Business

Sat May 31 02:01:54 PDT 2008

HHI China Investment Co. Ltd, a subsidiary of Hyundai Heavy Industries Group, has selected Siemens PLM Software’s NX™ and Teamcenter™ to reduce development costs, enhance product quality and reduce time to market.

HHI China will now utilize NX, Siemens PLM Software’s digital product development software, and Teamcenter, Siemens PLM Software’s collaborative product data management solution and PLM portfolio, to shorten its product development cycle, bring more innovative products to market faster, and to gain a strong competitive advantage in China.

According to HHI China Investment, construction business is booming in China and greater needs for R&D capabilities are required for a successful business in the market. The company said PLM software plays an important role in strengthening their R&D capability. They look forward to further cooperation with Siemens PLM Software and deploying NX and Teamcenter software to other divisions of HHI China.

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Sat May 31 01:55:49 PDT 2008

Demand for steel in Singapore remains strong with major construction projects in the pipeline. According to a recently released industry report by UBS Investment Research, the typical Singapore construction up-cycle lasts between five to eight years and Singapore is currently in year three of another long-tailed cycle.

New construction initiatives announced by the government include major projects, such as the new Sports Hub, targeted for completion in 2011; MRT extension lines, new expressways (North-South Expressway and Marina Coastal Expressway) and the newly announced University Town, targeted for completion in 2010, are expected to boost the construction industry for the coming years.

Moreover, HG Metal Mfg Ltd, one of the largest steel stockist in Singapore and Southeast Asia, has completed three new warehouse complexes at at Jalan Buroh and the construction of additional three warehouses at Jurong Port Road is scheduled to commence during the second quarter of this year to cope with higher sales volume.

Copyright ©Ringier Trade .com.

Sat May 31 01:01:04 PDT 2008

Cimatron has announced partnership with CADENAS. The integration of CADENAS PARTsolutions into version 8.5 of Cimatron will enable tool makers to shorten design cycles by incorporating ready-made CADENAS catalog parts into their mold and die assemblies.

While powerful catalog functionality has long been available in Cimatron’s software, the CADENAS catalogs place thousands of additional standard components at the disposal of Cimatron’s users, eliminating many of the manual and time consuming steps in the tool design process.

CADENAS catalogs can be downloaded from the Internet, and automatic updates are provided on an ongoing basis, ensuring that changes to parts are immediately reflected in the catalog.

Copyright ©Ringier Trade .com.

Sat May 31 00:58:42 PDT 2008

According to a new report conducted by Global Industry Analysts Inc., the world market for machine tools is forecast to maintain an impressive CAGR of 7.20% over the years 2001-2010 and reach in excess of US$68.8 billion by the end of the decade. With an estimated 2007 share of 58.53 metal cutting tools form the largest segment in the global machine tools market. The segment is also forecast to register the fastest CAGR of 7.60 percent over the years 2001-2010.

In terms of end use industry, automobiles account for the lion’s share of the global machine tool consumption, with a share estimated at 42.78 percent in 2007. Fastest growth, however, is expected from the electronics/electrical machinery & equipment applications for machine tools that are expected to exhibit a CAGR of nearly 9% over 2001-2010.

The early part of the new millennium witnessed lethargy in business conditions, especially in the United States. Today, sedate demand patterns in the developed markets are being partially offset by sturdy gains in Asian economies and by the growing demand for machine tools. Rising production costs and fierce competition from Asian imports is leading manufacturers to shift production bases to low cost Asian countries, primarily China, in order to achieve price advantages. Significant growth opportunities lie in store for foreign players in most of the Asian markets.

Global market for machine tools has been experiencing a moderate growth over the last few years. Japan continues to be the largest manufacturer of machine tools with over 22% of the total global production, followed by Germany, China, and Italy. China is the largest consumer of machine tools constituting more than 20% of total machine tools consumption, followed by Japan, and the US. Strong demand from China and growing consumption across the Asian economies propped the volume and value sales of machine tools.

However, the world market for machine tools is characterized by its extreme sensitivity to economic conditions. Propitious results are on the cards in the markets of Eastern European countries due to the requirement of modernization as well as the rapid increase in the capital required for making investments. Turkey as well as Latin American countries, including Brazil, are expected to register sizable growth above the global average in the worldwide machine tools market. Consumption of machine tools in the U.S. gained a healthy 5% in 2006, retaining its position in the top three consumers of machine tools. However, the country is losing on the production front, due to impressive gains registered by South Korean and Taiwanese markets.

Copyright ©Ringier Trade .com.

Fri May 30 03:40:42 PDT 2008

(Recasts with quotes, prices, changes dateline, pvs SINGAPORE)

By Karl Plume

LONDON, May 30 (Reuters) - Gold hit a two-week low on Friday as the dollar firmed and as lower oil prices hurt the metal’s appeal as hedge against inflation.

