Category:

Bread prices in Argentina rise as corn and wheat scarcity kicks in

BUENOS AIRES, Oct. 29 (UPI) — Argentina’s wheat and corn distribution chaos, caused by erratic supplies and now widespread scarcity, has finally reached bakeries that are charging exorbitant prices for bread despite government warnings of a crackdown. Corn and wheat shortages began several months ago and weren’t relieved despite what critics called the government’s stopgap measures. The timing of the grain shortage and its direct impact on bakeries couldn’t be worse, critics said as media furor over bread prices and and shortages captured headlines days before Argentina’s mid-term elections. Gaps in supplies of corn were also reported across the country, Argentine media reported. Traders said wholesale prices for both corn and wheat were double those on Chicago markets as profiteering set in. Bakeries said they couldn’t avoid price hikes, forced as they were to pay ever higher rates for flour. Weather vagaries would likely impact on the new wheat […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Canada defends appeal to Asian energy investors

OTTAWA, Oct. 29 (UPI) — Asian investors remain keen on playing a role in the Canadian energy sector despite concerns over federal investment rules, Canada’s resource minister said. Canadian Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver spoke to The Globe and Mail newspaper about his recent investment discussions with Asian investors. “I certainly got no sense from anybody that they are turned off the prospect of investing in the Canadian industry,” he said in an interview published Monday. The Canadian government in December passed a rule prohibiting state-owned companies from taking on a majority stake in companies working on oil sands developments in Canada. Major Asian companies, like China National Offshore Oil Corp., are state-owned. Oliver said he noted a slowdown in Asian investments in Canada but attributed it to a sluggish economy and to the lack of export infrastructure along his country’s western coast. The Canadian government is supporting pipeline […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

U.S. factories hit by shutdown, China production rises

NEW YORK/LONDON (Reuters) – Factories in China boosted production this month, but U.S. manufacturing output fell for the first time in four years while the euro zone economy lost momentum, surveys on Thursday showed. The data suggested the world economy is still facing speed bumps as China tries to rebound from a slowdown and as growth in advanced economies remains fragile. One such hurdle was a partial U.S. government shutdown that lasted for the first 16 days of October. This likely disrupted factory output in the world’s largest economy and will probably end up slowing overall U.S. growth in the fourth quarter. According to financial data firm Markit, U.S. factory output contracted in October for the first time since late 2009 and the overall pace of growth was the slowest in a year. Markit chief economist Chris Williamson said the survey "suggests that the disruptions and uncertainty caused by […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

China central bank fuels fears of inflation clampdown

BEIJING/SHANGHAI (Reuters) – China’s central bank added fuel to fears on Thursday it was clamping down on inflation risks as it allowed cash to drain from the financial system for a second straight week, sparking a jump in short-term rates. The move by the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) happened as Beijing stepped up its efforts to counter surging property prices in the capital in an attempt to calm rising discontent over the city’s record-high home prices. China also widened the funding options for local governments and property companies by giving them access to the interbank bond market to finance affordable housing, a priority of Chinese leaders, sources told IFR, a Thomson Reuters publication. Housing data this week has raised fresh concerns about property bubbles in some major cities, which could add to consumer inflation – already at a seven-month high – and add to criticism that home prices […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

China’s manufacturing hits 7-month high: HSBC

  • Manufacturing activities in China increased to a seven-month high in October: HSBC.   • The HSBC Flash Manufacturing PMI for October rose to 50.9.   • The October figure further confirmed a gradual recovery in the world’s second-largest economy.   BEIJING, Oct. 24 (Xinhua) — Manufacturing activities in China increased to a seven-month high in October, according to HSBC’S preliminary purchasing managers’ index (PMI) on Thursday. The HSBC Flash Manufacturing PMI for October rose to 50.9. The reading compared with a final recording of 50.2 for September, HSBC said in a report. The 50.9 figure is the highest since April. The October figure, the earliest reading of China’s monthly economic performance, further confirmed a gradual recovery in the world’s second-largest economy. Qu Hongbin, chief China economist with HSBC, said the country’s growth recovery was becoming consolidated into the fourth quarter. The momentum is likely to continue in the coming […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

