other independent sources have saidinflation would be around 15 pct in 1986/87. Syeduzzaman said remittances from expatriates would rise to600 mln dlrs this year from 425 mln in 1981/82. Foreign exchange reserves at end-June are projected at 680mln dlrs compared with 105 mln in 1981/82, he said. Syeduzzaman said the export target has been set at 900 mlndlrs this year against 626 mln in 1981/82. Commitments forforeign loans and grants total more than five billion dlrs in1986/87, against 3.54 billion five years previously, he said. The government's liberal industrial policy has attractedinvestment commitments totalling 250 mln dlrs, he said Foodgrain output is estimated at 16.4 mln tonnes this year,up from 16.12 mln in 1985/86 and 14.4 mln in 1981/82. Government officials have said Bangladesh must importnearly two mln tonnes of grain annually up to 1990, when thegovernment expects to attain self-sufficiency in food.
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[
"reserves",
"cpi",
"grain",
"gnp"
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The following deliveries are scheduledfor April 6 against Chicago Baord of Trade Futures - Silver - 392 lots at Chicago, Illinois. Kilo Gold - 21 lots. 16 at Chicago, Illinois, 5 at NewYork, New York.
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"silver",
"gold"
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Britain can look forward to fairlystrong economic growth, falling interest rates and firmSterling, Barclays Bank Plc chairman-elect John Quinton said. "We should see a reasonable decline in interest rates inthe next few months, but not a great one and not a rapid one,"Quinton told a press luncheon. He said that whereas the British economy is growing atabout three pct, he expects only "minor" growth for the westernindustrialized world as a whole. But, unless there is a majormove toward protectionism, there should be no need to worryabout a recession in the next two or three years. Quinton said much will depend on the resolution of tradedisputed between the United States and Japan. He said Tokyo, in resisting the appreciation of the yen,had been "holding back the laws of economics." But if thedollar has to fall further to reduce Japan's trade surplus, hesaid he hoped the fall would be slow rather than rapid. Quinton said it will be difficult for the City of London tostave off the creation of a powerful securities industryregulatory body along the lines of the Securities and ExchangeCommission in the U.S., especially if there are more insidertrading scandals and if the Labour Party wins the next U.K.election.
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[
"interest",
"gnp"
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A greater than anticipated need,competitive prices and political motivations could be sparkingSoviet interest in U.S. corn, industry and government officialssaid. As rumors circulated through grain markets today that theSoviet Union has purchased an additional 1.5 mln tonnes of U.S.corn, industry and government sources noted a number of factorsthat make Soviet buying of U.S. corn likely. First, there are supply concerns. Some trade sources saidrecent speculation has been that last year's Soviet grain cropbe revised to only 190 mln tonnes, rather than the 210 mlnannounced, therby increasing the Soviet need for grain. A drop in Argentine corn crop prospects could also affectSoviet corn buying, an Agriculture Department source said. Dry weather in Argentina -- a major corn supplier to theUSSR -- and reported crop problems prompted USDA to lower itsArgentine 1986/87 corn crop estimate this week to 11.0 mlntonnes, down from 11.5 mln. Argentina corn exports were alsocut by 500,000 tonnes to 6.8 mln tonnes. Argentina has already committed four mln tonnes of thisyear's corn for export, a USDA official said, with two mlntonnes of that booked for April-June delivery to the USSR. "Significant downside potential" still exists for theArgentine crop, the official said, which will decrease theamount of additional corn that country can sell to Moscow. "If the Soviet needs are greater than we have beenthinking, then they might need more than what Argentina canprovide during the April to June period," he said. Current competitive prices for U.S. corn have also sparkedSoviet buying. U.S. corn was reported to be selling on the world marketearlier this week for around 71 dlrs per tonne, Argentine cornfor 67 dlrs -- a very competitive price spread, U.S. and Sovietsources said. "This price difference makes American corn competitive,"Albert Melnikov, commercial counselor for the Soviet Union,told Reuters. Impending crop problems in Argentina will likely causethose prices to rise, and with the recently strong U.S. cornfutures prices, the Soviets might feel corn prices havebottomed and that this is a good time to buy, sources said. Finally, some industry sources said that by buying theminimum amount of corn guaranteed under the U.S./USSR grainsagreement (four mln tonnes), the Soviet Union may be hoping toconvince the USDA to offer Moscow a subsidy on wheat. In an inteview with Reuters this week, USDA secretaryRichard Lyng said that no decision had been made on a wheatsubsidy offer, but that such an offer had not been ruled out.
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"corn",
"grain"
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The record 4.9 billion dlrs rise in U.K.Reserves in May to a total 34.7 billion has lifted hopes for afurther cut in bank base lending rates after the June 11general election, market analysts said. Sterling would have risen on the much better than expectednumber but for market nerves about the poll outcome, they said. But the weight of foreign currency and gold reserves nowavailable to the authorities to support the pound should curbany market tendency to panic if U.K. Opinion polls show theruling Conservative Party's lead slipping, they added. "We have been intervening to a very much greater extent thanwe have done hitherto," Chancellor of the Exchequer Nigel Lawsonsaid at a news conference today, commenting on the news of therecord reserves rise. He put the U.K. Intervention in the context of the Louvreaccord between leading industrial nations to stabilise thedollar, partly through direct intervention on foreignexchanges. "We have been playing a very full part ourselves," hesaid. But market analysts see the recent upward pressure onsterling, and consequent need for official sales to damp downits rise, more in the light of local factors. Steven Bell, chief economist at Morgan Grenfell Securities,said that corporate money has been flowing back into Britainamid hopes of another Conservative government, after fears lastautumn of a Labour election victory sent it flooding out. U.K. Portfolio investment is also returning, while foreignbuyers see U.K. Growth propects and high bond yields asattractive. They will be strong buyers of U.K. Assets, notablyequities, once the election is out of the way, Bell said. Analysts see this pressure as the main hope for lowerinterest rates, as the government is expected to try to reversethe loss of export competitiveness caused by a strong pound. Today, however, the pound hardly moved on the reservesnews, dipping on its trade-weighted index against a basket ofcurrencies from 73.1 pct of its 1975 value at 1000 GMT to 73.0pct at 1100 GMT, half an hour after the figures were released. "The market doesn't want to do anything because of theelection," commented an economist at a big U.S. Investment bank. Several dealers and analysts added that market forecasts ofa rise in reserves of between one and three billion dlrs hadoverestimated the amount of pound sales that were likely tohave been disguised by swap arrangements or transactions on theforward market. The market also seemed to have overestimated the amount ofsterling the Bank of England bought at the end of May to smooththe pound's sudden downturn, while some of the interventionreported in May probably occurred in April, they said. The key three months interbank money market rates easedabout 1/8 point, reflecting cautious hopes that the downtrendin U.K. Interest rates will be revived following the reservesnews, analysts said. Government bond prices initially firmed, but the market wasmuted as traders worried about the funding implications ofanother huge rise in reserves, they added. Morgan Grenfell's Bell forecast a half point base rate cutfrom the current nine pct level soon after the election, solong as poll projections of another Conservative victory proveaccurate, with another half point later. Justin Silverton, equity economist at Credit SuisseBuckmaster and Moore, said a full point reduction might bepossible. "Sterling will be held down by interest rate cuts infuture, rather than this active intervention," he predicted. Kevin Boakes of Greenwell Montagu Gilt-Edged cautionedagainst over-optimistic forecasts, but agreed a half point cutlooked likely. A cut before the election has been virtually ruled out. "The Bank (of England) is both worried about the politicalproblem of cutting rates during an election campaign ... Andhas signalled some worry about broad money (growth)," said RobinMarshall, chief U.K. Economist at Chase Manhattan Securities. He said the 10 billion dlrs increase in total reserves inthe past seven months may foreshadow full U.K. Entry into theEuropean Monetary System. But Bell said the authorities would like to see another 10or 15 billion dlrs in the reserves before joining, if they didso. But, unlike many analysts, he doubted the U.K. Will go in.
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"reserves"
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Huge oil platforms dot the Gulf likebeacons -- usually lit up like Christmas trees at night. One of them, sitting astride the Rostam offshore oilfield,was all but blown out of the water by U.S. Warships on Monday. The Iranian platform, an unsightly mass of steel andconcrete, was a three-tier structure rising 200 feet (60metres) above the warm waters of the Gulf until four U.S.Destroyers pumped some 1,000 shells into it. The U.S. Defense Department said just 10 pct of one sectionof the structure remained. U.S. helicopters destroyed three Iranian gunboats after anAmerican helicopter came under fire earlier this month and U.S.forces attacked, seized, and sank an Iranian ship they said hadbeen caught laying mines. But Iran was not deterred, according to U.S. defenseofficials, who said Iranian forces used Chinese-made Silkwormmissiles to hit a U.S.-owned Liberian-flagged ship on Thursdayand the Sea Isle City on Friday. Both ships were hit in the territorial waters of Kuwait, akey backer of Iraq in its war with Iran. Henry Schuler, a former U.S. diplomat in the Middle Eastnow with CSIS said Washington had agreed to escort Kuwaititankers in order to deter Iranian attacks on shipping. But he said the deterrence policy had failed and the levelof violence and threats to shipping had increased as a resultof U.S. intervention and Iran's response. The attack on the oil platform was the latest example of aU.S. "tit-for-tat" policy that gave Iran the initiative, saidHarlan Ullman, an ex-career naval officer now with CSIS. He said with this appraoch America would suffer "the deathof one thousand cuts." But for the United States to grab the initiativemilitarily, it must take warlike steps such as mining Iran'sharbors or blockading the mouth of the Gulf through which itsshipping must pass, Schuler said. He was among those advocating mining as a means of bringingIran to the neogtiating table. If vital supplies were cut off,Tehran could not continue the war with Iraq. Ullman said Washington should join Moscow in a diplomaticinitiative to end the war and the superpowers should impose anarms embargo against Tehran if it refused to negotiate. He said the United States should also threaten to mine andblockade Iran if it continued fighting and must press Iraq toacknowledge responsibility for starting the war as part of asettlement. Iranian and Western diplomats say Iraq started the war byinvading Iran's territory in 1980. Iraq blames Iran for theoutbreak of hostilities, which have entailed World War I-styleinfantry attacks resulting in horrific casualties. Each side has attacked the others' shipping.
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[
"ship",
"crude"
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The Dutch Central Bank intervenedmodestly to support the dollar with spot market transactions,dealers said. They said the bank bought dollars against guilders as theU.S. Currency dipped to a low of 2.0013 guilders from 2.0130-40on opening, the lowest since the end of January. There was no intervention at the fix, however, which putthe dollar at 2.0045 guilders after 2.0280 last Friday, anddealers said the Bank's buying was limited. "I'd be surprised if the Bank had bought as much as 100 mlndlrs," one dealer said.
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[
"dlr",
"money-fx"
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The Agriculture Department'swidening of Louisiana gulf differentials will affect countyposted prices for number two yellow corn in ten states, a USDAofficial said. All counties in Iowa will be affected, as will countieswhich use the gulf to price corn in Illinois, Indiana,Tennessee, Kentucky, Missouri, Mississippi, Arkansas, Alabamaand Louisiana, said Ron Burgess, Deputy Director of CommodityOperations Division for the USDA. USDA last night notified the grain industry that effectiveimmediately, all gulf differentials used to price interior cornwould be widened on a sliding scale basis of four to eight cts,depending on what the differential is. USDA's action was taken to lower excessively high postedcounty prices for corn caused by high gulf prices. "We've been following this Louisiana gulf situation for amonth, and we don't think it's going to get back in line in anynearby time," Burgess said. Burgess said USDA will probably narrow back the gulfdifferentials when and if Gulf prices recede. "If we're off themark now because we're too high, wouldn't we be as much off themark if we're too low?" he said. While forecasting more adjustments if Gulf prices fall,Burgess said no other changes in USDA's price system are beingplanned right now. "We don't tinker. We don't make changes lightly, and wedon't make changes often," he said.