Other precious metals also remained under pressure, with spot platinum and palladium both setting three-week lows and silver nearing a four-week trough.

Spot gold stood at $878.65/879.65 an ounce by 1004 GMT, against $877.85/879.25 late in New York on Thursday. It earlier hit $870 an ounce, its lowest point since May 15.

The metal has fallen more than 6 percent this week.

"Gold is just treading water after yesterday’s huge decline," said Matthew Turner, commodities analyst with Virtual Metals.

"It had a bad run over the past two days mainly on the oil price. Secondly, gold failed last week to get up to its 2008 highs and some people may be disillusioned, wondering if it has made its highs for the year already."

The euro hit a two-week low against the dollar after surprisingly weak German retail sales figures added to the view that the euro zone economy may be weakening.

The dollar rebounded broadly this week amid easing concerns about the U.S. economy’s outlook. Investors will look for further clues to the health of the world’s largest economy in The University of Michigan confidence index and Chicago purchasing managers index, which will be released later today.

A firmer dollar makes gold costlier for holders of other currencies and often lowers bullion demand. The metal is also generally seen as a hedge against oil-led inflation.

Oil fell towards $125 a barrel as a strong dollar overshadowed the biggest drop in U.S. inventories since 2004, while doubts over global energy demand persisted.

Physical demand for gold should improve after the recent decline, which will help keep a floor under prices, analysts said.

"The move below $900 an ounce is likely to be viewed favourably by the physical sector, particularly in India as post-festival re-stocking is carried out," TheBullionDesk.com analyst James Moore said in a market note.

PLATINUM SEEN LEVELING

Platinum was down more than 10 percent from last week’s 2-1/2-month high above $2,200 an ounce despite a continuing power crisis in top producer South Africa.

The head of state-owned electricity utility Eskom, which produces about 95 percent of South Africa’s electricity, warned on Thursday that a power shortage that has slowed growth would go on for years.

Spot platinum was last quoted at $1,980.50/2,000.50 an ounce, down from $1,990.50/2,010.50 in late trade on Thursday.

Spot silver fell to $16.63/16.68 an ounce from $16.86/16.92 late in New York, unmoved by a decision by Peru’s largest federation of mining unions to hold a nationwide strike starting on June 16 after Congress delayed voting on a bill to improve labour benefits.

Peru is the world’s top silver producer and fifth largest gold producer. Spot palladium slipped to $425/$430 an ounce from 427.50/435.50.

(Reporting by Karl Plume; editing by Christopher Johnson)

Provided by Reuters

© Reuters 2008 All rights reserved

Fri May 30 03:15:00 PDT 2008

By Maryelle Demongeot

SINGAPORE, May 30 (Reuters) - Gold edged down on Friday, adding to losses of the previous session when it fell by more than 2 percent, as oil fell further and the dollar steadied at close to a three-month high against the yen.

Spot gold stood at $876.70/877.70 an ounce by 0831 GMT, down from $877.85/879.25 an ounce late in New York on Thursday.

"Gold could go down to $845-$850 over the next two working days and recover from there. It’s a very strong support level," said Adrian Koh, an analyst at Philip Futures in Singapore.

"There may be more downside later today. It will depend on U.S. economic data," Koh added.

The U.S. Commerce Department is due to release April personal income and consumption data at 1230 GMT, which economists surveyed by Reuters expected to be both up 0.2 percent.

Also expected is New York NAPM’s May index of regional business activity, while the National Association of Purchasing Management-Chicago will release May index of manufacturing activity.

Gold fell sharply on Thursday, dragged down by oil prices that continued to retreat from last week’s record highs, and a stronger dollar that has risen to close to a three-month high against the yen.

"The U.S. dollar was firmer and oil prices were weaker. These influenced gold prices because of their impact on investment flows and inflation expectations," said David Moore, an analyst with Commonwealth Bank of Australia in Sydney.

Gold is sought after as an alternative currency and hedge against inflation, and tends to move in an opposite direction to the dollar.

The U.S. dollar was last quoted at 105.50/105.54 yen on Friday, having risen earlier as high as 105.76 yen.

This was close to the three-month high of 105.88 yen struck on Thursday after an upward revision to U.S. economic growth figures added to evidence that the United States may stave off recession and underscored expectations for the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates this year. [USD/]

The U.S. economy grew a bit faster than initially thought in the first quarter, with gross domestic product up a 0.9 percent annual rate, against earlier estimates of a rate of 0.6 percent.

"Over the next few months, gold could remain very volatile as it is influenced very much by movements in the U.S. dollar, which will in turn be influenced by perceptions of the outlook for the U.S. economy," Moore added.

