Signs of recovery in India's gold jewellery sector |
- Signs of recovery in India's gold jewellery sector
- Alberta regulator approves Cenovus oil sands project
- Palladium price soars on South Africa strikes, Russia tensions
- Goldcorp extends Osisko offer once again
- Goldman sees gold price falling 20% by year-end
- Rio Tinto demands carbon capture progress, but doesn’t want to pay for it
| Signs of recovery in India's gold jewellery sector Posted: 22 Mar 2014 03:28 AM PDT Exports of Indian gold jewellery are improving after falling more than 30% in January, according to data from the Gems and Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC). The value of gold jewellery exports in February rose by 1% compared with the same month in 2012. Since April last year, India's gold jewellery exports have declined by 50%. The modest gains are an indication that gold is becoming more available, despite strict rules limiting imports of the precious metal. "The comfort level of availability of gold has increased and more supplies will come with new banks coming on board," Pankaj Kumar Parekh, vice chairman of GJEPC, told Reuters. There's hope among jewellers that this trend will continue as two days ago the government allowed five private sector banks to import gold. Previously, under rules introduced last year to curb imports, only six banks and three state-run trading agencies were allowed to import the metal, according to a separate report by Reuters. Last year the country's central bank also introduced an import duty on gold of 10%. Combined, these two measures made it very difficult to buy bullion in India. The government has been trying to reduce gold imports in an effort to tackle the country's trade imbalance which is driven largely by oil and the yellow metal. The country was the world`s largest buyer of the precious metal until it ceded that spot to China in 2013. Meanwhile, India's trade in diamonds and silver has been booming. The country's exports of cut and polished diamonds rose by 20% over the past 11 months and and silvery jewellery exports by 90% in the same period.  |
| Alberta regulator approves Cenovus oil sands project Posted: 21 Mar 2014 03:44 PM PDT The Alberta Energy Regulator has given Cenovus (CVE:TSE) the go-ahead on its proposed Grand Rapids thermal oil sands project, 300km north of Edmonton. The project is adjacent to Cenovus' exsiting Pelican Lake Wabiskaw operation in the Greater Pelican region. Grand Rapids will produce approximately 180,000 barrels of oil per day at maximum capacity and will be developed in multiple phases. Cenovus noted in a statement on Thursday that it would make a decision later this year on the timing of the project's development. This will be the company's fourth oil sands project. Another project, Telephone Lake, is in the regulatory pipeline. "The company has been operating a steam-assisted gravity drainage (SAGD) pilot project at the site for more than three years and has gained a strong understanding of the reservoir," Cenovus wrote. "Recent production results from the two well-pair pilot have been encouraging. Cenovus plans to continue operating the pilot project to gather additional information on the reservoir." The company's share price rose from around $29.50 per share before the announcement on Thursday to more than $30 by Friday afternoon. |
| Palladium price soars on South Africa strikes, Russia tensions Posted: 21 Mar 2014 12:43 PM PDT
Spot palladium touched the $800 an ounce level on Friday, the highest level since September 2011, before easing to $788.60 an ounce, still up more than 2% on the day and showing double digit gains for 2014. South Africa and Russia combined account for close to 80% of global supply of the precious metal which is mainly used to clean emissions in automobiles. Rising tensions and the threat of rounds sanctions and counter-sanctions between US and European nations and Russia, over the latter's de facto annexation of Crimea, have raised fears that Russia may use its vast palladium stockpiles and mine output to punish the West. Europe's car industry is the top consumer of platinum and palladium and total Russian exports of palladium collapsed to only 6,500 ounces in February even before the Ukraine dispute came to a head. Another factor boosting the the palladium price is the launch next week of two physical palladium-backed exchange traded funds in Johannesburg, South Africa. Holdings in a platinum ETF listed a year ago on the Johannesburg Securities Exchange have increased sharply this year however after more than 70,000 workers at the world's three largest platinum producers, Anglo American Platinum (LON:AAL), Imapala Platinumm (OTCMKTS:IMPUY) and Lonmin (LON:LMI), went on strike January 23. Together the South African companies' mines produce 3.5 million ounces in 2012; almost 60% of the world's platinum. South Africa together with Russia control more than three-quarters of world supply of platinum.  Strikers want minimum R12,500 a month Estimates point to roughly 10,000 ounces of platinum and 5,000 ounces of palladium production lost each day due to the strikes. According to a website set up by producers the companies' have lost combined revenue of R9.4 billion (roughly $900 million). Implats previously said even when the strikers do return to work it would take up to three months to restart production. In February week the company, number two producer behind Angloplat, said it can supply customers to end of March, but not beyond, which may force it to buy metal on the open market. In contrast to palladium, the price of platinum has moved little amid the market turmoil – it is up 4.5% this year, last trading at $1,436 an ounce in New York and is still down almost 10% compared to this time last year. Huge inventories built up at the largest producers and in Nymex warehouses are being blamed for the muted reaction of platinum and palladium prices to the disruption. Image of Vladimir Putin at tomb of Unknown Soldier, Moscow in 2011 by Pavel L Photo and Video / Shutterstock.com |