China's manufacturing hits 7-month high: HSBC

  • Manufacturing activities in China increased to a seven-month high in October: HSBC.   • The HSBC Flash Manufacturing PMI for October rose to 50.9.   • The October figure further confirmed a gradual recovery in the world’s second-largest economy.   BEIJING, Oct. 24 (Xinhua) — Manufacturing activities in China increased to a seven-month high in October, according to HSBC’S preliminary purchasing managers’ index (PMI) on Thursday. The HSBC Flash Manufacturing PMI for October rose to 50.9. The reading compared with a final recording of 50.2 for September, HSBC said in a report. The 50.9 figure is the highest since April. The October figure, the earliest reading of China’s monthly economic performance, further confirmed a gradual recovery in the world’s second-largest economy. Qu Hongbin, chief China economist with HSBC, said the country’s growth recovery was becoming consolidated into the fourth quarter. The momentum is likely to continue in the coming […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

World Economy a ‘Major Worry’ for OPEC Oil Producers, Badri Says

OPEC sees a possible drop in energy demand caused by a weaker world economy as its “main area of concern” for the next several months, the group’s secretary-general said. “As we approach the end of 2013 and into next year, we need to remain vigilant,” Abdalla El-Badri said at a conference today in Muscat, Oman. “The economy remains the major worry, particularly in the short and medium term.” While the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries expects global economic growth to accelerate to 3.5 percent in 2014 from 2.9 percent this year, Europe faces a “major challenge” in its labor market, and growth in China and India has slowed, he said. A possible easing of U.S. monetary stimulus threatens investment in developing countries , El-Badri said. OPEC, supplier of about 40 percent of world oil, plans to meet on Dec. 4 to review output levels and policy. The International Energy […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Venezuela denies devaluation coming

CARACAS (Reuters) – President Nicolas Maduro’s government denied on Friday forecasts of an imminent devaluation due to anxiety in Venezuela over shortages of dollars and the soaring black market rate for the greenback in the South American OPEC nation. "A devaluation is not being planned here," said Rafael Ramirez, whom Maduro recently named vice-president in charge of economic policy as well as being oil minister. "This is not a problem of lack of foreign currency," he added, saying Venezuela had ample reserves – about $30.5 billion – combined in the Central Bank, its special development fund Fonden and from Chinese loans. Many private economists have been predicting a devaluation of the bolivar after local elections in December, probably in early 2014. Ramirez said such talk was unjustified scaremongering from business groups and anti-government media. "They want to create panic," he said, casting the devaluation talk as part of a […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

The numbers don’t add up to U.S. energy independence  

Oil pumpjacks (by Richard Masoner at Flickr http://www.flickr.com/photos/bike/3153652073/ Page added on October 20, 2013 Energy independence sounds good, and that’s why politicians and oil company executives love to say the words. It’s so easy to say, but oh so hard to actually accomplish, which is why the United States has been a consistent importer of oil since the late 1940s . Recent overblown statements about U.S. energy independence from the oil industry, its paid consultants and the fake think-tank academics it funds simply aren’t supported by the numbers. I have discussed this issue in two previous pieces, “The Oil Industry’s Deceitful Promise of American Energy Independence” and “Oil and gas industry uses deceptive energy independence message to push U.S. exports” . Recently, friend and colleague Jeffrey Brown–who is best known for his Export Land Model which foretold of shrinking global oil exports–did some fairly simple math to show how […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

China’s third-quarter GDP growth fastest this year, but outlook murky

BEIJING (Reuters) – China’s economy grew at its quickest pace this year between July and September, underpinned by investment, although analysts question if the vigor would continue in coming months. The world’s second-largest economy grew 7.8 percent in the third quarter from a year earlier, in line with expectations, data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed on Friday. So far this year, investment has accounted for more than half of the expansion, showing the challenges faced by Beijing in trying to restructure the economy towards consumption, which policymakers expect to provide more sustainable growth in the years ahead. After slipping in eight of the last 10 quarters, analysts said growth may fall once again in the current October-to-December period. Exports are expected to soften and authorities may also rein-in credit expansion after inflation pushed to a seven-month high. "The growth peak was behind us in the third quarter," […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple