Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Strategies & Market Trends : Commodities - The Coming Bull Market -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Stephen O who wrote (931)	11/20/2001 4:36:13 PM
From: craig crawford	Respond to of 1643

Gold output drops heraldsun.news.com.au 19nov01 AUSTRALIAN gold production is running at a five-year low, just as offshore interest in the industry peaks. Mining consulting group Surbiton Associates, however, said the 8 per cent fall in September quarter output to 68.5 tonnes may have been influenced by the higher Australian gold price. "Some miners may well have decided to take advantage of the higher price and treated some lower grade ore this quarter," Surbiton managing director Sandra Close said. "This enables profits to be maintained and also extends mine life, even though fewer ounces are produced," Dr Close said. Production constraints and lower grades at the Super Pit meant Normandy NFM's Granites operation temporarily assumed the mantle of Australia's biggest producer. Ownership of the Super Pit will go offshore if Newmont's bid for Normandy Mining is successful. Assuming the $3.8 billion offer succeeds, offshore ownership of the industry is expected to increase to about 60 per cent, according to Surbiton.

To: Stephen O who wrote (931)	11/20/2001 4:38:35 PM
From: craig crawford	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1643

Oil drags commodities down with it 33-month low: report nationalpost.com The Canadian Press TORONTO - Falling world oil markets have dragged commodity prices to a 33-month low, says the Bank of Montreal in a report released yesterday. The bank said its commodity price index has dropped to its lowest level since February, 1999. The October index dropped 4.7% to 98.4, marking the eighth time in the past 10 months the index has dropped. The bank uses 1993 as a reference point of 100 for the index. In October, all major commodity groups, except agricultural products, fell as the global economy worsened in the wake of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the United States. The index reflects the growing weakness in Canada's resources economy, where oil and gas, forestry and mining and metals industries are major employers across the country. It also helps explain the recent historic lows of the Canadian dollar, a currency whose strength is tied to the price of commodities and global demand for Canadian resources. In its report, Bank of Montreal said its monthly commodity index has dropped 26.4% in the last year, with the oil and gas index leading the fall with a year-to-year decline of 45.6%. Crude oil prices have dropped to about US$22 in October from a high of close to US$35 a barrel last October. In the first two weeks of November, the benchmark West Texas Intermediate crude had dropped to US$17.50 as further production cuts by OPEC were put into doubt by the refusal of non-OPEC oil producer Russia to make major cuts of its own. "The increased uncertainty about near-term global economic conditions has continued to undermine commodity prices," said Earl Sweet, the bank's associate chief economist. "We now believe that this year's price levels will finish below 1993 levels." The bank's economists reported the oil and gas index was hurt by a 16.4% drop in the price of crude oil in October, more than offsetting a 23% rise in the price of natural gas. Weak global demand has increased world oil stockpiles and continues to squeeze energy markets. "Unless OPEC and other major oil exporters further restrain production, inventories will continue to rise over winter and oil prices will remain under downward pressure through to the summer of 2002," Mr. Sweet said. Among other commodity groups: - The metals and minerals index fell 2.8% in October and has dropped 14.3% since October, 2000. However, the bank said it expects prices to rebound by next spring because of slim inventories and an economic rebound. - The North American recession has softened demand for lumber and pulp and paper and has continued to cut into forest product prices. The forestry index has dropped 14.3% from its level of a year earlier and is now lower than it has been since mid-1993. - The agricultural index gained 3.2% for the month, taking it to an improved 4.8% for the year. The increase was related to a substantial reduction in world wheat inventories over the past several years to historically low levels. Improved markets for major grains and oilseeds are expected to lead to higher prices over the next two years, the bank said.

To: Stephen O who wrote (931)	11/20/2001 4:48:03 PM
From: craig crawford	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1643

Chile Collahuasi copper mine may delay expansion money.iwon.com Monday November 19, 3:13 PM EST SANTIAGO, Chile, Nov 19 (Reuters) - Chilean copper mine Dona Ines de Collahuasi may postpone a planned $600 million expansion because of sagging prices for the metal, a senior executive said on Monday. The company will decide on the expansion at a board meeting later this month. "I believe one of the topics to be analyzed in that meeting is precisely the timing for carrying out the expansion," chief financial officer Tomas Keller told Reuters. "The postponement of the decision to expand is certainly a possibility in the current context," he added. Keller will replace Diego Hernandez as the company's chief executive officer on Dec. 1, when Hernandez takes the helm at the nonferrous metals unit of Brazilian mining firm CVRD (VALE5). Falconbridge Ltd. (FL) and Anglo American Plc (AAL) each own 44 percent of Collahuasi. A Japanese consortium led by Mitsui Mining & Smelting Co. Ltd. (5706) owns the remaining 12 percent. Last month, the world's major copper producers began to curtail production to counter weak demand for the commodity and prop up prices. The announcements and expectations of further cuts immediately vaulted copper prices higher. In London, prices rose to a 2-1/2 month high in premarket trading on Monday, above the $1,500 a tonne mark. The Collahuasi expansion, originally slated to go onstream in 2004, would increase the mine's milling capacity, boosting the output of copper concentrates to an average 396,000 tonnes annually from the current average of 240,000 tonnes. The company completed the feasibility study for the project in the first quarter of this year and Chilean authorities approved the environmental impact study in September. Simultaneously, Collahuasi plans to move from the open-pit Ujina deposit to the adjacent Rosario ore body. Higher ore grades at the mine led Collahuasi to post its highest quarterly copper production ever in the third quarter, according to Falconbridge's quarterly report. In 2000, the mine produced 436,000 tonnes of copper. Hernandez said expected annual output in 2002 is about 420,000 tonnes, slightly lower than this year's total.