Crude oil basket at $70.11 a barrel

NEWS CAPSULES

Domestic crude oil basket on Friday topped the crucial $70 per barrel mark at $70.11 taking cue from global prices, data from the petroleum ministry said Monday. The basket price was $69.51 a day earlier.

Crude oil for August delivery surged to $73.93 a barrel, up 41 cents, on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Oil marketing firms have been allowed to raise product prices if international oil prices top $75 a barrel.

The price of the country's crude basket had hit an all-time high of $71.13 on May 2. The country's crude basket averaged $66.95 in June compared with $67.29 in May and $67.15 in April.

The basket comprises Oman-Dubai sour grade of crude and Brent dated sweet crude in a 58:42 ratio. Brent crude closed at $73.30 a barrel, while the Dubai and Oman benchmarks were at $67.61 and $68.00, respectively, the data said.

Coffee spot seen up on demand, exports

Domestic spot coffee prices are seen marginally up in the week ahead on improved demand and export enquiries, traders said. Global arabica prices are seen up owing to fund buying triggered by easing frost worries in Brazil, the world's largest producer. Robusta prices are seen firm on tight supply from Vietnam.

"Internal demand has improved as overseas prices staged a recovery last week, attracting exporters," a Bangalore-based trader said. The country exports 80 per cent of the coffee it produces, with the rest catering to domestic demand.

Also, a rise in internal demand owing to proliferation of coffee houses is likely to aid the slight upswing in prices, said M A Gafoor, director, Zaan Commodities.

According to data provided by the Coffee Board of India, internal consumption in 2005 was 80,000 tonne, up from 70,000 tonne the previous year.

Copper output up 449% in April-May

April-May copper output in the country rose to 361,937 tonne, up a whopping 449 per cent from a year ago, the mines ministry said in a release on Monday.

India April-May aluminium output was 186,231 tonne, up 22 per cent compared with a year ago, while zinc output during the period under review was up 42 per cent to 58,851 tonne compared with a year earlier.

India April-May gold production was up 106 per cent to 2.26 tonne compared with a year earlier, while lead output during the period was up 116 per cent to 7,006 tonne.

Hindustan Copper produced 5,470 tonne copper during April-May while Hindalco Industries produced 46,410 tonne and Sterlite Industries (India) contributed 3,10,057 tonne, the release said.

National Aluminium Co produced 60,202 tonne of aluminium while Bharat Aluminium Co produced 47,995 tonne.

Hindustan Aluminium Co and Madras Aluminium Co produced 71,661 tonne and 6,373 tonne, respectively during the period under review. Hindustan Zinc produced 52,664 tonne of zinc during April-May while Binani Zinc output was 6,187 tonne.

Rubber exports hit record in Q1

Natural rubber exports touched record high of 18,000 tonne in April-June, compared with 1,000 tonnes a year ago, a Rubber Board official said Monday. Import fell to 15,000 from 21,000 tonne a year ago, he said.

Exports surged in the first quarter this financial year as prices here were lower than global rates, dealers said. During the same period a year ago international prices were lower than local rubber prices, which led to lower exports and higher imports.

Rubber export is seen remaining firm during coming months as global prices are ruling higher compared with domestic prices, dealers said.

Benchmark RSS-3 in Bangkok, equivalent of domestic RSS-4, is currently higher Rs 19 a kg compared with Indian prices. The country exported 73,830 tonne of natural rubber during 2005-06 (April-March), while imports were 45,000 tonne.