Lead and soybeans poised to rise as most commodities fall and global equities tumble

Diversification is key to allocating your risk when investing.  If you’re in equities and commodities (precious and non-precious metals, energy or agriculture) you have probably seen your portfolio take a serious in the past few weeks.

Two commodities however, seem poised to buck this trend, as Bloomberg reports in these two separate pieces on lead and soybeans.

You can click the article titles or the links below the excerpts posted here to read each respective report in its entirety.

Lead Shortage Looms in ’13 on Record Demand for Batteries - Bloomberg

Lead is poised to rally after erasing this year’s gains with the market returning to shortages following a five-year glut as miners fail to keep pace with record demand for batteries.

Stockpiles monitored by the London Metal Exchange dropped 7.6 percent from the all-time high reached in October. Demand will exceed supply by 150,000 metric tons next year, equal to about six months of U.S. mine production, Macquarie Group Ltd. estimates. Prices will average $2,273 a ton in the fourth quarter, 13 percent more than now, according to the median of 18 analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg.

Click here to access the full article direct from Bloomberg

Soybeans Rise From Six-Week Low as Biggest Growers’ Exports Gain - Bloomberg

Soybeans rebounded from a six-week low as export sales from the U.S. and Brazil climbed, draining supply in the world’s two largest growers.

The amount of soybeans inspected for U.S. export almost doubled in the week to May 10 to 20.3 million bushels from the prior seven days, the Department of Agriculture said yesterday. In Brazil, growers had sold 83 percent of the harvest as of May 11, up from 63 percent a year ago, according to researcher Celeres.

Click here to access the full article direct from Bloomberg

Peru and NE Asia related headlines from the past 2 days

Humala finaliza gira en Asia y viene de vuelta a Perú de La Republica

Viaje lo llevó a Japón y Corea del Sur.

El presidente de la República, Ollanta Humala, concluyó hoy su gira oficial por el continente asiático y se encuentra viajando de retorno a Perú.

El jefe de Estado y su comitiva despegaron en el avión presidencial peruano hoy desde Yeosu (Corea del Sur), confirmó a la agencia, la delegación de Perú en la Expo 2012.

Allí, el mandatario inauguró a primera hora el pabellón peruano, que definió como “un espacio de reflexión y de respeto al mar y al agua en general” en sintonía con el tema central de la Expo, que es la conservación global de los océanos y los recursos marinos.

Durante los cinco días de su gira, la primera que realiza por Asia desde su nombramiento, Humala ha mantenido reuniones con el presidente surcoreano, Lee Myung-bak, y con el primer ministro nipón Yoshihiko Noda, en los que se ha reforzado la cooperación mutua en varias materias.

García Belaunde: “El futuro del Perú pasa por el Asia Pacífico” de El Comercio

El ex canciller sostuvo que apostar por mercados como Japón y Corea del Sur es clave ante la crisis económica europea

El futuro del Perú y del mundo pasa hoy por la zona Asia Pacífico, y el Gobierno hace bien en profundizar su presencia en esa importante área económica para buscar nuevos mercados y mayores inversiones, opinó hoy el excanciller José Antonio García Belaunde.

En un contexto de crisis internacional que afecta a la zona europea, sostuvo apostar por importantes mercados asiáticos como Japón y Corea del Sur es clave para asegurar la continuidad del crecimiento económico del país.

Perú y Corea pueden ser el puente que una Latinoamérica y Asia de Andina.com

Seúl, may. 11 (ANDINA). Perú y Corea del Sur pueden convertirse en el puente que una a Latinoamérica y Asia, mediante el establecimiento de rutas aerocomerciales de carga y de pasajeros entre Lima y Seúl, estimó hoy el presidente Ollanta Humala.

Señaló que promover esa ruta ha sido uno de los objetivos de su visita de Estado a Seúl.

“Dentro de mi preocupación, como gobierno, está promover, invitar y conversar con empresas coreanas para cubrir una línea comercial de transporte de pasajeros y de carga, que permita crear ese puente que debe haber entre Asia y Latinoamérica, a través de Perú y de Corea”, declaró a periodistas.

Ese sería un negocio rentable, añadió durante su exposición ante empresarios coreanos sobre el potencial de inversiones que existe en Perú.