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[
"corn",
"grain"
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The American Soybean Association (ASA)denounced European Community (EC) oilseed policies as illegalunder the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, andthreatened to make an unfair trade complaint if the EC does notremedy the situation. ASA Vice President James Adams told an ASA-sponsoredOutlook 87 conference: "It will be filed unless the EC takesdrastic and immediate steps." "These subsidies are blatantly unfair and are GATT illegal,since they were established after the zero soybean duty wasestablished in 1962," he said. The ASA's unfair trade petition against the EC would askfor an investigation and modification of EC oilseed policies tomake the regime non-discriminatory. The EC in 1962 ruled all EC oilseed imports duty-free, inan effort to fill its oilseed needs. But EC oilseeds productionhas risen dramatically since then. The EC now guarantees oilseed prices to farmers above worldmarket levels and is considering implementing a controversialoils and fats tax. The subsidies "are obvious attempts to circumvent the zeroduty binding and that makes U.S. Farmers mad as hell," Adamssaid. The ASA is confident the U.S. Congress will support itstrade complaint, Adams said. The ASA also strongly opposes anEC proposal to tax vegetable and marine oils consumed in theEC, which will be considered by the EC Commission in December. U.S. Soybean world market share has declined 35 pct involume and 40 pct in value since 1982, primarily as a result ofEC policies, Adams added. Lord Plumb, European Parliament President and a speaker atthe conference, said the EC expanded oilseed production in 1973when the U.S. Halted overseas sales of soy products.
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[
"veg-oil",
"soybean",
"trade",
"oilseed"
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Brazil has suspended the importationof 500,000 tonnes of maize ordered last year because of theexcellent domestic maize harvest expected this year,Agriculture Minister Iris Resende said. The Agriculture Ministry expects a record maize crop of27.7 mln tonnes, a 36 pct increase on last year's crop of 20.3mln tonnes. Brazil's total grain crop is expected to be 65.3 mlntonnes. "This is a record in the history of Brazilianagriculture," a ministry spokesman said. Resende announced suspension of the maize imports at a newsconference in Brasilia yesterday. The ministry spokesman said he had no other details on themaize transaction.
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"corn",
"grain"
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The Swiss Finance Ministry is invitingtenders for a new series of three-month money marketcertificates to raise about 150 mln Swiss francs, the SwissNational Bank said. Bids would be due on March 10 and payment on March 12. The last issue of three-month paper conducted on February12 yielded 2.969 pct.
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"money-fx"
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One offer but no bid was posted for SRWwheat on the call session at the St Louis Merchants Exchangetoday. There were no bids or offers for milo. June 15-July 15 bill of lading for wheat was offered at 17over July, no comparison, no bid.
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"wheat",
"grain"
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Pakistan's consumer price index (base1975/76) fell to 231.93 in January 1987 from 233.26 in December1986, and compared with 223.66 a year ago, the federal Bureauof Statistics said. The wholesale price index (same base) rose to 229.83 inJanuary from 229.06 in December and compared with 217.97 inJanuary 1986.
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[
"wpi",
"cpi"
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American lawmakers rallied behindPresident Reagan for the U.S. strike against Iranian targets inthe Gulf but the attack fueled a sharp new White House-Congressdebate over limits on his powers to make war. The Pentagon announced on Monday that U.S. warshipsdestroyed a non-producing oil platform used for monitoring Gulfship traffic and military operations, and also raided a secondIranian oil rig in retaliation for an earlier Iranian attack ona Kuwaiti ship flying the American flag. Many Democrats, who control Congress, and Republicansexpressed support for the attack and praised it as anappropriate "measured response." But Democrats and liberal Republicans voiced new fears thatthe growing confrontation between Tehran and the United Statescould erupt into a major war, and demanded that Reagan complywith the 1973 War Powers Act, which could lead to a pullout ofAmerican forces from the waterway. "Those who contend the strike was necessary must realizetheir words are easily construed as a tacit endorsement of warwith Iran," said Sen Mark Hatfield of Oregon, a Republican.
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"crude",
"ship"
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The Bundesbank accepted bids for 6.1billion marks at today's tender for a 28-day securitiesrepurchase pact at a fixed rate of 3.80 pct, a central bankspokesman said. Banks, which bid for a total 12.2 billion marks liquidity,will be credited with the funds allocated today and must buyback securities pledged on May 6. Some 14.9 billion marks will drain from the market today asan earlier pact expires, so the Bundesbank is effectivelywithdrawing a net 8.1 billion marks from the market withtoday's allocation. A Bundesbank spokesman said in answer to enquiries that thewithdrawal of funds did not reflect a tightening of creditpolicy, but was to be seen in the context of plentifulliquidity in the banking system. Banks held an average 59.3 billion marks at the Bundesbankover the first six days of the month, well clear of the likelyApril minimum reserve requirement of 51 billion marks. The Bundesbank spokesman noted that by bidding only 12.2billion marks, below the outgoing 14.9 billion, banksthemselves had shown they felt they had plenty of liquidity. Dealers said the Bundesbank is keen to prevent too muchliquidity accruing in the market, as that would blunt theeffectiveness of the security repurchase agreement, its mainopen-market instrument for steering market interest rates. Twofurther pacts are likely this month over the next two weeks. The Bundesbank is currently steering call money between 3.6and 3.8 pct, although short-term fluctuations outside thatrange are possible, dealers said.
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The Commodity Futures TradingCommission has approved the Minneapolis Grain Exchange'sapplication to trade high fructose corn syrup-55, HFCS-55,futures contracts, the commission said. The contract provides for the delivery of 48,000 lbs, plusor minus two pct, of bulk HFCS-55 meeting specified standardsregarding its physical and chemical properties. CFTC said the exchange plans to begin trading a July 1987HFCS-55 contract on April 6. CFTC said the soft drink industry currently buys at least95 pct of all U.S.-produced HFCS-55, a liquid food and beveragesweetener produced through the processing of corn starch bycorn refiners.
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"corn",
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Calumet Industries Inc said it expectsto report a loss from operations for its second quarter endingMarch 31, despite a strong unit sales increase. In the same year-ago period the company reported net incomeof 366,953 dlrs, or 18 cts a share. Chairman S. Mark Salvino said the expected loss isprimarily due to depressed product prices not recovering theincreasing cost of crude oil. Salvino also said steadier crude prices and the reducedrate of refinery production should increase product prices andlead to a return to more normal profit margins. He reported that the 23 mln dlr HydroCal II system underconstruction at the company's refinery in Princeton, La., is onschedule and production will begin early in fiscal 1988.
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"crude",
"earn"
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Thai rice exports rose to 72,987 tonnesin the week ended October 13 from 54,075 the previous week, theCommerce Ministry said. It said the government and private exporters shipped 26,272and 46,715 tonnes respectively. Private exporters concludedadvance weekly sales for 106,640 tonnes against 98,152 theprevious week. The said it ministry expects at least 65,000tonnes in exports next week. Thailand has shipped 3.43 mln tonnes of rice in the year todate, down from 3.68 mln a year ago. It has commitments toexport another 388,390 tonnes this year.
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Pakistan will retender for 6,000 tonnesof refined bleached deodorised palm oil for second half Marchshipment tomorrow, after failing to take up offers today, palmoil traders said.
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"palm-oil",
"veg-oil"
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Total Erickson Resources Ltd andConsolidated Silver Standard Mines Ltd <CDS.V> said that TotalErickson has purchased all Consolidated's interests in its DomeMountain property for 60,000 Total Erickson shares and 70,000dlrs in cash. The companies said the property has several gold-bearingveins and has considerable exploration potential.
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"gold",
"acq"
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Thailand will this week seekclarification from the U.S. About its decision to freeze riceexport prices from January to early April, Commerce MinisterMontri Pongpanich said. Montri told reporters he will seek a meeting with U.S.Ambassador William Brown to determine why the U.S. Failed toset its weekly rice prices in accordance with rising worldprices during the period. He said the U.S. Has followed a policy of weakening worldrice prices by announcing highly subsidised export prices lowerthan those quoted by Thai traders. Thai officials said weekly rice prices as announced by theU.S. Agriculture Department were unchanged for 11 weeks up toApril 8. Thailand, a major rice exporter, has criticised the U.S.Farm Act which provides heavy subsidies to U.S. Exportersenabling them to compete with Thai exporters. Thai officials said average export prices of Thai rice fell19 pct last year and another 5.8 pct during the first quarterthis year. The Board of Trade said Thailand exported 1.23 mln tonnesin January/March, down from 1.29 mln a year ago. It said the export decline was partly due to the reluctanceof Thai traders to accept all foreign orders as world pricesdid not rise in line with firming domestic prices. The board said, however, that Thailand may export more ricelater this year, especially to Africa, the Middle East andAsia, due to lower production in many drought affected Africancountries and to expected small exportable surpluses in Burmaand Pakistan. It said Thai rice exports to nine major African buyers roseto 351,889 tonnes during the first quarter from 93,038 a yearearlier.
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The joint committee of Taiwan's maizeimporters has awarded contracts to two U.S. Companies to supplytwo shipments of maize, totalling 60,000 tonnes, a committeespokesman told Reuters. Continental Grain Co of New York received the first 30,000tonne cargo contract, priced at 93.86 U.S. Dlrs per tonne,while Peavey Co of Minneapolis won the second shipment, also30,000 tonnes, at 93.36 dlrs per tonne. Both shipments are c and f Taiwan and are set before March16, the spokesman said.
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Taiwan's shipbreaking industry isexpected to decline sharply this year despite the boom in 1986because of keener competition from South Korea and China, therising Taiwan dollar and U.S. Import curbs on steel products,industry sources said. Last year, Taiwanese breakers demolished a record 344vessels totalling 3.69 million light displacement tons (ldt),up on 165 of 2.97 million ldt in 1985, Lin Chung-jung, a TaiwanShipbreaking Industry Association (TSIA) spokesman, toldReuters. China scrapped vessels of some 1.1 mln ldt last year whileSouth Korea demolished ships of 910,000 ldt, he said. Yao Liu, president of Chi Shun Hwa Steel Co, a leadingshipbreaker and steel producer in Kaohsiung, told Reuters, "Weexpect to scrap fewer ships this year because of an expecteddecline in our steel product exports." Lin said many breakers predicted a 20 pct decline inscrapping operations this year due to falling demand from theU.S., Japan and Southeast Asia for Taiwanese steel. Taiwan agreed last year to voluntarily limit its steelproduct exports to the U.S. To 120,000 tonnes in the first halfof 1987 from about 260,000 tonnes in the first half of 1986, aTaiwan Steel and Iron Association official said. Yao said the rising Taiwan dollar means Taiwan's steelexports are more expensive than South Korea's and China's. The Taiwan dollar has strengthened by some 16 pct againstthe U.S. Unit since September 1985 and some bankers andeconomists said it could appreciate to 32 to the U.S. Dollar bythe end of the year from 34.23 today, Yao said. In comparison, the won rose by about five pct and yuanremained stable during the same period, he added. "We have lost some orders to South Korea and mainland Chinabecause foreign importers have switched their purchases," hesaid. Taiwan's steel exports to the U.S., Japan and SoutheastAsia slipped to 148,000 tonnes in the first two months of 1987from about 220,000 tonnes a year earlier, the Taiwan Steel andIron Association official said. He said he expected further declines in later months butdid not give figures.
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"iron-steel",
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Newly-installed Philippine CoconutAuthority Chairman Jose Romero has announced the appointment oflawyer Leandro Garcia as administrator, replacing Colonel FelixDuenas who is returning to military duty. The new constitution does not allow military men to holdpositions in civilian agencies. Duenas and four other military men who were assigned to theauthority in 1978, will return to the ministry of defence wherethey worked prior to their appointments at the coconut agency.
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[
"coconut",
"oilseed"
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The European Community authorised theexport of 25,000 tonnes of barley yesterday, bringing thecumulative total at weekly tenders since the series startedlast June to 3.33 mln tonnes, close to the 3.37 mln underlicence in the same year ago period, traders said. All bids for wheat were rejected. However, the total todate of 5.06 mln tonnes is still substantially more than the3.03 mln under licence a year ago. The 80,000 tonnes of Frenchmaize granted for export moved the total to 135,000 tonnessince the tender opened in February this year. There were nofacilities for maize in the previous weekly grain exportseries.
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[
"barley",
"grain"
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Honduras will tender March 26 underPL480 for U.S. and non-U.S. flag vessels to import 1,500 tonnesof tallow in bulk, an agent for the country said. The agent said delivery includes laydays of April 5-15. Offers are due by 1200 hrs EST, March 26, and will remainvalid until the close of business the following day, the agentsaid.