The U.S. dollar index, which measures the dollar’s value against a basket of major currencies, was up 0.30 percent at 73.190.

Oil fell towards $125 a barrel on Friday, extending Thursday’s hefty $4.41 fall as the market focused on signs that record-high prices had started to hurt oil demand in the U.S. and in several Asian developing countries.

Front-month U.S. crude for July delivery <CLc1> was down $1.19 at $125.43 a barrel on the Globex electronic trading platform, down nearly $10 from last Thursday’s when it hit a record high $135.09.

Gold futures for August delivery <GCQ8> on the COMEX division of the New York Mercantile Exchange were down $1.10 an ounce at $876.10 an ounce.

The most active Tokyo gold futures contract <0#JAU:>, for April, tracked the fall in gold prices and settled down 59 yen at 2,999 yen per gram.

Other precious metals also fell in line with gold, with platinum slipping by more than 4 percent on Thursday to touch a three-week trough and sliver shedding 4.3 percent in choppy trade.

Spot platinum <XPT=> extended losses to $1,961/1,981 an ounce, from $1,990.50/2,010.50 in late trade on Thursday.

The most active Tokyo platinum futures <0#JPL:> contract for April settled 234 yen lower at 6,519 yen per gram, having fallen by as much as 298 yen earlier in the day.

Spot silver <XAG=> fell to $16.52/16.57 an ounce from $16.86/16.92 late in New York, unmoved by a decision by Peru’s largest federation of mining unions to hold a nationwide strike starting on June 16 after Congress delayed voting on a bill to improve labour benefits.

Peru is the world’s leading silver producer, ranks second in copper and zinc, and fifth in gold, according to government data. [ID:nN29409394]

Spot palladium <XPD=> also fell, to $420.50/$428.50 an ounce, from 427.50/435.50.

Precious metals prices at 0831 GMT Metal Last Change Pct chg YTD pct chg Turnover Spot Gold 876.70 0.30 0.03 5.28 Spot Silver 16.52 -0.04 -0.24 11.85 Spot Platinum 1961.00 -25.50 -1.28 29.01 Spot Palladium 420.50 -1.00 -0.24 14.27 TOCOM Gold 2999.00 -59.00 -1.93 -1.99 59413 TOCOM Platinum 6519.00 -234.00 -3.47 22.10 36142 TOCOM Silver 569.40 -27.00 -4.53 5.25 1357 TOCOM Palladium 1456.00 -31.00 -2.08 7.77 1544 Euro/Dollar 1.5480 Dollar/Yen 105.46

Note - TOCOM prices in yen per gram, except TOCOM silver which is priced in yen per 10 grams. Spot prices in $ per ounce.

(Editing by Michael Urquhart and Louise Heavens)

Provided by Reuters

© Reuters 2008 All rights reserved

Fri May 30 03:40:10 PDT 2008

(Recasts with prices, comment, changes dateline, pvs SINGAPORE)

By Chloe Fussell

LONDON, May 30 (Reuters) - Copper and aluminium prices edged up on Friday as worries about supply shortfalls resurfaced, while tin fell sharply to a two-month low.

Copper for three-month delivery was at $7,940/7,950 per tonne by 1017 GMT on the London Metal Exchange (LME), up $50 from its close of $7,890 on Thursday, when touched it $7,855 per tonne, its lowest level in two months.

"Copper’s fundamentals this year are very supportive — this is a market in deficit. We would expect to see any further drop from these levels as being short-lived," said Gayle Berry, metals analyst at Barclays Capital.

"I would expect aluminium to remain really quite well supported … Smelters in China do face further power hikes that will further raise their costs of production."

Aluminium was up at $2,905/2,910 from $2,880 the previous day. The metal has been boosted this year by worries about power problems and supplies of the energy-intensive metal from China, the world’s biggest producer and consumer.

Tin fell to $19,925 a tonne, the lowest since April 3. It was last at $20,700/20,900 from $21,000. Prices of the metal have fallen by 18 percent since hitting a record of $25,500 on May 15.

"We’re seeing a sharp profit-taking after a good rally," an LME trader said, adding the moves in the tin market could be volatile as it was more illiquid than copper or aluminium.

Analysts said the firmer dollar would weigh on commodity prices, as it made dollar-denominated metals more expensive for holders of other currencies.

The dollar firmed against the euro after surprisingly weak German retail sales figures added to the view that the euro zone economy may be weakening.

Metals prices slipped on Thursday after LME-registered warehouse figures showed most stocks had risen.

However copper could see some support by the threat of a nationwide strike in Peru and industrial action in Mexico, where workers held a one-day strike earlier this week.