Está previsto actualmente el ingreso de la aerolínea Korean Air a Perú, inicialmente por carga, y su eventual ampliación al transporte de pasajeros incrementará el flujo turístico al país andino, según la Cámara Nacional de Turismo (Canatur).

Peruvian President visits Asia for trade cooperation – CCTV

Click here to watch the video direct from CCTV English

ASEAN region works. Asian Nations to double crisis fund to $240 billion

ASEAN (The Association of Southeast Asian Nations) countries and their major trading partners China, Japan and South Korea agreed Thursday to double a regional financial crisis fund to $240 billion.
…

Incredible.

A region of the world full of small and large countries with unique and distinct cultures & systems of governance were able to come together as a “region,” and negotiate with economic & political powers such as China, Japan and South Korea… AND COME TO AN AGREEMENT. .

Part of this petition to is get people to realize the Americas (from Canada down to Argentina), should be more than capable of creating the foundations of acting together as a region, and spreading prosperity from our plentiful lands and resources.

Sign this petition, because you can’t leave a country like Cuba out of dialogue & exchange in the Americas for archaic reasons dating to the cold war. It’s not fair when we see success elsewhere in ASEAN between countries of very mixed backgrounds…

Click here to more about this development from CNBC

Double standards – The US in the Americas vs the US in ASEAN

Article written by Bennett A. Reiss Iberico

Author, creator, web master, and manager of ChinaSouthAmerica.com

With all the news coverage of the recent Summit of the Americas in Cartagena, Colombia focusing on the CIA’s love of prostitutes it’s a tragedy the issues of the summit aren’t being covered – namely how every nation in the Western Hemisphere, except for the US and Canada expressed their desire to invite Cuba to the summit which the US/ Canada would hear nothing of. Both emphasizing that in order to participate in the summit, or any regional club within the “Americas,” a country must be a Democracy.

Consider this in the context of how the US acts and willingly desires to participate in ASEAN summits of SE Asian nations. All this talk from the Obama Administration and Republican Candidates about the strategic importance of Asia/ the Pacific on the surface makes it an easy story to sell by the media. ASEAN is a club of nations with extreme strategic importance for the US in Asia, and a means in which to protect US interests in the region and check China’s rising influence.

Let me remind the world (readers of this article/ website), ASEAN includes countries such as:

Vietnam – A Communist Country
Laos – A Communist Country
Cambodia – An Absolute Monarchy (arguably in transition to a Constitutional Monarchy or Democracy)
Brunei – An Absolute Monarchy

So it’s okay to talk, trade, forge geo-political and military ties with nations in this group in ASIA… but when we talk about the “Americas,” (North and South America), the same standards don’t apply? Why do we listen, give attention and forge ties with these nations mentioned above that are not “Democracies,” and thereafter shut the door on Cuba? Perhaps it has something to do with the wealthy Cuban Lobbyists’ in Miami…

Food for thought, although unfortunately it is a topic no major media outlet around the world feels is worthy to address, question and bring to people’s attention.

~ Bennett A. Reiss Iberico

Ecuador-China sign first contract for “Mega Mine”

Reuters reports — Ecuador signs first large-scale mining contract

QUITO, March 5 (Reuters) – Ecuador’s President Rafael Correa on Tuesday signed the country’s first ever large-scale mining contract, which calls for Chinese-owned Ecuacorriente to invest $1.4 billion in the El Mirador copper project.

Ecuador has no mining industry to speak of and Correa, a U.S. trained economist, is eager to attract investment to tap the country’s big copper, gold and silver deposits and diversify the economy from its dependency on oil exports.

Correa is trying to reap lofty benefits from miners and negotiations with Ecuacorriente and Canada’s Kinross, which plans to develop the Fruta del Norte gold project, have taken much longer than initially expected.

The 21st century’s most important trade network – The Asia-Pacific triangle

Having followed, written about and participated in the growth of China – Latin America’s exchange over the past 10 years, I must say it is refreshing to see the increasing awareness around the globe of the growth of Asia-Pacific cooperation.  Every week news media around the world publish news and analysis pertaining not only to China – Latin America, but increasingly about the geopolitical triangle of the greater Asia-Pacific region.

Aljazeera added to the wealth today by publishing the transcript of a interview they conducted with former Peruvian Ambassador to China, and current Ambassador to the US - Harold Forsyth.  In the interview Aljazeera reporter Eddie Walshe discusses with Ambassador Forsyth his perspective on the growing importance of Asia-Pacific cooperation and more particularly, how Peru fits into the Asia-Pacific triangle of the Greater Asia region (with a special emphasis on China), North America and South America.