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[
"livestock",
"ship"
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From April through December 1986,the Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) issued 3.85 billion dlrsworth of generic certificates and about 1.8 billion had notbeen exchanged by January 1, 1987, the U.S. AgricultureDepartment said. The department said an additional 4.3 billion dlrs incertificates has been authorized for issuance duringJanuary-August, 1987. These certificates will provide ample free supplies of cornand wheat for the remainder of the crop year, the departmentsaid in a summary of its Agricultural Outlook report. Freeing of stocks through certificates is making U.S. grainmore competitive on world markets, it said. The department said last summer, for example, certificateswere exchanged for 215 mln bushels of corn. This helpedincrease marketable supplies, so farm-level corn pricesaveraged about two dlrs per bushel -- somewhat lower than theywould have otherwise. The lower prices probably led to an increase in usage of 40to 50 mln bushels, it said. The department said government spending on farm programs infiscal year 1987 is projected to fall half a billion dlrs from1986's 25.8 billion dlrs. During 1988 and 1989, the cost escalation of the first halfof the 1980's will reverse. If current policy remains in force,annual farm program spending by 1992 will be down from lastyear's record by more than eight billion dlrs, it said. The department said the President's budget proposals for1988-1992 would cut farm program spending an additional 24billion dlrs. In 1987, foreign economic growth is expected to remainclose to 2.6 pct, the same as in 1986, but above the 2.4 pctaverage of 1980-86, it said. Partially because of this improvement, U.S. export volumeis expected to rise in fiscal 1987 for the frist time in sevenyears, the department said.
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[
"wheat",
"grain",
"corn"
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The Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC)has reallocated 50.0 mln dlrs in credit guarantees from thepreviously announced undesignated line to provide additionalguarantees for sales of feedgrains, oilseeds, and wheat toSouth Korea, the U.S. Agriculture Department said. The department said the action increases the feed grainsline by 23 mln dlrs to 63 mln, the oilseed line by seven mlndlrs to 52 mln, and the wheat guarantee line by 20 mln to 165mln dlrs. The undesignated line is reduced to zero. The commodities are for delivery during the current fiscalyear ending this September 30, it said.
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[
"wheat",
"grain",
"oilseed"
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Argentina's total oil and gasproduction fell 9.4 pct in February to 2.78 mln cubic metresfrom January's total of 3.11 mln cubic metres, the state oilcompany Yacimientos Petroliferos Fiscales (YPF) reported. A YPF statement blamed the drop on momentary problems owingto the summer season but gave no further details. February's production figure fell slightly short of YPF'starget figure of 2.90 mln cubic metres. Oil production totalled 1.76 mln cubic metres last monthand natural gas production 1.02 mln cubic metres, down from1.95 and 1.15 mln cubic metres in January, respectively.
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[
"nat-gas",
"crude"
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The Finance Ministry has asked Japanesecommercial banks to moderate their dollar sales, bank dealerssaid. They said the Ministry had telephoned city and long-termbanks earlier this week to make the request. One dealer said this was the first time the Ministry hadmade such a request to commercial banks. Finance Ministry officials were unavailable for immediatecomment. Dealers said the Ministry has already askedinstitutional investors to reduce their sales of the dollar.
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[
"dlr",
"money-fx"
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Tokyo's foreign exchange market is watchingnervously to see if the U.S. Dollar will drop below thesignificant 140.00 yen level, dealers said. "The 140 yen level is key for the dollar because it isconsidered to be the lower end of the reference range. If thecurrency breaks through this level, it may decline sharply,"said Hirozumi Tanaka, assistant general manager at Dai-ichiKangyo Bank Ltd's international treasury division. The dollar was at 141.10 yen at midday against Fridaycloses of 142.35/45 in New York and 141.35 here. The dollar opened at 140.95 yen and fell to a low of140.40. It was 1.7733/38 marks against 1.7975/85 in New Yorkand 1.8008/13 here on Friday, after an opening 1.7700/10. The currency's decline was due to remarks on Sunday by U.S.Treasury Secretary James Baker, dealers said. "The dollar fell over the weekend on increased bearishsentiment after Baker's comments," said Dai-ichi's Tanaka. Hesaid this stemmed from mounting concern that cooperation amongthe group of seven (G-7) industrial nations to implement theLouvre accord to stabilise currencies might be fraying. The dollar's fall was also prompted by a record one-daydrop in the Dow Jones industrial average on Friday and weaknessin U.S. Bond prices, dealers said. Baker said the Louvre accord was still operative but hestrongly criticised West German moves to raise key interestrates. Operators took Baker's comment to indicate impatiencewith some G-7 members for failing to stick to the Louvre accorddue to their fears of increasing inflation. Rises in interest rates aimed at dampening inflationarypressures also slow domestic demand. West Germany and Japan had both pledged at G-7 meetings toboost domestic demand to help narrow the huge U.S. Tradedeficit, Tanaka said. U.S. August trade data showed the U.S. Deficit at a stillmassive 15.68 billion dlrs. But if West Germany raises interestrates, this would run counter to the pledge, he said. "Operators are now waiting to see if the G-7 nationscoordinate dollar buying intervention," said Soichi Hirabayashi,deputy general manager of Fuju Bank Ltd's foreign exchangedepartment. The target range set by the Louvre accord is generallyconsidered to be 140.00 to 160.00 yen, dealers said. "The market is likely to try the 140 yen level in the nearfuture and at that time, if operators see the G-7 nationsfailing to coordinate intervention, they would see the Louvreaccord as abandoned and push the dollar down aggressively,"Hirabayashi said. He said the U.S. Currency could fall as lowas 135 yen soon.
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[
"dlr",
"money-fx",
"yen"
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The upcoming five-month deficiencypayments to corn and sorghum farmers will be made half in cashand half in generic commodity certificates, a seniorAgriculture Department official told Reuters. Around 300 mln dlrs of the in-kind certificates, or"certs," will be mailed out to farmers around March 15 or 16,Tom von Garlem, Assistant Deputy Administrator for USDA's stateand county operations, said. The decision to make the payments in a 50/50 cash/certsratio was made Monday, but payments to producers will bedelayed until mid-month due to a problem with USDA's computerprogram, von Garlem said.get 11.5 cts per bushel in this next payment -- 5.75 cts incerts and around 5.5 cts cash (5.75 cts minus Gramm-Rudman). Farmers who did not receive advance deficiency payments atsignup will receive 63 cts per bushel. Slightly more than halfof this payment will be in cash, von Garlem said, but he saidthis will not markedly upset the 50/50 ratio, since mostfarmers got advance payments. "The final certificate payments will be very close to 300mln dlrs," he said. When asked if the Office of Management and Budget hadresisted the cash/certs ratio, the USDA official said that "weproposed 50/50 and OMB accepted it."
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"corn",
"grain",
"sorghum"
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The U.S. Agriculture Department saidit has extended until April 17 the date by which AgriculturalStabilization and Conservation county offices must determineeligibility of individuals or other entities for payments under1987 farm programs. Jerome Sitter, director of ASCS's Cotton, Grain and RicePrice Support Division, said the decision meant farmers haveuntil April 17 to file a farm operating plan indicating howmany persons would be involved in their farming operations. Earlier this year USDA extended the deadline to April 1from March 1, Sitter said. ASCA Administrator Milton Hertz said in a statement thatthe extension was necessary because of heavy workloads atcounty ASCS offices. Hertz said ASCS county officials "have had to make a largenumber of eligibility determinations for individuals and otherentities, such as corporations and partnerships, in preparationfor imposing the 50,000-dlr-per-entity cap." "These offices already had a very heavy workload due to thelarge number of applications for both the 1987 farm programsand the Conservation Reserve Program," Hertz said.
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"rice",
"grain",
"cotton"
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The Commodity Credit Corporation,CCC, has accepted bids for export bonuses to cover sales of25,000 tonnes of wheat flour to Iraq, the U.S. AgricultureDepartment said. The department said the bonuses awarded averaged 116.84dlrs per tonne. The shipment periods are March 15-April 20 (12,500 tonnes)and April 1-May 5 (12,500 tonnes). The bonus awards were made to Peavey Company and will bepaid in the form of commodities from CCC stocks, it said. An additional 175,000 tonnes of wheat flour are stillavailable to Iraq under the Export Enhancement Programinitative announced January 7, 1987, the department said.
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[
"wheat",
"grain"
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The U.K. Will ship 39,250 tonnes of feedwheat to China this month as food aid at a cost to the Britishaid program of 3.4 mln stg, the Overseas DevelopmentAdministration (ODA) said. The wheat will be supplied by grain exporter Ceres UK Ltd. As part of the European Community's obligation under theFood Aid Convention, the U.K. Is pledged to supply 110,700tonnes of cereals each year. From this commitment the U.K.Makes allocations to the World Food Programme.
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[
"wheat",
"grain"
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The U.S. Agriculture Department gavethe following breakdown of grain remaining in the farmer-ownedgrain reserve as of April 1, in mln bushels, by reserve number-- I II III IV V VI Wheat nil nil 0.1 0.3 10.5 479.7 Corn -- -- -- 4.1 1,231.9 -- Sorghum-x -- -- -- 0.1 38.8 -- Barley -- -- -- 0.1 73.9 -- x - mln cwts. Note - USDA says above totals may not matchtotal in reserve numbers.
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[
"sorghum",
"wheat",
"corn",
"barley",
"grain"
] |
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What topics are related to the document above?
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Lured by the weakening dollar and theconviction that oil prices are poised for a rebound, Europeanenergy companies are buying up cheap U.S. oil and gas reservesto replenish their supplies, oil industry analysts said. They said owning oil reserves in a politically stableUnited States is good insurance against future shortages.However, the quick pace of foreign investment has heated upcompetition among European firms, well-heeled U.S.institutional investors and major oil companies to snare choicedomestic oil properties. Strevig and Associates, a Houston firm that tracks oil andgas reserve sales, said growing interest among foreign buyershad helped push reserve prices in recent months higher. Allbuyers of U.S. reserves paid a median price of 6.45 dlrs abarrel of oil during the fourth quarter of 1986 foracquisitions, up from 5.33 dlrs in the third quarter and fivedlrs in the second quarter, according to the firm's research. "Foreign investors have been here nibbling a long time, butwe're seeing new names and smaller companies coming in," saidArthur Smith, an oil property appraisal specialist andpresident of John S. Herold Inc in Greenwich, Conn. "Europeans, especially, do not have much indigenous oil andgas and realize the tide will eventually turn in favor of theOrganization of Petroleum Exporting Countries," he added. Smith and other oil industry analyst and economists believethe trend in foreign investments will continue in 1987 becauseof the fall in value of the U.S. dollar, the perception thatoil prices have hit bottom and the fact that it is cheaper tobuy new reserves than to explore for them. Plenty of properties are available on the market, thanks tothe need of many companies to raise cash for debt payments andgeneral restructuring throughout the oilpatch. In two of the biggest transactions of recent months,French-owned Minatome Corp., a unit of <Total CompagnieFrancaise des Petroles>, spent more than 230 mln dlrs toseparately acquire oil assets of Texas International <TEICC>and Lear Petroleum Partners <LPP>. A spokesman for Minatomesaid the company is searching for additional acquisitions. A partnership of two Belgian-owned firms, <Petrofina S.A.>and <Cometra Oil S.A.> paid 150 mln dlrs late last year to buyvirtually all the exploration assets of the Williams Cos <WMB>,the Oklahoma pipeline firm. But Japanese investors prefer entering into joint ventureswith experienced U.S. companies to explore for new oil. Japan's<Nippon Oil> is a partner of Texaco Inc's <TX> Texaco USA in a100 mln dlrs U.S. drilling program, and has joined withDupont's <DD> Conoco Inc in a similar 135 dlrs mln deal. Most buyers said the pay-back period of a property, itsgeographic location and the lifting cost of the crude oil aremore important factors in evaluating potential acquisitionsthan relying on a simple price-per-barrel formula. Rich Hodges, a Houston-based land manager representingInternational Oil and Gas Corp, a partnership of <PreussagCorp> and <C. Deilmann Inc> of West Germany, said the firm hadearmarked at least 50 mln dlrs to spend on oil reserves inTexas, Oklahoma or Louisiana in the coming months. But he called that a small amount compared to the amountother investors have for acquisitions. PaineWebber's GeodyneEnergy Income Fund, for example, has said it plans to spend upto 300 mln dlrs on oil and gas properties. "The competition is stiff, not only from other foreigninvestors but from the brokerage houses and U.S. oilcompanies," he said. "Our company is shopping around because wefeel it's substantially less risky than pure exploration. Ifyou're going to take the risk inherent in exploration, you needprices higher than the current market," he added. In addition to the foreign investors and U.S. brokeragehouses, analysts said many of the major oil companies were alsocompeting for prime properties. Houston-based Shell Oil Co, a unit of Royal Dutch/Shell Group<RD>, has been one of the most active companies in buying andselling reserves, Smith said. Since 1982, Shell has acquiredtwo billion dlrs in new reserves, including 470 mln barrels ofoil equivalent at a net cost of 2.80 dlrs a barrel, he said. "Buying reserves is a good strategy for most of thesecompanies," Smith said. "Domestic production has dropped by onemln barrels a day because of cutbacks in drilling and it maydrop by another one mln barrels a day in 1988."
