March 1 (Reuters) - Gold edged higher on Monday, recovering
from an eight-month low touched in the previous session, as a
weaker dollar lifted bullion's appeal.
FUNDAMENTALS
* Spot gold rose 0.3% to $1,739.31 per ounce by 0108
GMT, after hitting its lowest since June at $1,716.85 on Friday.
U.S. gold futures gained 0.4% to $1,736.10.
* The dollar slipped from a one-week high hit in the
previous session, making gold cheaper for holders of other
currencies.
* Bullion, however, posted its worst monthly fall since
November 2016 in February due to rising U.S. Treasury Yields,
which increase the opportunity cost of holding non-yielding
gold.
* U.S. House of Representatives passed a $1.9 trillion
coronavirus relief package early Saturday.
* A global bond market rout saw government bond yields in
the United States, Germany and Australia ending February with
their biggest monthly rises in years.
* The U.S. government on Saturday authorized Johnson &
Johnson's single-dose COVID-19 vaccine, setting the
vaccine up for additional approvals around the world.
* Speculators decreased their bullish positions in COMEX
gold and silver contracts in the week to Feb. 23, the U.S.
Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) said on Friday.
* Physical gold demand in India gained momentum last week as
retail buyers and jewellers lapped up bullion at near
eight-month low prices, while Singapore continued to see steady
interest for both gold and silver.
* Silver gained 0.3% to $26.71 an ounce, while
palladium was up 1% at $2,340.69. Platinum rose
1.1% to $1,202.00.
DATA/EVENTS (GMT)
0855 Germany Markit/BME Mfg PMI
0900 EU Markit Mfg Final PMI
0930 UK Markit/CIPS Mfg PMI Final
1300 Germany CPI, HICP Prelim YY
1445 US Markit Mfg PMI Final
1500 US ISM Manufacturing PMI
(Reporting by Shreyansi Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Rashmi
Aich)
In the future, much will depend on how bond yields behave. Geopolitical tensions and inflation data will also be closely watched by market participants, experts say.
PARIS, February 25 (Reuters) – European spot electricity prices for delivery on Friday rose on Thursday due to lower forecasts for wind and solar power generation in Germany.
* Over-the-counter baseload prices for Friday delivery in Germany rose 6.2% to 48.30 euros per megawatt hour (MWh) at 1009 GMT.
* Power generation from German wind turbines is expected to fall 1.8 gigawatts (GW) day-on-day to 13.4 GW, while solar generation is expected to drop 2.2 GW to 3.6 GW, Refinitiv data show.
* “We expect wind power output to fall in the first half of the day, and increase in the latter half of tomorrow,” Refinitiv analysts said.
* French wind power supply is expected to increase by 1 GW to 3.6 GW, data show.
* Refinitiv forecast shows the average daily German wind power supply will fall to around 3 GW early next week before rising to 8 GW next Friday.
* France’s nuclear capacity reaches 75% of the total installed.
* More than half of EDF’s nuclear reactors could be operational for a decade longer than planned after maintenance work was carried out, French nuclear security watchdog ASN said on Thursday.
* French electricity demand on Friday is expected to rise 700 megawatts (MW) to 56.9 GW and fall in Germany by 390 MW to 64.2 GW, Refinitiv data show.
* Further along the curve, German Cal ’22 baseload power edged up 0.1% to 53.20 euros / MWh, following higher fuel prices.
* France 2022 contract added 0.2% to 54.25 euros / MWh.
* European CO2 allowances expiring December 2021 edged down 0.1% to 39.10 euros per tonne.
* Coal for northern European delivery in 2022 rose 0.9% to $ 69.1 a tonne, after hitting the highest level since February 1 at $ 69.20 earlier in the session. (Reporting by Forrest Crellin; Editing by Emelia Sithole-Matarise)
SYDNEY – Alan Sattler had been in his tractor for three hours one morning in May, sowing hundreds of kilograms of barley seeds in Western Australia’s dry wheat belt, when he received a text message from his wheat broker. China, its biggest market, imposes punitive tariffs on Australian barley.
Mr. Sattler surveyed his 8,000 acre farm where he had grown 2,500 acres of barley. He called the broker. Now what are we going to do? Mr. Sattler pleaded, preying on his question with “a few interesting curses.”
Australian barley growers are China’s first targets in a a widespread trade dispute out for commodities including coal, grapes and rock lobster. China has been angered by Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s calls for an international investigation into the first outbreak of Covid-19 in central China, seen as interference by foreign governments.
The trade dispute has hurt the country’s barley farmers, which previously exported up to 70% of their crop to China. However, the industry has largely weathered the effects of tariffs, with increased exports of barley and very few bankruptcies, suggesting that trade pressures are restricting certain industries. Many of the tactics they use to survive are now being copied by other exporters, such as Australian winemakers and salmon growers.
Market Movements
Australian barley is heading to the Middle East and Southeast Asia as sales to China dry up.
Export barley all over the world
Export barley all over the world
Export barley all over the world
Export barley all over the world
Total barley exports are expected to increase by 64% in the 12 months to October 2021. Traders have been catching up on sales in other big markets like the Middle East, although that comes with a painful trade-off: Middle Eastern consumers mostly use barley for animal feed, not for making beer, and usually pay less.
Farmers are also switching from barley to crops such as wheat, a trade that China does not dominate. They have sought a unified response, such as by supporting Australia’s challenge on barley tariffs at the World Trade Organization, to prevent divisions that China could exploit.
Barley that is harvested on Mr’s farm. Sattler. Australian farmers seek export markets outside China, such as Saudi Arabia.
Australia’s barley exports to China were worth about $ 1 billion annually before Beijing accused farmers of being subsidized to sell at unfairly low prices and imposing 80.5% tariffs, according to an analytics firm.
Many growers have poured profits into developing the barley variety that Chinese malt makers and brewers are seeking.
Other industries have also developed to feed industrialized China and its increasingly affluent middle class. China buys about 80% of Australia’s iron ore, and was a major customer of Australian wine, beef and timber before trade tensions escalated. Australia is a a popular destination for Chinese tourists and students before the pandemic closed national borders.
A decade ago, China accounted for less than a quarter of Australian exports. The share of China is now about 40%. The pandemic has increased Australia’s dependence, as China’s recovery has outpaced other major economies.
Australia is not alone in its dependence on China. In 2001, when China joined the World Trade Organization, more than 80% of countries with publicly available data recorded more trade with the US than China, according to Australia’s Lowy Institute, a foreign policy think tank. In 2018, two-thirds of countries traded more with China than the US
Beijing is increasingly using the weight of its growing economy as leverage to achieve its foreign policy goals. Over the past decade, China has used so-called coercive diplomacy 152 times, affecting 27 countries as well as the European Union, according to an August report by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, a government-backed security think-tank. It said 113 of those cases had occurred since early 2018.
Australia’s Top Exports
China imports most of Australia’s top 10 exports.
Related to education
services
“The current trade disruption with China, whether related to meat, barley, lobster or wood, is not an isolated incident,” said Rex Patrick, an upper house lawmaker who is out of sync with Australia’s mainstream parties. “Rather it is a pattern of deliberate punitive action by the Chinese Communist government that puts politics above fair trade.”
Australia has been the heaviest target of China’s coercive diplomacy, ASPI said. Prior to Morrison’s call to investigate the origins of the pandemic, Australia had banned Chinese telecommunications company Huawei Technologies Co. and
of the next generation of 5G mobile networks while also criminalizing foreign interference in domestic policies that many think are aimed at China.
As trade relations deteriorated, China criticized Australia for increasing trade barriers. “Since 2016, the Australian government has launched 25 anti-dumping and anti-subsidized investigations of Chinese products,” said a spokesman for the Chinese Embassy in Australia in December.
Beijing has fulfilled its obligations under the free trade agreement with Australia, the spokesman added.