As someone who personally believes the growth of trade and exchange between nations of the Asia Pacific and the Americas (North & South) will be the most important network of exchange this century, I highly recommend giving it a read.

Click here to access Peru’s place in the triangle of Asia-Pacific security, published by Aljazeera

What people around the world define as the Asia-Pacific region varies widely, for your author (me) I consider it to include all nations, cultures and territories on both sides of the Pacific Ocean.  This means “Oceania,” despite being a region in itself must naturally be included.  It also tends to include India, because although India is usually not considered a “Pacific” nation, it is a major geopolitical power in this equation.

Within the Asia-Pacific region there is however a level of exchange and interaction which is far more significant when looking at the greater region as a whole — and that, in my opinion is the triangular interaction of North East Asia (China, South Korea, Japan), North America, and South America.  Of course, one could argue discounting Russia, India, Australia and the nations of SE Asia and leaves many players out of the equation. I only do so because their links to the America’s are relatively small when compared with China, South Korea and Japan.

Why is this triangular network so important you ask?  Let’s quickly review some facts which come to mind pertaining to a few specific categories — Economic output & International Trade, Commodity production/ consumption (energy, metals and agriculture), and geopolitical security

• The Asia-Pacific region includes the world’s three largest economies — The United States, China (PRC), and Japan.
• These three economies make up a large portion of global economic output, commodity consumption/production, and trade.
• In terms of commodity consumption & production you find within this triangle (to name a few):
• Top 5 iron ore producers – Brazil, China, Australia, India and Russia
• Top 4 iron ore consumers – China, Russia, Japan and South Korea
• A few of the top energy producers, Russia (#1), the US, China, Venezuela and ever more significant levels of energy production coming from Brazil and Canada
• The top 5 oil consumers – United States, China, Japan, Russia, and India
• The Top 5 copper producers – Chile, Peru, the US, China, Australia
• 3/5 of the top copper consumers – China, India & the US
• Major sources of precious metal production (Gold & Silver) Russia, China, Australia, Peru, Chile & the US
• Major sources of precious metal demand – China, & the US
• Major centers of global food production – Russia, the US and South America as a whole
• Major centers of food consumption – China, India, & the US
• Finally, the Asia-Pacific region includes many of the 21st century’s most potentially volatile geopolitical security issues. To name a few:
• US-China relations
• NE Asia which includes everything from
• The balance of power between China, Japan, and Korea (and Russia) … and ultimately how the US factors into this region
• The Korean Peninsula and all the related issues from re-unification of North & South Korea to proliferation of arms by North Korea
• The South China Seas
• The quagmire of complex inter-country relations in SE Asia
• Taiwan
• ETC

“China Files ofrece una mirada muy genuina y latinoamericana sobre China”: Caracol Noticias

China-Files

Caracol Radio y Caracol Noticias, dos de los más importantes noticieros de radio y televisión en Colombia, destacaron a China Files como el portal de referencia para las personas interesadas en las relaciones entre China y América Latina. En una nota presentada por Gustavo Gómez y Darío Arizmendi -uno de los símbolos de la radio colombiana- resaltaron la labor periodística de nuestro equipo. Reproducimos el video de Caracol Noticias. Si quieren ver la nota deben ir al recuadro Noticias II y al minuto 7 de la transmisión.

Para ver el video, haz clic aquí.

Rare question and answer Xinhua Exclusive on China- Latam relations

Thank you Xinhua News. Please click here to access the article from Xinhua News.

Yang Wanming, director-general of the the Department of Latin American and Caribbean Affairs of the Chinese Foreign Ministry, exchanged views with chinanews.com readers online on Tuesday afternoon.

 

Yang Wanming, director-generalof the Department of Latin American and Caribbean Affairs of the Chinese Foreign Ministry, answers questions from chinanews.com readers online on Jan 17, 2012. [Photo/Chinanews.com]

 

Topic: China-Latin America cooperation in culture

Q: How do China and Latin America cooperate in the field of culture?

A: China has opened 32 Confucius institutes in Latin America, covering almost all Latin American countries. Both sides also send art troupes to visit one another and conduct people-to-people exchanges. Many Chinese people like their football, music and dances and engage in studying Spanish and Portuguese. Many Chinese books have also been translated into Spanish and sold in Latin America.