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[
"nat-gas",
"crude"
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World seaborne iron ore imports willfall sharply by the year 2000 with declining imports to the ECand Japan only partially offset by increased demand from SouthEast Asia, a report by Ocean Shipping Consultants said. The report predicts annual world seaborne iron ore importsof 267.7 mln tonnes by 2000 versus 312.4 mln tonnes in 1985. It estimates that total bulk shipping demand from the ironore sector will fall by almost 10 pct, or 200 billion tonnemiles, with shipping demand associated with the coking tradedown about 17 pct or 130 billion tonne miles. The report sees EC imports falling to 91.7 mln tonnes in2000 from 123.6 mln in 1985 with Japanese imports falling to 89mln from 124.6 mln tonnes. Imports to South East Asia are seenrising to 58.6 mln from 32.6 mln tonnes in 1985. It predicts that EC steel production will fall to 109 mlntonnes in 2000 from 135.7 mln in 1985 with Japanese productionfalling to 92 mln from 105.3 mln. South Korea and Taiwan are expected to double their outputto 40 mln tonnes with Chinese production increasing by 25 mlntonnes to 80 mln, it added.
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[
"ship",
"iron-steel"
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A panel of four leading economiststold a congressional hearing today that foreign economies willneed to expand to avoid recession as the U.S. trade deficitdeclines. C. Fred Bergsten, a former senior Treasury Departmentofficial, and Robert Solomon of the Brookings Institution toldthe Senate Foreign Relations Committee, the major exportingcountries risk recession if they do not expand because U.S.demand for imports is expected to fall. "They need to beef up domestic demand as their tradesurplus falls," or unemployment will keep growing, Bergstensaid. Bergsten predicted the U.S. trade deficit, which hit 169billion dlrs last year, will fall 30-40 billion dlrs a year forthe next two years as a result of the dollar's 35-40 pctdecline since September 1985. The government should intervene to push the dollar downfurther if the previous declines do not lead to an improvementin the trade picture, if the U.S. budget deficit is not reducedand if foreign expansion does not occur, he added. Solomon said the dollar must fall further to compensate forthe huge interest payments required on U.S. foreign debt. TheParis agreement between the major industrialized countriesprovided only for a pause in its decline, he said. Rimmer de Vries, senior vice president of Morgan GuarantyTrust Co., said the U.S. trade deficit problem is a problem oflagging growth in industrial economies, prolonged currencymisalignment, debt problems of the developing countries, andunbalanced growth in the Asian industrializing countries. John Makin of the American Enterprise Institute, suggestedforeign tax cuts to increase demand and pick up the slack fromthe U.S. trade deficit fall.
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[
"money-fx",
"trade"
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Zambia's talks with the World Bank andInternational Monetary Fund (IMF) on a financial rescue packagehave run into difficulties on the issue of food subsidies, anofficial newspaper said. The Times of Zambia, which is run by the ruling UnitedNational Independence Party (UNIP), quoted official sources assaying the IMF and World Bank had refused to continue financingfood subsidies and were pressing the government to explain howit proposes to pay for them. President Kenneth Kaunda tried to abolish maize subsidieslast December, in line with IMF recommendations, but the movecaused maize meal prices to double overnight and led to riots. The subsidies were immediately restored as part of moves toquell the disturbances. The Times of Zambia said another major issue in thegovernment's current talks with the IMF and World Bank was theremodelling of Zambia's foreign exchange auction. The central bank's weekly auction of foreign exchange tothe private sector has been suspended since the end of January,pending modifications to slow down the rate of devaluation anddampen fluctuations in the exchange rate. The kwacha slid to around 15 per dollar under the auction,losing 85 pct of its value in 16 months, but since the end ofJanuary has been revalued to a fixed rate of nine per dollar. Banking sources said Zambia was persuaded by the World Bankand IMF to lift its proposed ceiling of 12.50 kwacha per dollaron the currency's devaluation once the auctions restart.
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[
"grain",
"money-fx",
"corn"
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Chicago Mercantile Exchange floortraders and commission house representatives are guesstimatingtoday's hog slaughter at about 280,000 to 300,000 head versus294,000 week ago and 303,000 a year ago. Cattle slaughter is guesstimated at about 120,000 to126,000 head versus 120,000 week ago and 124,000 a year ago.
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"livestock",
"hog"
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Occidental Petroleum Corp said ithas completed the acquisition of Shell Oil Co's vinyl chloridemonomer business for undisclosed terms. Shell is a subsidiary of Royal Dutch/Shell Group <RD> <SC>. The company said the transaction will allow it to sourceover half its vinyl chloride monomer requirements internally,making it fully integrated in polyvinyl chloride production. Ithas been buying all of its requirements.
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[
"pet-chem",
"acq"
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The State Department says many U.S.diplomatic missions overseas are on high alert for possibleretaliation from Iran for Monday's attack on two Iranian oilplatforms by American forces in the Gulf. At the same time, the Pentagon announced on Tuesday thatU.S. forces have begun escorting another Kuwaiti tanker convoysouthward through the Gulf from Kuwait. The State Department renewed its warning to Americans notto travel to Iran because of what spokeswoman Phyllis Oakleycalled, "its virulent anti-American policies and support forterrorism." "The threat to Americans has increased significantly," shesaid in announcing that the department was reiterating adviceit last made in January. The department said about 2,600American citizens live in Iran, the overwhelming majority dualnationalities. Oakley said no specific warning has been issued to U.S.diplomats and Americans living abroad in the aftermath of theU.S. attack on the oil drilling platforms, but "many of ourmissions are on a high state of alert."
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[
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"crude"
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The Federal Reserve is not expected tointervene in the government securities market to add or drainreserves at its usual intervention time this morning,economists said. With the Federal funds rate trading comfortably at 6-9/16pct, down from yesterday's 6.74 pct average, economists saidthe Fed did not need to take reserve management action today.
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[
"interest",
"money-fx"
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U.S. Agriculture Secretary RichardLyng said he was not sure a long-term U.S.-Soviet grainagreement would be worth extending when it expires next year. "It hasn't been worth much in the last two years....Theyhaven't lived up to the agreement as I see it," Lyng said in aninterview with Reuters. "It would be my thought that it's not worth any effort towork out an agreement with someone who wants the agreement tobe a one-sided thing," he said. However, Lyng said he did not want to make a "definitivecommitment one way or another at this point." Under the accord covering 1983-88, the Soviets agreed tobuy at least nine mln tonnes of U.S. grain, including four mlntonnes each of corn and wheat. Moscow bought 6.8 mln tonnes of corn and 153,000 tonnes ofwheat during the third agreement year, which ended lastSeptember, and this year has bought one mln tonnes of corn. Lyng said he had no knowledge of how much U.S. grain Moscowwould buy this year. "I've seen people making comments on that and I don't knowhow they know, unless they talk to the Soviets," he said. "I haveno knowledge, and I really don't think anyone other than theSoviets have any knowledge." Lyng said he thought the Soviets bought U.S. corn lastmonth because "they needed it and because the price was right." "Our corn has been pretty reasonably priced. And I thinkthey've always found that our corn was good," he said.
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"corn",
"grain",
"wheat"
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France voiced its comprehension for a U.S.Attack on an Iranian target while calling for a swift halt tothe Gulf War to avoid further escalation. "The French authorities reaffirm their attachment to thefreedom and security of navigation and to the right of allstates to take action under international law and the UnitedNations charter to halt attacks such as that of October 16," theForeign Ministry spokesman said in a statement. The United States said its forces destroyed an Iranian oilplatform in the Gulf and struck at a second on Monday inretaliation for a recent Iranian missile attack on aU.S.-flagged Kuwaiti ship. Washington said the platforms were used to monitor shippingand to launch small-boat attacks on shipping. The Frenchstatement described the target as "an Iranian military platform." But the French statement added that "everything must be donenow to avoid that these military developments lead to a newescalation of the conflict."
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[
"ship",
"crude"
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Portugal may have purchased a 30,000tonne cargo at its tender today for up to 43,000 tonnes ofnumber two yellow corn (14.5 pct maximum moisture) for arrivalby April 30, shipment via Gulf ports, U.S. exporters said.
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[
"corn",
"grain"
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Shifts from mild to very coldweather in East Germany damaged winter barley and late sownwinter wheat in central regions and barley north of Berlin, theU.S. agricultural officer in East Berlin said. In a field report, the officer said indications were thatwinter kill might well be more than 100,000 hectares comparedwith 38,000 last year. He said the damage was probably more limited in southernand central regions and most widespread in the north. Damage was most severe on plants above the ground wherelittle or no snow cover was present, he added. The officer said heavy frosts at night followed by sunshineduring the day led to some heaving, particularly for welldeveloped plants and for winter barley. Furthermore, as the ground surface thawed, some standingwater occurred in the fields. The officer said repairing damage will probably call forspecial measures this spring in fields with damaged plants andwhere stands are thin. Harrowing, as well as well-timedapplications of nitrogen, will be necessary, he added.
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[
"wheat",
"grain"
] |
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U.S. authorities intervened in theforeign exchange market to support the dollar on one occasionduring the period between the start of November 1986 and theend of January, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York said in areport. The Fed's quarterly review of foreign exchange operationssaid that the U.S. bought 50 mln dlrs through the sale of yenon January 28. This operation was coordinated with the Japanesemonetary authorities and was funded equally by the Fed and theU.S. Treasury. The Fed's intervention was on the morning after presidentReagan's State of the Union message and was "in a mannerconsistent with the joint statement" made by U.S. Treasurysecretary James Baker and Japanese finance minister KiichiMiyazawa after their January 21 consultations. At that meeting, the two reaffirmed their willingness tocooperate on exchange rate issues. The Fed's report did not say at what level the interventionoccurred. But on January 28, the dollar closed at 151.50/60 yenafter dipping as low as 150.40 yen earlier in the session. Ithad closed at 151.05/15 yen the previous day. The dollar had plumbed a post-World War II low of 149.98yen on January 19 and reached a seven-year low of 1.7675 markson January 28. It ended that day at 1.7820/30 marks. The Fed noted that, after trading steadily throughoutNovember and the first half of December, the dollar movedsharply lower until the end of January. It closed the three-month review period down more than 11pct against the mark and most other Continental currencies andseven pct lower against the yen and sterling. It had fallenfour pct against the Canadian dollar. During the final days of January, pressure on the dollarsubsided. Reports of the U.S.-Japanese intervention operationand talk of an upcoming meeting of the major industrialcountries encouraged expectations for broader cooperation onexchange rate and economic policy matters, the Fed said. Moreover, doubts had developed about the course of U.S.interest rates. The dollar's swift fall had raised questionsabout whether the Fed would let short-term rates ease. Thus the dollar firmed to close the period at 1.8320 marksand 153.70 yen. According to the Fed's trade-weighted index, ithad declined nine pct since the beginning of the period. The dollar had risen as high as 2.08 marks and 165 yen inearly November. The Fed last intervened in the foreign exchange market onNovember 7, 1985 when it bought a total of 102.2 mln dlrs worthof marks and yen. The Fed's action followed the September 1985 Plazaagreement between the five major industrial nations under whichthey agreed to promote an orderly decline of the dollar.
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"dlr",
"money-fx",
"yen"
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U.S. Agriculture SecretaryRichard Lyng will ask the Japanese Government to remove allbeef import restrictions when he visits there next month. Lyng's remarks came in a speech at Oklahoma StateUniversity today. "We think Japanese consumers should have the same freedomof choice as our consumers. Look at all the Japanese camerasand tape recorders in this room. We know they'd buy more beefif they had the opportunity," Lyng said.
