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International Business News
Oil price holds near record highs
AFP, London
Oil prices held near record levels Thursday after gains overnight to nearly 124 dollars as speculators dived into a market concerned about potential supply disruption, traders said.
New York's main oil futures contract, light sweet crude for June delivery, eased three cents to 123.50 dollars a barrel. On Wednesday, New York crude had struck a record high 123.93 dollars.
London's Brent crude contract hit a record high of 122.79 dollars in early trade Thursday before easing back to 122.40 dollars, up eight cents onWednesday's close.
Sucden analyst Michael Davies said Thursday that for investors, "risks still remain and given recent comments from Goldman Sachs... anything is possible in the oil market at die moment."
US investment bank Goldman Sachs this week forecast that prices could hi1200 dollars in die next two years. The bank had famously and correcdy predicted three years ago diat oil would break through 100 dollars which it did in January.
Oil prices have crashed through records every day this week, jumping by about seven dollars in total.
"Clearly the current spike in oil prices has been sharp and furious, and with little in the way of fresh impetus and lack of supporting (supply/demand) fundamentals a retracement must surely be on the cards," said Bank of Ireland analyst Paul Harris.
Indian steel makers to roll back prices
ANN/ The Statesman
Days after the Indian Union finance minister, P Chidambaram, asserted that the runaway steel prices, along with cement prices, was the single largest driving factor behind the current rise in consumer price index, the country's leading steel makers on Wednesday acknowledged such concerns and decided to roll back prices of the alloy after securing an assurance from the government that it would look into their demand for not imposing duty on steel exports.
Steel makers, both private and state-run, including Tata Steel, SAIL, JSW, Ispat and Essar and RINL, decided to cut their prices by up to 4,000 rupees (US$96.72) a tonne and hold them for the next three months.
Ispat Industries vice-chairman and managing director Vinod Mittal said after Wednesday’s meeting of captains of the steel industry with the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, the government has assured the industry of putting on hold the notification for implementing the export duty on steel.
On 29 April, while replying to the debate on the Finance Bill in Parliament, Chidambaram had announced the imposition of up to 15 per cent duty on steel exports as a measure to deincentivise the metal and increase its domestic supply of steel. The duty is. however, yet to be notified.
China aims to keep grain output above 500m tonnes in 2008
AFP, Beijing
China has vowed to keep grain output above 500 million tonnes in 2008 as the world's largest producer and consumer of rice struggles to cope with rising globed grain prices, state media said Thursday.
"We will strive to stabilise full-year grain output at more than 500 million tonnes," said Agriculture Minister Sun Zhengcai, according to the China Securities Journal.
In 2007, China produced more than 501.5 million tonnes of grain, almost level with the nation's annual consumption of 510 million tonnes, official data showed.
Sun also pledged to strictly control the development of biofuels to protect the country's grain supplies and arable land banks, according to the China Daily Thursday.
Biofuels, transformed from corn, wheat, soy beans and sugar cane, are accused by experts and international organisations of snatching food out of the mouths of the poor.
“China will never develop biofuels at the cost of grain supplies or arable land," Sun was quoted by the report as saying.
WTO sees no ministerial
meeting in May
AFP, Geneva
The World Trade Organisation said Wednesday it is highly unlikely that a ministerial meeting will be held this month given the scant progress in talks on liberalising agriculture and other thorny issues.
"It would be extremely difficult under this time constraint and given the importance of substance to this process to have such a meeting in May", WTO spokesman Keith Rockwell told reporters.
The WTO's Doha round of talks to reduce trade barriers was launched in the Qatari capital in November 2001 with theaim ofreachingadealby2004.
It has foundered ever since, principally due to disputes between developed and developing countries on agricultural subsidies and Industrial tariffs.