China imposes tariffs of up to 212% on Australian wine, prompting politicians around the world to criticize what it calls “bullying” Beijing. WSJ visits winemakers who hope global attention will help the industry. Photo: Lisa Maree Williams / Getty Images
How Australia’s barley industry copes with Beijing’s reaction could offer lessons to countries that have angered China and hit punitive tariffs. Farmers like Mr Sattler have been hit hard, but are able to cultivate other buyers for their barley crop before switching to other crops.
“A friend of mine said, if you were sitting on the front porch, you would hear 3,950 augers being transferred from barley to wheat” on the day the rates were announced, Mr said. Sattler, 52, a fourth generation farmer.
The barley fields harvested on Mr. Sattler. Some farmers have turned to crops such as wheat, a trade that China does not dominate.
Mr Sattler will cut the barley program in half this year, although he cites crop rotation as well as weak prices for the change.
South Australian producer Andrew Barr plans to cut the share of barley from the farm he inherited from his father to 20%, from about a third last year. This will be the least amount of space allocated to grain for 20 years on the farm.
Another tactic used by the Australian barley industry is growing the market from the Middle East to Japan and Southeast Asia, and even as far as Mexico, reducing its vulnerability to future trade squabbles even if Chinese tariffs are lifted. Traders project that Saudi Arabia will become Australia’s biggest market this year.
“We are happy to sell it to them, and that got us out of jail this season,” said Barr. “But that’s not what I expect from a long-term solution.”
Mr Barr wants the industry to look for malt makers in Korea, Japan, Vietnam, Thailand and India. These markets pay a premium for higher quality barley and are closer to those of the Middle East, which means lower shipping costs.
There are already signs that other industries are copying the move.
, facing Chinese import tariffs for wine of 169%, plans to ship allocated wines to China to other Asian countries as well as to the US and Europe. The company will also increase marketing in these places.
“We immediately called the barley people to talk to them about their experiences, get their advice on how to deal with it and the approach to take,” Tony Battaglene, chief executive officer of Australian Grape & Wine Inc., an association of grape growers and wine producers, said Chinese fare over Australian wine.
Even industries that have so far avoided Chinese restrictions are responding.
, an Australian fish farmer, decided early last year to ship salmon to the US that had been allocated to China and said it hopes to cut sales to China more to diversify from that market.
This strategic shift will not be easy or quick as exporters face stiff competition, and not all businesses can adopt the same guidelines. Farmers can switch between crops with relative ease.
Australia began consultations with China on January 28, the first step in the WTO settlement process. Trade Minister Dan Tehan said Canberra was considering next steps, including whether to ask a WTO panel judge.
For Australia, commodities like barley are part of its economy. “This is huge for barley farmers,” said AMP Capital chief economist Shane Oliver about the tariff. “But it’s not a disaster for Australia.”
Mr. Sattler with Copper’s dog. Farmers say he is cutting the barley program in half this year.
So far, the market targeted by China only accounts for about 1% of Australia’s gross domestic product, he said.
For many, a market realignment away from China is long overdue, even if it brings short-term suffering to exporters.
SHARE YOUR MIND
How do you think countries like Australia should deal with economic coercion? Join the conversation below.
John Blaxland, a professor of international security and intelligence studies at the Australian National University, said Australia’s trade relations with China had reached a turning point reminiscent of Britain’s decision in the 1970s to join the European Union. At that time, Australia was forced to divert its trade efforts from Britain.
“We have been leaning towards the biggest prize for the last two decades: China,” said Prof. Blaxland. “In doing so, we have neglected opportunities closer to home.”
SAO PAULO, February 24 (Reuters) – The Brazilian government will cut its stake in power company Centrais Eletricas Brasileiras SA, or Eletrobras, to 45% from the current 61% in the planned privatization process, a senior official at the Energy Ministry told Reuters. Wednesday.
The ministry’s Energy Secretary Rodrigo Limp said the government expects its stake in Eletrobras to double in value to 60 billion reais ($ 11 billion) with the increase in share price that privatization hopes will bring.
President Jair Bolsonaro presented a bill to Congress on Tuesday that would accelerate the divestment in Brazil’s biggest utility.
$ 1 = 5.4062 reais Reporting by Luciano Costa, Editing by Rosalba O’Brien