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[
"carcass",
"livestock"
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Asked what the U.S. StateDepartment's policy is on offering subsidized wheat to Moscow,Secretary of State George Shultz told a group of farm leadersthat U.S. products must be competitive in the world market. "If we are going to sell our products, whatever they maybe, wheat or anything else, then we have to meet the market,"Shultz told the board of directors for the National Associationof Wheat Growers. "We have to be competitive. It's ridiculous to say thatsomebody is going to buy your product if they can get the samething at a lower price somewhere else. They just aren't," hesaid. "That is our approach in the negotiations with the Soviets,and it must be our approach as we look at the American farmprogram and try to figure out what we should do to make itbetter," Shultz told the Wheat Growers. Schultz said that while he does not favor a situation thatwould allow the Soviet housewife to buy food cheaper than theAmerican housewife, he realizes the importance of Americanagricultural products being competitively priced. Speculation has been in the market for some time that theUnited States is considering offering wheat to the Soviet Unionat subsidized prices. Soviet officials have said they would buy U.S. wheat if itwere competitively priced. Agriculture Department officialshave declined to take any official position on the issue.
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[
"wheat",
"grain"
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The U.S. Agriculture Departmentannounced the following prevailing world market prices of riceon a loan-rate basis, with previous prices -- -- Long grain whole kernels 5.87 cts per lb vs 5.70 -- Medium grain whole kernels 5.28 cts per lb vs 5.12 -- Short grain whole kernels 5.22 cts per lb vs 5.06 -- Broken kernels 2.94 cts per lb vs 2.85 The repayment rate for 1986-crop warehouse or farm-storedrice loans are the higher of the world price or 50 pct of theloan rate of 7.20 dlrs per cwt. The prices will remain in effect for a week, but new pricescould be announced earlier if warranted, USDA said.
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[
"rice",
"grain"
] |
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The Bank of Japan intervened in the marketin the early afternoon, buying dollars around 147.30 yen andcontinuing to buy them as high as 147.50 yen, dealers said. The Bank intervened just after the dollar started rising onbuying by securities houses at around 147.05 yen, and hoped toaccelerate the dollar's advance, they said. The dollar rose as high as 147.50 yen.
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[
"money-fx",
"dlr"
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The Soviet Union featured prominently inU.K. Grain exports outside the EC for the period July 1/March13, taking a combined total of 1.10 mln tonnes of wheat andbarley out of all-destination U.K. Exports of 7.16 mln tonnes,the Home Grown Cereals Authority said, quoting provisionalCustoms and Excise figures. The Soviet total comprises 634,000 tonnes of wheat and472,000 tonnes of barley. Grain traders said the figuresunderstate shipments already made by several thousand tonnesand they expect total U.K. Grain exports to the USSR thisseason to reach 2.5 mln tonnes, comprising 1.5 mln wheat/1.0mln barley.
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[
"wheat",
"grain",
"barley"
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Pressure is growing in the financialmarkets for the U.S. to take overt action to stabilize thedollar even though doubts linger that it has fallen far enoughto help redress world trade imbalances, economists and dealerssaid. Some experts believe that a half-point increase in the U.S.discount rate, preferably in conjunction with rate cuts inTokyo and Bonn, would be enough to discourage sellers. But many fear that more drastic action, such as a U.S.issue of yen-denominated Treasury bonds, may be needed. Despite official warnings about the dangers of a furtherdollar decline and concerted central bank intervention, thedollar extended its recent sharp depreciation, touching a40-year low of 137.25 yen in Tokyo earlier today after closinghere on Friday at 139.30/40. The impact on other financial markets was devastating. In Tokyo, the stock market suffered its largest single daydecline; in London, gold bullion prices rose to four-year highsand in the U.S., long Treasury bond yields surged above 8.80pct and the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell more than 40points in hectic early trading. "The problem now is linkage. This is not just a currencyproblem. It is affecting all the markets," said one seniortrader at a major U.S. bank. Up until September of last year, international efforts toredress world trade imbalances appeared to working like adream; the dollar was falling in an orderly manner, worldinterest rates were tumbling and inflation was kept in check. In recent months, however, this strategy has begun to showsigns of severe stress, with the U.S. imposition of punitivetariffs on Japan threatening to unravel this spirit ofcooperating and condemn the world to a damaging trade war. "The markets fear that we have built up a momentum that isreally difficult to stop. A U.S. rate hike has become aninevitability," one currency dealer said. "At this point, nothing short of a Fed discount rateincrease, ideally combined with further discount rate cuts byJapan and Germany, would seem capable of stabilizing thedollar," said David Jones of Aubrey G. Lanston and Co Inc. Allen Sinai of Shearson Lehman Brothers Inc predicted a 1/4to 1/2 point U.S. rate increase before May 19 and a rise inU.S. bank prime lending rates to eight pct from 7-3/4 pct inthe near future. But many economists feared that any moderate U.S. rateincreases, which appear unlikely to be matched by rate cutsoverseas, would be too little, too late. "They should have done this 10 days ago. It would have donethe trick then," said one currency analyst. "If they do it now, it would be seen as a defensive measurenot an offensive one. It would show policy weakness notstrength," added one trader. In addition, economists fear that a discount rate risemight place additional strain on a sluggish U.S. economy andtempt embattled debtor nations to retaliate. A U.S. discount rate increase would also fuel theprotectionist fires in Washington, where the House is expectedto pass a protectionist trade bill, whatever compromisesPresident Reagan and Prime Minister Nakasone can come up withduring their summit later in the week. "Politically, they can't really do it this week," said onecurrency analyst, pointing out that if it failed to stabilizethe dollar, it would only weaken the U.S. negotiating stance. Even if the U.S. retains the upper hand, economists andtraders do not hold out high hopes for any major newinitiatives from this week's talks. At best, the experts see some sort of accord whereby Japanwill agree to stimulate growth and open its domestic markets tooutsiders while the U.S. promises to lift its tariffs andsupport the Group of Seven dollar stabilization agreement. But many fear that this may not be enough to assuage themarket's speculative selling fervor, which has now raised fearsof weak overseas interest at next week's quarterly U.S.Treasury refunding program. Japanese and European investors have traditionally playedan active role in these auctions, which are expected to total28 to 29 billion dlrs. Consequently, thoughts are turning to the possibility thatPresident Reagan may try to remove foreign investors' worriesabout currency risk by financing part of the U.S. budgetdeficit in yen or mark bonds, rather than dollars. While similar action by former President Carter helped tostabilize the dollar in 1978, the White House is clearlyreluctant to take such a step, economists said. This hesitance was amply shown last Friday when U.S.Treasury Secretary James Baker said, "there might well be somewho would view (yen-denominated bonds) as a lack of confidenceby the U.S. in its own currency." Baker added, "therefore we don't think it's an appropriatething to do." A foreign exchange analyst at a major Japanese bank hereshared Baker's doubts. "Dollar defending measures are veryunlikely. They will confirm the dollar's weak undertone andlead to further speculative dollar selling," he said. Thus, it may be less destabilizing for the authorities tostop trying to fight the market's bearish sentiment. In a recent lengthy report, economists at Morgan GuarantyTrust Co concluded, "the dollar should be left free to trade atwhatever level market forces produce."
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[
"money-fx",
"dlr",
"interest"
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Floating-rate notes denominated in aforeign currency, a relatively new wrinkle on Wall Street, willprobably be issued infrequently because the so-called "windowof opportunity" opens and closes quickly, traders say. "In just two days we had as many issues. As a result, themarket became glutted," said one trader. He said the window depends more on supply than on foreignexchange or interest rate risk, at least for the moment."Obviously, currency risk is important. But there is a limitednumber of investors right now for the paper," he said. On Thursday, Bear, Stearns and Co sole-managed a 100 mlnNew Zealand dlr offering of three-year floating-rate notesissued by Ford Motor Credit Co, a unit of Ford Motor Co <F>. The initial rate for the notes will be set on April 15, andquarterly after that, at 200 basis points below the 90-day NewZealand bank bill rate. They are non-callable for life. This followed by a week another Bear Stearns-led offeringof the same amount of New Zealand dollar notes for Dow ChemicalCo <DOW>. The initial rate was also to be initially set onApril 15, and quarterly after that, at 340 basis points belowthe same 90-day New Zealand rate. Because the Dow Chemical notes carried an interest ratefloor of 17 pct, the issue saw strong investor demand,underwriters said. But the Ford Credit notes and Friday's offering of 130 mlnNew Zealand dlrs of floating-rate notes due 1990 issued byGeneral Electric Co's <GE> General Electric Credit Corp viaPrudential-Bache Securities Inc, did not have such a floor. "Obviously, the two firms did not want to issue floatersand face the risk of New Zealand rates falling sharply," anunderwriter away from the syndicates said. He and others notedthat the New Zealand 90-day rate was 27 pct late last week. An underwriter familiar with the Dow Chemical deal pointedout that because of the interest rate and currency swaps Dowdid, the issuer felt comfortable setting a rate floor. Domestic offerings of foreign currency denominated datefirst surfaced in Fall 1985. By using currency and rate swaps,companies can sell debt that pays a high interest rate in aforeign currency like Australian or New Zealand dollars. Butthe issuers actually realize savings on borrowing costs. "I would say that every company which issued foreigncurrency debt saved some basis points when compared tosame-maturity plain vanilla U.S. issues," an analyst said. Investors, mainly institutions, were attracted to the earlyissues because of the high interest rates. They were willing toabsorb foreign currency risk until mid-1986, when sharp slidesposted by the Australian and New Zealand dollars brought suchissuance to a quick halt. It was not until late last year, after the currenciesstabilized, that companies again started issuing debtdenominated in Australian and New Zealand dollars. But many investors have still shied away from the debt,remembering the mid-1986 downturn of the Australian and NewZealand dollars, analysts noted. To attract some of those investors back to the fold,underwriters like Bear Stearns decided to structure the foreigncurrency issues as floating rate debt, sources said. This occurred against a backdrop of uncertainty over thecourse of U.S. interest rates for the intermediate term, andpredictions by a number of economists that Treasury yieldswould rise in the second half of the year, the sources noted. A Bear Stearns officer said more than half of the FordCredit notes were sold by late Friday afternoon, the second dayof offering. "That is quicker than some recent fixed-rate NewZealand dollar note issues," he said. However, underwriters away from the Bear Stearns syndicatesaid the issue may have sold even faster if Prudential-Bachedid not offer the General Electric Credit notes on Friday. They pointed out that the Ford notes were rated A-1 byMoody's Investors and AA-minus by Standard and Poor's, whilethe General Electric notes, which had the same interest rateterms and were also non-callable to maturity, carriedtop-flight AAA ratings by both agencies. "We have sold 20 to 25 pct of the GE notes. For first-daysales on a Friday afternoon, I'm happy with the results," anofficer on Prudential-Bache's syndicate desk said. Investors pay the U.S. dollar equivalent of the foreigncurrency-denominated notes, underwriters said. Investment bankers said the next floating-rate issue of NewZealand or Australian dollar-denominated debt is probably a fewweeks away. "I would like to underwrite a deal a day. But with the Dow,Ford and GE offerings, the marketplace has had enough for thetime being," the Prudential-Bache officer admitted. Meanwhile, IDD Information Services said the 30-daycorporate visible supply fell to 3.29 billion dlrs last weekfrom 3.98 billion dlrs in the previous week.
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[
"austdlr",
"nzdlr"
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The Dutch central bank announced neweleven-day special advances at an unchanged 5.3 pct to aidmoney market liquidity, covering the period March 9 to 20. The amount will be set at tender on Monday March 9 between0800 and 0830 GMT. The new facility will replace the current4.8 billion guilders of seven-day advances expiring Monday. Money dealers estimated today's money market shortage at 11to 11.25 billion guilders, barely changed from yesterday. They said call money was still relatively high at 6-1/8 to6-1/4 pct as a result of the tight set of bids accepted by theBank for the previous seven-day facility.
