Australian (ASX) Stock Market Forum

"The best place to be is in commodities"

Aluminium challenges in Europe: the energy costs

On the unique challenges facing the industry, EAA chairman Roeland Baan concluded “Aluminium sees a growing demand but decreasing production, this is the European paradox. And for what reason? Essentially due to regulatory costs. It is necessary to implement policies at EU level that offset the burden of costs for the most exposed energy-intensive industries that cannot pass through the cost of climate and energy policies. Equally important is to reduce the increasing exports of aluminium scrap that have to be considered as leakage of Europe’s energy bank. This is crucial for Europe to achieve energy independence.“










http://www.alu-web.de/nc/home/branc...dustry-ready-to-drive-industrial-renaissance/
 
That Was The Week That Was … In Australia
Dec 1, 2014

By Our Man in Oz

Minews. Good morning Australia, gold seems to have been the brightest spot on your market for the third week in a row.

Oz. Gold was the sector which saw its index add a few percentage points, but the flat performance of the broader minerals and metals index, and the all ordinaries index, was more a case of one bad session on Friday wiping out the good work of earlier in the week.

The gold recovery is becoming quite interesting and while most of the 3.7 per cent rise in the index was caused by a single stock, Newcrest (NCM), the latest rise means the index has risen over the past three weeks by around 13.5 per cent.

Minews. Is that a case of reviving interest, or just a recovery from being over-sold.

Oz. A bit of both really, but whatever the explanation three-weeks of steadily rising prices can’t be a bad thing.

Minews. Let’s move along quickly now because you’re on your way to London for next week’s Mines and Money conference.

Oz. An event which could either be the final word in the downturn we’re enduring, or the first word in a recovery which must eventually start after what’s been a pretty horrid year.

Before going through a quick call of the overall market card let’s stick to the structure of the past few weeks by looking at any eye-catching moves, starting with Duketon Mining (DKM) which reported what seems to be a significant nickel and copper hit from drilling at its Nariz prospect in Western Australia.

No assays were released but the company appears to have encountered thick and rich mineralisation which excited investors who pushed Duketon up by A29 cents (207 per cent) to A43 cents.

Cassini, another base metals explorer best known for its nickel search efforts, also reported encouraging drilling results with the stock rising by A2.5 cents (18.5 per cent) to A16 cents.

Newcrest was the pick of the gold companies, adding A69 cents (13 per cent) to A$10.34 cents, and Fortescue (FMG) was the surprise performer among the iron ore stocks, adding A25 cents to A$2.94 in a week when a big fall might reasonably have been expected because of a further fall in the iron ore price.
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Source >>> www.minesite.com
 
Low milk price takes toll on New Zealand output
12/12/2014

Fonterra ditched ideas of a rise in its New Zealand milk collections this season, despite a strong start, cautioning of the dent to production potential from the slump in prices to an eight-year low.

The Auckland-based co-operative, the world's top milk exporter, cut by 32m kilogrammes of milk solids to 1.584bn kilogrammes of milk solids its forecast for collections in 2014-15.

The downgrade left the figure "consistent with", in fact identical, to its supplies last season - which represented an 8% jump on volumes in 2012-13.

The slowdown to a halt in output reflects the reduced incentive for farmers to boost productivity, given the slump in world dairy prices, which prompted Fonterra earlier this week to cut to an eight-year low of NZ$4.70 per kilogramme of milk solids its forecast for its milk payout this season.
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Source >>> http://www.agrimoney.com/printnews.php?id=7789&area=n
 
Alfalfa
China market closed | U.S. exporters blacklisted because of GM presence in the crop

BROMONT, Que. ”” The discovery of Roundup Ready alfalfa in global hay exports should be on Canadian farmers’ radar, says a Canadian hay exporter.

Ed Shaw, who exports forage around the world, including to China, said three American hay exporters have been blacklisted from exporting hay to China, and hundreds of container loads of hay have been turned away after Roundup Ready alfalfa was found in the loads.

“In the export market, it has be-come a really hot topic item with the Chinese market. The Chinese have zero tolerance for GMO,” Shaw said during a discussion about the introduction of Roundup Ready alfalfa in Canada at a recent forage conference. “It’s catastrophic.”
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http://www.producer.com/2014/11/roundup-ready-in-alfalfa-exports-catastrophic/
 
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