| Pre. Settlement | N/A |
| Settlement date | 2021-03-19 |
| Open | 119.70 |
| Bid | 124.55 |
| Last price | 124.20 |
| Day's range | 119.65 - 124.80 |
| Volume | 27,246 |
| Ask | 124.60 |
- Bloomberg
Cocoa Caps Biggest Weekly Gain Since 2001 on West Africa Jitters
(Bloomberg) -- Cocoa futures capped the biggest weekly gain in 19 years amid jitters on West African trade and supply, pacing a rally in soft commodities.Ghana, the world’s second-biggest producer, criticized cocoa sustainability programs and companies that it said are backtracking on a pledge to pay more for beans. In Ivory Coast, the top grower, President Alassane Ouattara and his main political rival last week began talks to ease tensions over last month’s disputed election. Violence left at least 85 people dead and hundreds injured, the government said.Cocoa prices rose to the highest in almost nine months to gain for the sixth straight session, the longest rally since August. Speculation that Ghana’s output may trail year-earlier levels amid adverse weather helped bolster futures.“There are several issues for West African producers that could result in near-term supply bottlenecks,” the Chicago-based Hightower Report said. Concern that buyers are balking at paying the living-income differential, or LID, for Ivorian and Ghana supplies “has added more near-term supply anxiety to the market,” the report said.Cocoa for March delivery climbed 1.8% to close at $2,712 a metric ton on ICE Futures U.S. in New York. The price reached $2,746, the highest for a most-active contract since Feb. 27. This week, the commodity surged 15%, the most since November 2001.Hershey Co. took the unusual step of buying beans through the exchange rather than the physical market, skewing some price differentials.“With Hershey somewhat circumventing the LID price and taking the New York futures market by surprise, it’s completely upended the structure,” said David Cutler, vice president of soft commodities at R.J. O’Brien Ltd. in London. Raw sugar, arabica coffee and cotton capped the third straight weekly gains.For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2020 Bloomberg L.P.
- Bloomberg
In a Decarbonizing World, Brazil Wants to Be a Uranium Exporter
(Bloomberg) -- A mining project seen as a priority by the Brazilian government would turn the nation into a uranium exporter and reduce its fertilizer import needs if it proceeds.Latin America’s largest economy, which currently imports uranium for its nuclear plants and ships in most of its fertilizer needs, will become more self-sufficient with a $400 million project in the nation’s impoverished northeast, according to the consortium formed to explore the deposit.State-owned INB, which has a monopoly on uranium production in Brazil, formed a consortium with local fertilizer firm Galvani for the Santa Quiteria phosphate-uranium project. INB expects to extract about 2,100 metric tons of uranium a year from the deposit, while it needs roughly 750 tons to supply its nuclear energy plants. Adding in nominal capacity at another deposit managed by INB, Brazil will produce about 2,400 tons of uranium ore concentrate a year when Santa Quiteria hits full capacity in 2026.“That corresponds to 4% of the world’s uranium production,” Carlos Freire, president of INB, said in a telephone interview. “We can be a player with an interesting relevance.”The Fukushima Daiichi disaster and high development costs have kept the number and capacity of nuclear plants fairly flat over the past decade with uranium markets oversupplied. Still, the U3O8 uranium price hit a four-year high in May after supply cuts in Canada and Kazakhstan, although it has retreated since on softer demand. Longer term, the industry is drawing confidence from efforts to meet ambitious carbon targets that might spur demand for nuclear energy.Initially, uranium from Santa Quiteria would go to INB’s nuclear plants, although the company is in discussions with the government to sell surplus supply overseas, Freire said.Santa Quiteria was included in the government’s Investment Partnership Program, known as PPI, for projects considered a priority. Bringing in more partners, including fertilizer consumers, is being considered to fund the investment, while the family that controls Galvani would take a majority stake.Crop NutrientsThe project’s phosphate output is estimated at 750,000 tons a year by 2026, which would be about 20% of Brazilian phosphate fertilizer imports last year. The nation -- which is the largest exporter of soybean, coffee and sugar -- only produces 30% of its phosphate consumption.“That’s a huge strategic deficiency for the country,” Ricardo Neves, Galvani’s president, said in a telephone interview. Galvani ended a joint venture with Yara International ASA in Brazil last year.Santa Quiteria, located in Ceara state, would supply growing demand in Brazil’s new agriculture frontier of Matopiba. The consortium is looking to take advantage of return trips from ports to farms to carry the fertilizer.“That’s a region where grain and soy production rises fast and will keep rising with the conversion of pastures into agriculture,” Neves said.The project also foresees the production of 270,000 tons of dicalcium phosphate, which is used as a cattle feed supplement. That volume represents about 20% of the nation’s current consumption, which is expected to rise 78% through 2026, according to Sindiracoes, a group representing the animal feed industry.Most cattle in Brazil, the world’s largest beef exporter, are pasture raised but the use of feedlots -- and feed supplement as a consequence -- is expected to increase in the coming years amid growing pressure to halt deforestation.Brazil’s consumption of dicalcium phosphate is expected to grow 3.5% to 4.5% a year in the coming 15 years, while fertilizer demand should increase 3% to 4%, Neves said.“Brazil will continue growing as an agriculture superpower, and the phosphate need will follow that,” he said.For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2020 Bloomberg L.P.
- The Telegraph
Grain trading giant Louis-Dreyfus sells stake to Abu Dhabi
One of the world’s leading commodity traders, Louis-Dreyfus Company (LDC), has opened up to outside ownership for the first time in almost 170 years. The trader has sold a 45pc stake to ADQ, the Abu Dhabi state-owned holding company and also agreed a long-term supply agreement for the UAE. Owner Margarita Louis-Dreyfus, who also chairs LDC’s supervisory board, said the partnership marked a “milestone" in the firm's strategy. She has been seeking new investment after tightening her control in December 2018 when she bought out family members, borrowing about $1bn (£755m) from Credit Suisse to do so, pledged against her stake. Micheal Gelchie, LDC chief executive, said the firm and ADQ had a “shared ambition” to invest in innovation and technology that could “transform food and agricultural production”. LDC is one of the ABCD quartet of leading commodity traders, alongside Archer Daniels Midland, Bunge and Cargill. Founded as a grain trader in 1851 by Leopold Louis-Dreyfus, it produces, stores and ships about 80m tonnes of cotton, rice, sugar, grain and other agricultural products a year, with 2019 sales of $33.6bn and profit of $230m. Leopold’s great grandson, Robert Louis-Dreyfus, took over in 2006, three years before his death from leukaemia, when he put his wife Margarita in charge of the trust that held his 61pc stake. Commodities traders have been trying to diversify in recent years amid rising competition and trade wars. LDC has invested in partnerships with Leong Hup International, the poultry business based in Malaysia, and Luckin Coffee, the Chinese coffee chain. The terms of its deal with ADQ were not disclosed. LDC said at least $800m from the sale would be invested to support its long-term plans. H.E. Mohamed Hassan Alsuwaidi, chief executive of ADQ, said: "We share LDC’s vision for future growth of the business, and look forward to partnering with LDC’s existing shareholders and management team to capitalize on the sector’s emerging opportunities."