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"money-fx"
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The U.S. Department of Agriculture'sforecast that French end-of-season soft wheat stocks willalmost double in 1987/88 is premature but would not besurprising, according to French cereal organisation officials. The Cereals Intervention Board, ONIC, Wheat Producers'Association and the National Union of Agricultural and CerealCooperatives have not yet forecast 1987/88 exports orend-of-season stocks. However, the officials said the USDA's figure of end1987/88 stocks at 5.03 mln tonnes against 1986/87's 2.87 mlnwas not surprising given a record high yield forecast in April. The French Feed Cereals Research Institute, ITCF, forecastin mid-April an average yield of 6.58 tonnes per hectare forsoft wheat in 1987/88 compared with 5.6 tonnes in 1986/87 andthe record high yield of 6.5/6.6 tonnes in 1984. This would result in a French soft wheat harvest of around31 mln tonnes against 25.5 mln in 1986/87, given a Ministry ofAgriculture estimate of area planted of 4.66 mln hectaresagainst 4.61 mln in 1986/87. ONIC's first preliminary forecast of the 1987/88 campaignwill be released at the beginning of September, an ONICofficial said. Soft wheat exports in 1987/88 were extremely difficult toestimate at this stage, both within the European Community andto non-EC countries, an ONIC official said. He said, however, that among countries to which Francecould increase its wheat exports were Egypt and the Maghrebcountries (Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia), he said. The USDA's forecast of an 11.65 mln tonne maize crop in1987/88 against 11.48 mln in 1986/87, while again premature,was not out of line with estimates of the French MaizeProducers Association, AGPM, an AGPM official said. Maize plantings would be down in 1987/88 but yields wereexpected to be higher, the AGPM official said. It estimated 1987/88 maize plantings of 1.73 mln hectares,down seven pct from the 1.87 mln hectares planted in 1986/87.
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[
"wheat",
"grain",
"corn"
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The Bank of England said it gave themoney market late, unspecified assistance of around 185 mlnstg. This takes the total liquidity injected into the system bythe bank today to 1.026 billion stg compared with a shortage itestimated at around one billion stg. Overnight interbank sterling dipped to 10 nine pct afterthe bank's announcement compared with levels around 10-1/2 pctshortly before and 11-1/4 11 pct initially today, dealers said.
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"money-fx"
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U.S. Trade Representative ClaytonYeutter suggested the U.S. could file a formal complaint withthe General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) challengingCanada's decision to impose duties on U.S. corn imports. Asked about the Canadian government decision to apply aduty of 84.9 cents per bushel on U.S. corn shipments, Yeuttersaid the U.S. could file a formal complaint with GATT under thedispute settlement procedures of the subsidies code. Other U.S. options would be to appeal the decision inCanadian courts, or to retaliate against Canadian goods, alower-level U.S. trade official said. However, retaliation isan unlikely step, at least initially, that official said. Nodecision on U.S. action is expected at least until afterdocuments on the ruling are received here later this week.
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[
"corn",
"grain"
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The National Pork Board announced at theAmerican Pork Congress convention in Indianapolis that refundsunder the legislative checkoff program are running less thanexpected. The Board oversees collection and distribution of fundsfrom the checkoff program that was mandated by the 1985 farmbill. Virgil Rosendale, a pork producer from Illinois andchairman of the National Pork Board, said over 2.2 mln dlrs wascollected in January and refunds are running almost nine pct,considerably less than expected. "We believe that this indicates good producer support forthe new checkoff. We're getting good compliance from markets,from packers and from dealers," Rosendale said.
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[
"carcass",
"livestock"
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Central bankers said theywere generally satisfied with the response to the Paris accordtwo weeks ago to stabilize currencies at around current levels. Speaking after a meeting at the Bank for InternationalSettlements (BIS), which reviewed the agreement, they alsowelcomed interest rates cuts in France and today's drop inBritish rates. One top official said the rate cuts would helpto stimulate growth generally in Europe and welcomed thatcountries other than West Germany were seen to be helpingsustain the economy. The central bankers, who spoke on the condition they not benamed, said the meeting of governors from the Group of 10countries also heard a report from Michel Camdessus, the newmanaging director of the International Monetary Fund, on theIMF's latest assessment of the debt crisis. In particular, theydiscussed Brazil's debt moratorium. But there was no sense of urgency, they said, and Brazilhad made no appeal for bridging loans from the BIS or centralbanks.
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The Panamanian bulk carrier Juvena isstill aground outside Tartous, Syria, despite discharging 6,400tons of its 39,000-ton cargo of wheat, and water has enteredthe engine-room due to a crack in the vessel bottom, LloydsShipping Intelligence Service said. The Juvena, 53,351 tonnes dw, ran aground outside Tartousport basin breakwater on February 25 in heavy weather and roughseas.
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"wheat",
"grain",
"ship"
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Grain analysts surveyed by the AmericanSoybean Association, ASA, projected acreage this year at 59.1mln acres of soybeans and 64.7 mln acres of corn. In 1986, farmers planted 61.5 mln acres of soybeans and76.7 mln acres of corn, according to the February 9 USDAsupply/demand report. The USDA is to release its 1987 plantingintentions report March 31. The survey included 15 soybean estimates and 13 cornestimates and was released in the March 16 Soybean Updatenewsletter sent to members. Estimates ranged from 56.0 mln to 63.0 mln acres ofsoybeans and 59.5 mln to 68.0 mln acres of corn. An ASA spokesman said the association plans no survey offarmers' planting intentions this year.
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[
"oilseed",
"corn",
"soybean",
"grain"
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Total corn sales by Argentina to theSoviet Union are only 1.5 to 1.8 mln tonnes, with deliveryspread out from March to June, the U.S. AgricultureDepartment's Counselor in Buenos Aires said in a field report. The report, dated March 27, said many sources have statedthat the Soviet Union was initially interested in purchasing2.3 mln tonnes lof corn from Argentina. However, Soviet purchases from the United States havetended to displace additional Argentine purchases, the reportsaid. The USDA has to date reported USSR purchases of 2.6 mlntonnes of U.S. corn for delivery in the current U.S.-USSR grainagreement year, which ends this September 30, it said.
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"grain",
"corn"
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Iran's top war spokesman Ali AkbarHashemi Rafsanjani on Tuesday called the U.S. Attacks on two ofits Gulf oil platforms an escalation and promised retaliation. "God willing, we will carry out our duty in the coming daysand make them sorry," said Rafsanjani in a speech to Parliamentlater broadcast by Tehran Radio. The Tehran leadership have been quick to threaten vengeanceafter the U.S. Raids on the rigs, one of which was destroyed. President Ali Khamenei, Prime Minister Mir-Hossein Mousaviand now Rafsanjani within 24 hours of the U.S. Action have allvowed retaliation. Rafsanjani, the parliamentary speaker, said, "It is not athreat or an attempt at intimidation when we say we willrespond to aggression -- it is a reality and we have proved itin practice." He added that the American attack "squares neitherwith its superpower image nor its claim of concern withsecurity, nor reason and wisdom." U.S. Warships shelled an Iranian offshore oil platform andAmerican special forces boarded another, destroying equipment. The U.S. Government said the attack was a measured responseto an Iranian missile attack on the American-flagged Kuwaititanker Sea Isle City in Kuwaiti waters last Friday.
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[
"ship",
"crude"
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The Senate Agriculture committee votedto limit changes in county loan rate differentials startingwith the 1988 crop as part of a budget deficit reductionpackage. The panel also approved measures that could trigger largercorn and wheat acreage reduction requirements, increasefarmer-held reserve storage payments, reduce a potential milksupport price cut, and require advance deficiency payments forproducers of major crops. A proposal to require imported tropical oils be labeled onU.S. food products failed by a 10-8 vote.
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"veg-oil",
"grain"
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Australia is risking wheat exportsales by not providing enough specific quality grades to meetbuyer requirements, the Australian Wheat Board (AWB) said. "Many AWB customers are becoming increasingly qualityconscious, demanding strict adherence to contractual qualityspecifications," the board said in a submission to the RoyalCommission into Grain Storage, Handling and Transport. "Many of the specifications are more specific than thecurrent categories used in Australia," it said. The commission is trying to identify ways of saving costsand boosting efficiency of the grain handling system. Australia must rely on quality to retain its wheat marketshare because its competitors are supplying cheaper butlower-quality grades, the AWB submission said. It stressed the need to segregate wheat categories at everystage from receival to shipping. Better industrial relations at grain terminals, moreuniform transport systems across the states and extensive stockcontrol were vital to improved marketing, it said. The submission also said Australia's federal system impededthe AWB's role of coordinating and managing the marketing ofwheat. The AWB called for an end to physical and legislativeconstraints at state borders that prevent the efficienttransport of grains to other states for shipment. "It is essential that wheat moves by the most economic modeto the nearest efficient port, irrespective of the state inwhich the wheat is grown or stored," it said. For example, wheat grown in northern New South Wales (NSW)might move more efficiently to Brisbane, in Queensland, than toSydney or Newcastle in New South Wales, it said. Similarly,southern NSW wheat might better be shipped to Portland orGeelong, in Victoria. Legislation giving state rail authorities a monopoly overgrain shipments was one notable impediment, it said. The AWB said the current approach of state-based bulkhandling authorities is not essential, although it said itfavoured the authorities maintaining at least their currentlevel of control of storage and transport as long as qualitywas maintained. An appendix on port loading costs showed it cost between26,500 and 34,700 U.S. Dlrs to load a 50,000-tonne vessel atvarious Australian ports compared with 21,200 dlrs at Houstonand 16,300 at Port Cartier, Quebec, for a 60,000-tonner.
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"wheat",
"grain"
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The Bundesbank did not intervene asthe dollar was fixed lower at 1.8218 marks after 1.8243yesterday, dealers said. Dealers said dollar trading was very quiet over theEuropean morning, with operators made wary by today's meetingof the Group of Five finance ministers and central bank chiefsahead of the full IMF/World Bank session in Washington. It was undermined by remarks from U.S. Council of EconomicAdvisers Chairman Beryl Sprinkel who told Iowa bankers the U.S.Had no objective regarding the value of the dollar. Sprinkel also called the reference to stabilizing exchangerates at about current levels, made at the Paris meeting onFebruary 22, a "vague statement," casting doubt on operators'assumptions that a secret target level had been set. Sprinkel added that if West Germany and Japan made progressto stimulate their economies as the Paris agreement envisaged,"there would not be the necessity of significant declines in thedollar." One dealer for a U.S.-based bank noted the dollar tendedeasier after the remarks. "They were obviously regarded as beingnegative. And if the market starts regarding anything thatcomes out negatively then it means that the underlyingsentiment is negative," he said. Some early selling pressure softened the dollar'sundertone. Most operators overlooked intervention by the Bank of Japanto support the dollar against selling in favour of the yen byinstitutional investors and overseas operators, dealers said. After the strong focus on the dollar/yen rate in recentweeks up to the end of the Japanese financial year on March 31,interest and activity was likely to switch, dealers said. "We can start to look at a point in time where the interestshifts away from dollar/yen and more into dollar/mark and theother European currencies," the U.S. Bank dealer said. Despite the softer undertone, traders would remain wary oftaking significant new positions during the Washingtonmeetings, dealers said. Aside from the G-5 session today,Bundesbank President Karl Otto Poehl is due to meet the GermanAffairs group on international monetary issues later. The mark gained some strength from news the Bundesbank seta new securities repurchase tender to add money marketliquidity at a fixed 3.80 pct, unchanged from those over thelast several weeks. Some expectation had been growing that itmight cut the rate or move to a minimum interest rate tender,signalling a desire for a slight easing in credit policy. Bundesbank central bank council member Lothar Mueller saidthe Bundesbank had not given up its focus on money supply. Amonetary policy which took into account exchange rates andcapital flows could not be confused with an exchange-rateoriented policy, he said, contradicting some growing sentiment. Sterling eased a touch to 2.950 marks at the fixing from2.957. The yen's unabated strength, despite the intervention,brought it up to 1.2555 marks per 100 from yesterday's 1.2480. The Swiss franc rose to a fix of 120.515 marks per 100 from120.180. The French franc eased to 30.055 marks per 100 after30.060, Belgian franc was little changed at 4.829 marks per100.
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Kenya's coffee and tea growing areasremained generally dry for the second consecutive week, in theperiod to April 28, weather and farming sources said. All areas east and west of the Rift Valley recorded below25 mm of rain with western Kericho town having only 21 mm, theysaid. Kericho, which last year received 387 mm in April lastyear, has so far recorded only 176 mm and little rain isforecast throughout the country in the next two days. Tea and coffee crops are doing well but farmers fear thatoutput will be low if the unusually dry spell continues. Aprilis normally the wettest month in Kenya.
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"coffee",
"tea"
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The Turkish Central Bank set aLira/Dollar rate for April 8 of 784.50/788.42 to the Dollar,down from the previous 784.35/788.27. The Bank also set a Lira/Mark rate of 430.60/432.75 to theMark, down from the previous 429.35/431.50.