| Goldcorp extends Osisko offer once again Posted: 21 Mar 2014 12:09 PM PDT Goldcorp (TSX:G, NYSE:GG) extended Friday its $2.6 billion offer to Osisko (TSX:OSK) shareholders until April 4, 2014. The Vancouver-based gold producer kicked off the hostile bid in January, and says the unsolicited transaction offers Quebec-based Osisko's shareholders 0.146 of a Goldcorp common share plus Cdn$2.26 in cash for each Osisko common share. The Canadian Malartic, Osisko's only operating mine and main asset, has the potential to produce 500,000 to 600,000 ounces of gold per year over its 16-year mine life, according to the firm. Goldcorp, which is seeking access to access to Osisko's Malartic mine in Quebec, already has a gold project in the province – Éléonore, set to begin production later this year. If it goes through, the proposed deal will make Goldcorp, which already is world's largest gold miner by market capitalization, the No. 1 gold producer in the province of Quebec. |
| Goldman sees gold price falling 20% by year-end Posted: 21 Mar 2014 09:39 AM PDT The gold price bounced back on Friday, regaining some of the ground lost yesterday when upbeat comments on the US economy from the Fed strengthened the dollar and sent gold in the opposite direction. On the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, gold futures for June delivery last traded at $1,335.40 an ounce, up less than $5 an ounce from yesterday's close, but off sharply for the week. On Monday the metal hit a high above $1,380, the best level since June and up 14.8% since the start of the year. The 2014 rally in the price of gold has not convinced most bears, and Business Insider quotes Goldman Sachs on Friday reiterating its call for gold to fall to around $1,050 an ounce by year-end due to a recovering US economy and rising interest rates. "While we see clear catalysts for the recent rally in gold prices, this move has been large relative to US real rates which are a key input into our forecasts and benchmarking of gold prices. "As a result, we see potential for a meaningful decline in gold prices towards the level implied by 10-year TIPS yields, which our rates strategists expect to rise further this year, and reiterate our year-end $US1,050/toz gold price forecast. "More broadly, we believe that with tapering of the Fed's QE, US economic releases are back to being a key driving force behind gold prices. As a result, we expect that the decline in gold prices will likely be data dependent, in contrast to our 2013 bearish gold view which was driven by the disconnect between stretched long gold speculative positioning and stabilizing US growth." The New York-based bank also poured cold water on suggestions that renewed Asian demand will give the price a boost saying a "surprise to the upside" is unlikely reports Kitco: "While we see potential for these shifts to reverse in 2014, we estimate the net impact will not be meaningful to our gold outlook as: (1) India's potential easing of gold import tariffs will likely remain modest given how The median forecast for the fourth quarter 2014 of the nine gold analysts tracked business news wire Bloomberg is $1,165 an ounce and the two most accurate gold price forecasters in the group are even more bearish seeing declines similar to that of Goldman Sachs. |
| Rio Tinto demands carbon capture progress, but doesn’t want to pay for it Posted: 21 Mar 2014 08:57 AM PDT Rio Tinto's (ASX, LON:RIO) energy division chief, Harry Kenyon-Slaney, said Friday the current climate change policy debate is idealistic and too focused on renewable energy and has urged governments to investment more in clean technologies, such as carbon capture and storage (CCS). Speaking at the Energy Policy Institute of Australia meeting, the executive said it was clear the mining industry "can't just wish away fossil fuels," adding that any solution to climate change must recognize the ongoing significant role of fossil fuels in the global energy mix. The executive added that coal, gas, uranium and renewables would all be needed to meet global energy demand growth of 69% expected in the next 20 years. But the miner, along with other Aussie coal producers, has "paused" payments to the industry's overhyped Coal21 group, which was supposed to become a $1bn industry fund to finance clean coal technology "in response to difficult trading conditions in the industry." The organization's objectives were modified last year and now the same group is focused not just on reducing carbon emissions, but also promoting the use of coal in Australia and overseas. So his answer to Coal21's seemingly change of harts, is simple: "Knowing that coal is here to stay, it is fruitless to keep indulging in idealistic discussions about climate change," he told the audience. Kenyon-Slaney added the industry has an obligation to take action on climate change, while avoiding loss of power for hundreds of people in Asia, providing power for 1.3 billion people still living without it and trying to prevent four million deaths each year because of toxic methods of processing. His comments are already making waves: "As if to highlight Rio Tinto's own lack of faith in the CCS, Kenyon-Slaney said the company had invested $100 million in the technology. This from a company that earns billions from coal mining each year —earnings that most analysts say is at risk if the world get serious about climate change," wrote Giles Parkinson for RenewEconomy. "To put that investment into context," Parkinson adds, "a Perth-based start-up, Carnegie Wave Energy, has invested a similar amount in its new technology. It has yet to earn a dollar, but at least it has faith it will work." Image courtesy of Rio Tinto. |
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