Subcontract workers at the world’s largest copper miner, Codelco, are unhappy with a recent court ruling that overturned part of an agreement that ended a long-running dispute.

LME lead fell $27 to $1,925/1,945 after shedding nearly 4 percent on Thursday.

Teck Cominco said it had restarted its Trail lead refinery in British Columbia after a brief closure following a pollution spill.

Zinc fell $20 to $1,960/1,980 while nickel was up $50 at $22,250/22,450.

(Editing by Christopher Johnson)

Provided by Reuters

© Reuters 2008 All rights reserved

Fri May 30 02:00:49 PDT 2008

world demand for its metals and minerals by 2022.

Among the reasons cited for the growth are continued Chinese urbanisation followed by India. The materials needed for this rapid growth are iron ore, aluminium and copper, Rio’s three main products whose markets will double in 15 years, the company officials said.

Analysts said Rio was promoting its pipeline of growth projects to the market, as part of its defence against a hostile $176bn (£83bn) takeover bid from BHP Billiton. Perhaps, reason enough for them to be bullish while several others in the market continue to be bearish on prospects of metals.

The company CEO Mr Tom Albanese argued that the market had not yet appreciated how strong Rio’s growth would be over the next few years. He said the group was confident it could grow by 8.6 per cent a year until 2015.

BHP has questioned Rio’s growth forecasts, saying the figures include projects that are not guaranteed to go ahead. BHP says that its offer of 3.4 of its shares for each Rio share, which Rio has rejected as too low, is fair.

Rio highlighted prospects including its Simandou iron ore project in Guinea, west Africa, its La Granja copper project in Peru, and its nickel prospects in Sulawesi, Indonesia. But Mr Albanese admitted that some were risky. “All of the projects have an element of uncertainty until they get to the approval stage.”

The projects announced are :Simandou project in Guinea with 2.25 billion tonnes of iron ore, La Granja project in Peru with 2.8 billion tonnes of inferred copper resources at 0.51 per cent copper and 0.1 per cent zinc Resolution project in Arizona, USA, with 1.3 billion tonnes of inferred resources containing 1.51 per cent copper and 0.04 per cent molybdenum. Sulawesi Nickel project with 162 million tonnes lateritic nickel inferred resource with potential for further mineralisation through further exploration

In addition, Kennecott Utah Copper last week announced an upgrade of resources to 637 million tonnes at 0.48 per cent copper at its Bingham Canyon mine .

Source: Commodity Online

Fri May 30 01:24:13 PDT 2008

(Recasts with comments, adds details)

TOKYO, May 30 (Reuters) - Nippon Paper Group Inc and its smaller partner Rengo Co denied on Friday a newspaper report that they were considering combining operations to create Japan’s biggest paper maker.

The Asahi daily reported earlier that the two companies are considering deepening their ties to improve efficiency and to help counter rising material prices and saturation in the domestic market.

The Tokyo Stock Exchange resumed trading in their shares from 9:50 a.m. (0050 GMT) after a short suspension. Nippon Paper climbed 2.1 percent to 298,000 yen and Rengo edged up 0.3 percent to 721 yen.

Nippon Paper, the country’s second-largest paper maker, and fourth-ranked Rengo had taken small stakes in each other in the past as part of a three-way alliance with trading house Sumitomo Corp to better compete with industry leader Oji Paper Co in Japan and expand into growing Asian markets.

One of the possibilities that Nippon Paper and Rengo are now considering is a merger between a subsidiary of Nippon Paper and Rengo, the paper said.

"We are examining various measures, including an overhaul of the companies’ production structure, to quickly realise the effects of our alliance, but there is no truth to what is written in the report," Nippon Paper said in a statement.

Japanese paper makers have formed a web of alliances in the past two years or so, sparked by a hostile and ultimately unsuccessful bid by Oji Paper for sixth-largest maker Hokuetsu Paper Mills Ltd.

(Reporting by Sachi Izumi, editing by Brent Kininmont)

Provided by Reuters

© Reuters 2008 All rights reserved

Thu May 29 23:58:14 PDT 2008

SYDNEY, May 30 (Reuters) - Australian-listed zinc miner Herald Resources Ltd <HER.AX> said on Friday it expects to make a recommendation to shareholders on competing bids for the company.

Herald requested a halt to trading in its shares pending the announcement.

Earlier this week Indonesian coal producer PT Bumi <BUMI.JK> raised its offer for Herald, trumping a bid from Indonesian miner PT Aneka Tambang Tbk (Antam) <ANTM.JK> and its partner, China’s Shenzhen Zhongjin Lingnan Nonfemet Co Ltd <000060.SZ>.

(Reporting by Jonathan Standing)

Provided by Reuters

© Reuters 2008 All rights reserved