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"dmk",
"dlr",
"money-fx"
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The U.S. Agriculture Department saidprivate U.S. exporters reported new sales of 900,000 tonnes ofcorn to the Soviet Union and 350,000 tonnes of corn switchedfrom previously announced unknown destinations to the USSR. The corn is for delivery during the 1986/87 marketing yearand under the fourth year of the U.S.-USSR Long Term GrainSupply Agreement, the USDA said. The department said exporters also reported corn sales of143,000 tonnes for delivery to Taiwan, with 56,000 tonnes forshipment in the 1986/87 season and the balance for shipment inthe 1987/88 year. The marketing year for corn began September 1. Sales of corn to the USSR for delivery during the fourthyear of the agreement, which ends this September 30, now total2.25 mln tonnes.
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"corn",
"grain"
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Fritz Leutwiler, chairman ofBBC AG Brown Boveri und Cie and a former Swiss National Bankpresident, urged the National Bank to declare its intent ofachieving a rising rate for the mark against the Swiss franc. In a speech to shareholders, Leutwiler said, "A graduallyrising rate for the mark in relation to the franc would bedesirable from the standpoint of industrial exports and withregard to sustaining Swiss industry." "Simply an appropriate declaration of intent by our bank ofissue (Swiss National Bank) could have a positive effect," hesaid. Leutwiler, who served 10 years as head of the Swiss centralbank, said such a step would not contradict the National Bank'starget of monetary stability. "Bringing the franc close to the mark would, of course, haveto be done step by step under the watchful eye of monetarypolicy," he told shareholders. "Realistically there is in fact nopersuasive reason why the German currency is quoted almost 20pct lower than the Swiss." A National Bank spokesman said the relation of the mark andSwiss franc was an example of stable currency parities over along period of time. The spokesman said exchange rates were made by the market,not the central bank, and it would be impossible to influenceindividual parities separately. Leutwiler said the Swiss National Bank could not supportthe value of the dollar, even in conjunction with other centralbanks, without putting monetary stability in jeopardy. "I would be the last to recommend that. The key to astronger dollar lies in the United States itself," Leutwilersaid.
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[
"sfr",
"money-fx",
"dmk"
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The Canadian government is expectedto announce later this week its final ruling whether U.S. cornexports to Canada have injured Ontario corn growers, U.S.government and farm group representatives said. The deadline for a final determination is March 7. U.S. officials said they are encouraged by the outcome in asimilar case covering European pasta imports. In that case,Canada decided pasta imports, which take about ten pct of theCanadian market, did not injure domestic producers. U.S. cornexports represent only about five pct of the Canadian market. Canada slapped a 1.05 dlrs per bushel duty on U.S. cornimports in November 1986, but reduced the duty to 85 cts lastmonth because the Canadian government said U.S. subsidies to corn producers were less than Canada earlier estimated.
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"corn",
"grain"
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Bank of Japan governor Satoshi Sumitasaid the central bank has no intention of cutting its discountrate again as a way of preventing the yen's rise. He told a press conference that the growth of Japanesemoney supply remains high. The bank will have to watch closely various developmentsresulting from its already eased monetary stance, such as thesharp rise in real estate and stock prices, he said. Although the yen's rise will have a greater deflationaryimpact on the economy, the economy is not likely to slow downmuch further, Sumita said. "I don't think we should change our economic outlook at themoment," Sumita said. Sumita has said in the past that he expects the economy toshow a gradual upturn in the second half of the year. The governor said the six major industrial nations areexpected to review last month's pact on currency stability whenthey meet next in April. Dealers said they expect the six - Britain, Canada, France,Japan, the U.S. Amd West Germany - to meet just before theIMF/World Bank interim committee meeting in Washington startingon April 9.
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"money-fx",
"interest"
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Two days of talks between management andunions to try to end the 3-1/2 month labour dispute at CargillU.K. Ltd's oilseed crushing plant at Seaforth ended yesterdaywithout resolving the situation, a company spokesman said. Fresh talks are expected to be held early next week but theactual date has not yet been fixed, he added. Oilseed processing at the mill has been at a standstillsince December 19 and the company has declared force majeurefor deliveries of soymeal and soyoil ahead to May.
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[
"veg-oil",
"soybean",
"soy-meal",
"soy-oil",
"oilseed"
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Indonesia's exports of tea and cocoawill continue to rise in calendar 1987 but coffee exports areforecast to dip slightly in 1987/88 (April-March) as thegovernment tries to improve quality, the U.S. Embassy said. The embassy's annual report on Indonesian agricultureforecast coffee output in 1986/87 would be 5.77 mln bags of 60kilograms each. That is slightly less than the 5.8 mln bagsproduced in 1985/86. In 1987/88 coffee production is forecast to rise again to5.8 mln bags, but exports to dip to 4.8 mln from around 5.0 mlnin 1986/87. Exports in 1985/86 were 4.67 mln bags. The embassy report says coffee stocks will rise to 1.3 mlntonnes in 1987/88 from 1.15 mln in 1986/87. It bases this on afall in exports as a result of the "probable" re-introduction ofquotas by the International Coffee Organisation. Cocoa production and exports are forecast to rise steadilyas the government develops cocoa plantations. Production ofcocoa in Indonesia increased to 32,378 tonnes in calendar 1985from 10,284 tonnes in 1980. It is projected by the governmentto rise to more than 50,000 tonnes by 1988. Production in 1986 is estimated by the embassy at 35,000tonnes, as against 38,000 tonnes in 1987. The report forecasts cocoa exports to rise to 35,000 tonnesthis year, from 33,000 tonnes in 1986 and 31,000 in 1985. The Netherlands is at present the biggest importer ofIndonesian cocoa beans. The report forecasts that in calendar 1987, Indonesia's CTC(crushed, torn and curled) tea exports will increasesignificantly with the coming on stream of at least eight newCTC processing plants. Indonesia plans to diversify its tea products by producingmore CTC tea, the main component of tea bags. Production of black and green teas is forecast in theembassy report to rise to 125,000 tonnes in calendar 1987 from123,000 tonnes in 1986. Exports of these teas are likely to rise to 95,000 tonnesin 1987 from 85,000 in 1986 and around 90,000 in 1985. The embassy noted the ministry of trade tightened qualitycontrols on tea in October 1986 in an effort to become morecompetititve in the world market.
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[
"cocoa",
"tea",
"coffee"
] |
[] |
What topics are related to the document above?
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Contract terms for trade in coconutoil are to be changed from long tons to tonnes with effect fromthe Aug/Sep contract onwards, Dutch vegetable oil traders said. Operators have already started to take account of theexpected change and reported at least one trade in tonnes forAug/Sept shipment yesterday. The Federation of Oils Seeds and Fats Associations, FOSFA,in London said it had previously advised traders to adopt themetric system for coconut oil transactions to bring thecommodity into line with other vegetable oils.
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[
"coconut-oil",
"veg-oil"
] |
[] |
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Weekend rain over the Western Corn Beltbrought further relief to crop areas that had been dry earlierthis month, and developing weather patterns will bring welcomemoisture to central and eastern belt locations this week,according to Dale Mohler, senior meteorologist for Accu-WeatherInc. "There is going to be more rain for the next two, threedays," he said. "We're in a fairly wet pattern with normal toabove normal moisture this week." Mohler said rainfall averaged 1/2 inch across southernMinnesota, 3/4 inch over southwest Iowa, one inch in easternNebraska and 1-1/2 inches in south-central Nebraska. Illinois fields saw virtually no rain over the weekend butwere receiving scattered thundershower activity today, he said. Rain patterns will move across Indiana to Ohio withthudershower activity yielding to more general rains, he said. "Tomorrow, that eastern area will get 1/4 to one inch, apretty good rain," Mohler said. Rain was heavier than expected over the weekend, sparkingan early selloff in soybean futures at the Chicago Board ofTrade. Prices were off 14 to 20-1/2 cents with November off19-1/2 cents at 5.43-1/2 dlrs. Mohler said the cold front now over the eastern belt isexpected to move over the central Midwest, then move northlater in the week. That could bring new rain patterns acrossthe Corn Belt and assure good crop conditions asearly-developed corn moves into the crucial pollination stagein early July, he said.
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[
"oilseed",
"corn",
"soybean",
"grain"
] |
[] |
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Zambia's marketed maize production willprobably fall to less than 630,000 tonnes in 1986/87 (May-Apr),from 918,000 last year, because of poor rainfall in majorproducing areas, Agriculture Minister Kingsley Chinkuli said. He told Parliament that in the southern provinces theharvest would be over 50 pct down on the level in the previousmarketing year. "The nation would be lucky to produce over seven mln bags(630,000 tonnes) of maize this year," he stated. Chinkuli added that Zambia was setting up an irrigationfund with Canadian aid to lessen the effects of poor rainfall.
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[
"corn",
"grain"
] |
[] |
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Major U.S. banks may lift primelending rates again within days due to recent increases intheir borrowing costs and speculation the Federal Reserve isnudging up interest rates to help the dollar, economists said. In what was the first prime rate boost since mid-1984, mostbanks in early April lifted their rates a quarter point to7-3/4 pct, citing a reduced gap between the prime and their owncost of money. That spread has narrowed again. "A prime rate increase could happen as soon as tonight,"said Robert Brusca of Nikko Securities Co International Inc. Brusca said a quarter-point prime rate rise to eight pct isjustified because the spread between banks' cost of funds andthe prime rate has narrowed to less than three quarters of apercentage point. He said that spread had averaged around 1.4 percentagepoints since last October until it fell below one point andtriggered the April prime rate rise at most banks. "We could easily have another prime rate increase as soonas this week," said David Jones of Aubrey G. Lanston and Co. "We've got a fairly good chance of a prime rate rise in thenear future," said Allan Leslie of Discount Corp. "Based on the spread between the prime rate and fundingcosts, you would ordinarily see a prime rate increase now,"said Harold Nathan, economist at Wells Fargo Bank. However, he said banks may be reluctant to lift the primebecause that would dampen already fairly weak business loandemand and because some are not sure the Fed will maintainrecent upward pressure on money market interest rates. Nathan believes the Fed has let market pressures liftshort-term rates in recent days to help the ailing dollar. Hesaid "if there is widespread belief money market rates willstay high, a prime rate rise could occur at any time." Fed officials have long expressed concern that too steep adollar drop could help rekindle U.S. inflation. As the dollarfell to a 40-year low against the yen Friday, currency traderssaid the Fed and other central banks supported the dollar. In addition to buying dollars outright, another way tostabilize the U.S. currency would be for the Fed to push U.S.interest rates higher relative to overseas rates. Based particularly on the Fed's reserve management actionson Friday and today, Nathan of Wells Fargo said "it has becomeclear that the Fed is not fully resisting upward rate pressurein the market. It is supplying fewer reserves than are needed." Bank funding costs and other short and long-term interestrates rose sharply Friday and today on heightened speculationthat the Fed is gently firming monetary policy. That was because the Fed supplied far fewer reserves in themarket than most economists had expected. On Friday, the Fed added reserves indirectly and in smallamounts via one billion dlrs of customer repurchase agreementswith the Federal funds rate at which banks lend to one anotherhigh at 6-5/16 pct. With funds trading even higher at 6-1/2 pcttoday, the Fed arranged only a slightly larger 1.5 billion dlrround of customer repurchase agreements. "The Fed's actions on Friday and today show that it isoffering only token resistance to upward funds rate pressures,"said Jones of Lanston. "The Fed is focusing its policy attention mainly on theneed to defend the dollar," Jones said. He believes it ismerely shading policy toward restraint now, "but to have amajor impact on the dollar, the Fed will have to tighten policyovertly at some point." Jones expects the Fed to foster higher market rates bybecoming more restrictive in supplying reserves and, withinfour to six weeks, to raise its discount rate from 5-1/2 pct. Jones said a U.S. discount rate increase to six pct mightwell be accompanied by West German and Japanese rate cuts tofurther aid the dollar. Given likely Fed policy firming, he said both the yield on30-year Treasury bonds (about 8.30 pct now) and the prime ratemay be at 8-1/2 pct at end-June and nine pct by year's end. "The jury is still out on whether the Fed is tighteningpolicy to defend the dollar," said Leslie of Discount Corp. Hesaid tax-date pressures have been pushing up Fed funds lately.Leslie said Fed actions and reserve data once these pressuresabate will show whether or not it is firming policy.
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[
"money-fx",
"interest"
] |
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Standard Oil Co said a contract hasbeen awarded to <CBS Engineering Inc> for a drilling andproduction platform to be installed in Ewing Bank Block 826 inthe Gulf of Mexico where Standard and Mobil Corp each own a 40pct interest. Standard said its Standard Oil Production Co subsidiarywill operate the platform which is being designed to produce15,000 barrels of oil and 50 mln cubic feet of gas daily. Theplatform is now expected to be installed in the summer of 1988.Other owners are Kerr-McGee Corp <KMG> with 16.66 pct and<Prudential Insurance Co of America> with 3.34 pct.
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[
"nat-gas",
"crude"
] |
[] |
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The U.S. Agriculture Departmentannounced it accepted three bids from two exporters for exportbonuses to cover sales of 54,000 tonnes of durum wheat toAlgeria. USDA said the bonuses awarded were 42.45 dlrs per tonne, tobe paid in the form of commodities from CCC inventory. The bonus awards were made to Cam USA Inc (36,000 tonnes)and Corprostate Inc (18,000 tonnes). Shipment is scheduled for June 1-30, 1987. An additional 64,000 tonnes of durum wheat are stillavailable to Algeria under the export enhancement program.
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[
"wheat",
"grain"
] |
[] |
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French gross domestic product should growby 2.3 pct in 1988 after two pct growth this year and 2.1 pctin 1986, the Finance Ministry said. The latest forecast, prepared by the National Accounts andBudget Commission, assumed an exchange rate of 6.20 francs tothe dollar this year and next and an average oil import pricerising to 18.9 dlrs a barrel next year from 17.4 dlrs this yearand 14.7 in 1986. The Commission, headed by Finance minister EdouardBalladur, forecast a fall in consumer price inflation to twopct year-on-year at end-1988 from 2.4 pct at end 1987 and 2.1pct last year. In annual average terms inflation would fall to two pct in1988 from 2.5 pct this year and 2.7 pct last year, it said. Trade should show a one billion franc annual surplus thisyear and next after last year's 0.5 billion surplus, it added. Employment should rise by 0.1 pct a year over the next twoyears while the state budget deficit should be cut to 2.2 pctof GDP in 1988 from 2.6 pct this year and 2.9 pct in 1986. Other forecasts prepared by the Commission indicated a 1.8pct 1988 rise in household purchasing power, up from 1.1 pctthis year but less than last year's 2.9 pct, and a 1.6 pct risein household consumption, compared with this year's 1.5 pct andlast year's 2.9 pct. Business investment is forecast to rise four pct a yearthis year and next after 3.7 pct last year, with private sectorproductive investment rising 4.9 pct in 1988 after a six pctrise this year and 5.5 pct in 1986. The Ministry said updated forecasts would be preparedbefore the autumn to serve as the basis for the 1988 budget,which the government is now preparing for presentation inSeptember.
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[
"jobs",
"trade",
"retail",
"gnp"
] |
[] |
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Kelley Oil and Gas Partners Ltd said ithas agreed to purchase all of CF Industries Inc's oil andnatural gas properties for about 5,500,000 dlrs, effective July1. It said the Louisiana properties had proven reserves atyear-end of 11 billion cubic feet of natural gas and 85,000barrels of oil, condensate and natural gas liquids. Kelley said it currently owns working interests in some ofthe properties.
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[
"crude",
"acq",
"nat-gas"
] |
[] |
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Turkey's Central Bank set a lira/dollarrate for April 3 of 782.50/786.41 to the dollar, down from780.00/783.90. It set a lira/D-mark rate of 428.30/430.44 tothe mark, up from 429.15/431.30.
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[
"dlr",
"money-fx",
"dmk"
] |
[] |
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Portugal's economy, which has beenenjoying one of its most buoyant periods in more than a decade,may now be strong enough to shrug off the country's latestgovernment crisis, analysts said. But the April 3 ousting of Prime Minister Anibal CavacoSilva's government could slow economic reforms and investmentas Portugal continues to adapt to membership in the EuropeanCommunity, which it joined in January last year, they said. Cavaco Silva's minority Social Democratic Party, PSD, wastoppled in a parliamentary censure vote by left-wing parties. The centre-right administration had made economic growthreform a priority in its 17 months in office. In 1986, Portugal's economy grew four pct, its currentaccount surplus swelled to more than one billion dlrs andinflation fell to 10 pct, from 20 pct in 1985. Analysts and businessmen said the prospects of instabilitywere worrying but they felt the foundations for continuedgrowth had not been badly shaken. "The economy has developed a certain self-confidence that isnow less dependent on the political situation," said FritzHaser, economics professor at Universidade Livre, Lisbon. "The market doesn't see this as a real crisis yet," economistJorge Braga de Macedo told Reuters. Businessmen have identified political instability over thelast 13 years as one of the biggest obstacles to lastingeconomic progress. The PSD administration was the 16th formed since the 1974revolution. Portugal's developing stock markets, however, remainbuoyant. Brokers and unit trust managers said the recent surgein economic confidence under the PSD rule was still largelyunderpinned by continuing optimistic forecasts. Investment grew nearly 10 pct in 1986 and a Bank ofPortugal forecast, released on the day the PSD government fell,predicted the pace of investment and overall economic growthwould remain at similar levels this year. But analysts said the crisis interrupted current policiesand could slow economic development. Soares, who is expected to announce a decision by the endof the month, can either call early elections or form a newgovernment from parties in the existing left wing-dominatedparliament. Many businessmen said they strongly favoured quickelections as the best solution. "There is a good chance that amajority government could result from early elections,"Confederation of Portuguese Industry (CIP) president PedroFerraz da Costa said. He said they were optimistic this could mean thecontinuation in the near future of liberalisation policiesintroduced over the last year. The left-wing parties favour a parliamentary solution, butthe PSD said it wants an early election in which opinion pollssay they could win an overall majority. A PSD majority would also open the way for morewide-ranging reforms, such as relaxation of labour laws andpossible denationalisation of industry, the analysts said. Cavaco Silva has accused the left-wing opposition partiesof blocking key economic reforms. The left-wingers said Portugal's positive economic resultswere more the product of favourable international conditionssuch as cheaper oil and raw material imports, than of PSDpolicies.
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[
"bop",
"gnp",
"cpi"
] |
[] |
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Grain traders said they were stillawaiting results of yesterday's U.K. Intervention feed wheattender for the home market. The market sought to buy 340,000 tonnes, more than doublethe remaining 150,000 tonnes available under the currenttender. However, some of the tonnage included duplicate bidsfor supplies in the same stores. Since the tenders started last July 861,000 tonnes ofBritish feed wheat have been sold back to the home market.
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[
"grain",
"wheat"
] |
[] |
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The joint committee of Taiwan's soybeanimporters awarded a contract to Cargill Inc of Minneapolis,Minnesota, for supply of one 32,000 tonne cargo of U.S.Soybeans, a committee spokesman told Reuters. The cargo, priced at 249.10 U.S. Dlrs per tonne c and fTaiwan, is set for delivery before July 7, he said. The committee cancelled a tender for another cargo becausethe prices offered by U.S. Suppliers were too high, he added.
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[
"soybean",
"oilseed"
] |
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The Bank of England said it has forecasta shortage of around 700 mln stg in the system today. Among the main factors, maturing assistance and take-up oftreasury bills will drain 546 mln stg, bills for repurchase bythe market 76 mln, a rise in note circulation 310 mln andbankers balances below target 105 mln. The outflow will be partly offset by 340 mln stg exchequertransactions.
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[
"interest",
"money-fx"
] |
[] |
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Trade between Argentina and Braziljumped 90 pct in 1986 versus 1985, Foreign Minister DanteCaputo said. Speaking to reporters, Caputo said the near doubling intrade showed the "tangible and immediate results" of a wide-ranging economic integration accord signed by the presidents ofboth countries last July. He said trade last year totalled 1.3 billion dlrs versus700 mln dlrs in 1985. The accord provided for capital goods trade between the twocountries to rise to 2.0 billion dlrs over four years. Argentine wheat exports to Brazil will increase from1,375,000 tonnes in 1987 to 2.0 mln tonnes in 1991, the accordsaid.
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[
"grain",
"trade",
"wheat"
] |
[] |
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New Zealand may need about 100,000tonnes of wheat this year, which would normally come fromAustralia, but may be from the United States, the U.S.Agriculture Department said. In its report on Export Markets for U.S. Grains, thedepartment said with the deregulation of the New Zealand WheatBoard, which normally imports wheat from Australia, there isthe possibility of wheat purchases from the united states sincethe shipping cost between New Zealand and the Eastern Coast ofAustralia and the West Coast of the United States are aboutequal.
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[
"wheat",
"grain"
] |
[] |
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Congress should give the U.S.Agriculture Secretary the authority to keep the 1987 soybeanloan rate at the current effective rate of 4.56 dlrs per bushelin order to help resolve the problem of soybean exportcompetitiveness, USDA undersecretary Dan Amstutz said. Speaking to reporters following a Senate AgricultureAppropriations hearing, Amstutz suggested that one way out ofthe current soybean program "dilemma" would be for Congress toallow the loan rate to remain at 4.56 dlrs. He indicated if theloan rate were 4.56 dlrs, USDA could then consider ways to makeU.S. soybeans more competitive such as using certificates tofurther buydown the loan rate. Under current law, the 1987 soybean loan rate cannot beless than 4.77 dlrs per bu. Amstutz' suggestion would be for Congress to change thefarm bill to allow USDA to leave the soybean loan rate at 4.56dlrs in crop year 1987 rather than increase it to 4.77 dlrs. The 1986 effective loan rate is 4.56 dlrs because of the4.3 pct Gramm-Rudman budget cut. Amstutz stressed that a major factor in any decision onsoybean program changes will be the budget costs. He told the hearing that the problem in soybeans is thatthe U.S. loan rate provides an "umbrella" to foreign productionand causes competitive problems for U.S. soybeans. Asked about the American Soybean Association's request forsome form of income support, Amstutz said "the competitiveproblem is the most severe." He said USDA is still studying thesituation and "no resolution" has yet been found.
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[
"soybean",
"oilseed"
] |
[] |
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The U.S. Mint said it is seekingoffers on 3,701,000 lbs of electrolytic copper and 629,000 lbsof electrolytic cut nickel cathodes or briquettes that itintends to purchase. It said both metals are for delivery in the week of May 11to Olin Corp, East Alton, Ill. Offers for the copper are due by 1100 hrs EDT, April 21,while offers on the nickel are due at 1100 hrs EDT on April 14. The Mint said that firms, in submitting their offers,select to receive payment by standard check or be wiretransfer. Awards are determined by whichever of the two methodsis most cost advantageous, based on the cost of money at thattime. The minimum acceptance periods for each solicitation isthree calendar days for the copper and 10 calendar days for thenickel, the Mint said.
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[
"nickel",
"copper"
] |
[] |
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Consolidated Natural Gas Co said itsCNG Producing Co subsidiary, bidding alone or with partners,was the apparent high bidder on six of seven tracts it south atWednesday's sale of federal oil and gas leases in the Gulf ofMexico. The company said it share of the six bids totaled 6.2 mlndlrs. Its 100 pct interest bids were on three offshore tracts-- West Cameron 209, 302 and 303. Consolidated has a 50 pctinterest in the bid for Eugene Island 375 and Ship Shoal 128and 129. The remaining interest in 139 is held by Sun EnergyPartners <SLP>, which is 96.3 pct owned by Sun Co Inc <SUN>.<Union Texas Petroleum Corp>, which is 49.7 pct owned byAllied-Signal Inc <ALD>, is Consolidated's partner on the othertwo tracts.
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[
"nat-gas",
"crude"
] |
[] |
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Japanese feed and starch makers activelybought U.S. Corn last week, C and F basis, for July/Septembershipment in view of bullish freight rates following activeinquiries by the Soviet Union, trade sources said. Some said the makers were seen buying some 30 pct of theirrequirements, estimated at about three mln tonnes for thethree-month shipment period. "Belief is growing that freight rates will not declinesharply from current high levels even in the usually sluggishsummer season because the Soviet Union's chartering is seencontinuing five to seven months from April," one source said. The sources said Japanese trading houses were seen coveringa total of 500,000 tonnes of Chinese corn for shipment in Mayto October. But they are believed to have not yet sold most ofthe corn to end-users in anticipation of further corn pricerises in the world market. Supply from Argentina and South Africa for July/Septemberis still uncertain. But the sources forecast supplies fromArgentina may fall to 400,000 to 500,000 tonnes from ananticipated 800,000 in calendar 1987 and from South Africa to700,000 to 800,000 tonnes from an estimated one mln in light oftighter export availability.
|
[
"corn",
"grain"
] |
[] |
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