Topic: Cooperation in energy

Q: What’s the current situation with Sino-Latin American energy cooperation? Some people think China is plundering energy resources there and uses it as a way to curb the US.

A: China is trying to carry out comprehensive cooperation with Latin American countries and its efforts have been well welcomed by them. The cooperation not only benefits the two parties, but also contributes to global peace, stability and prosperity. It started late and is on a relatively small scale, but has been developing fast. China imported 20.73 million tons of crude oil from Latin American countries in 2010, which accounts for 8.7 percent of China’s total import in that year. Venezuela has become China’s 4th largest oil provider. The two parties will explore cooperation on new energy. It’s totally based on equality and mutual benefit and will do no harm to the third party.

Topic: US view on China-Latin America relationship

Q: The relationship between China and Latin American countries has developed so fast. What do you think of the feeling in the US to this?

A: In recent years, the independence of Latin American countries is growing and its economic growth momentum becomes more diverse than before.

The rapid development of China-Latin America relations is on the basis of mutual benefit and win-win for both sides and is within the needs of Latin American countries’ diversified diplomacy and development strategy.

It will not only benefit development of both, but also contribute to the world’s stability and development.

China and the US have already established a consultation mechanism on Latin-America, and through four different consultations, the two parties have enhanced their mutual trust on this issue.

And the US has repeatedly stressed in their consultations that strengthening relations between China and Latin American countries will be good for Latin-America’s stability and development.

Topic: Chinese workers kidnapped in Colombia

Q: It was reported that several Chinese employees were kidnapped in Colombia by unidentified armed militants. How are they now? Could you release some information about the rescue efforts?

A: Four Chinese workers were kidnapped by some unknown armed militants in Caquetá province in Colombia on June 8, 2011. We have urged the Colombia authority to spare no effort to carry on the rescue work under the premise of guaranteeing the safety of hostages. Since then, the Chinese embassy in Colombia has kept in close cooperation and contact with Colombia’s relevant departments. The rescue work has not finished yet, but the safety of the four hostages can be guaranteed. Chinese companies are facing more risks as they go global on a larger scale. We need to increase our political backup and diplomatic guarantee to them, strengthen the consular protection and safeguard their legitimate interests. Meanwhile we advise Chinese people in Latin America to improve their sense of safety and precaution.

Q: How about China-Mexico relations?

A: China and Mexico are both developing countries and are working at enhancing people’s living standards. They hold the same positions on many international issues and regularly cooperate on these..

China and Mexico have some trade friction over trade imbalance problems, but we hope both sides can deal with the problems reasonably and from a development point of view.

We hope both can take active measures to promote the diverse, comprehensive and healthy development of the two countries’ economic and trade relations.

February 14 marks the 40th anniversary of diplomatic relations between China and Mexico. We believe the relations can become more comprehensive, steadier and healthier with the two countries’ joint efforts in the future.

Q: Can you talk about the relationship between China and Brazil?

A: Brazil is one of the biggest countries in Latin America and one of the emerging powers in the region. The China-Brazil relationship is one of the most important between China and Latin America.

In recent years, the strategic partnership between China and Brazil has made considerable progress. They maintain a good momentum of high-level exchanges and the political mutual trust is deepened.

Their economical cooperation is also deepening constantly, which has brought tangible benefits to people of both countries. Bilateral trade volume exceeded $80 billion in 2011. Investment cooperation in finance, energy, steel, and machine manufacturing has also made great progress, and is expanding constantly.

China and Brazil have active exchanges in science, technology and culture as well.

The cooperation in the fields of Earth resource satellites, agricultural technology and aviation is progressing continuously. And the cooperation in culture and education is also very close.

China’s Confucius Institute Headquarters opened two Confucius Institutes and a Confucius school in Brazil and Brazil’s important media institutions have sent many journalists to work in China.

China and Brazil are both developing countries and have broad and consistent interests on major international issues. The Chinese government attaches great importance to relations with Brazil and believes the two countries’ cooperation in various fields will make great progress with their joint efforts.

 

APEC summit catapults Peru into China’s mainstream news

Peru, China cooperation has bilateral benefits

LIMA, Nov. 18 (Xinhua) — Peru and China have enjoyed friendly relations which allow the development of business opportunities for both sides, Peruvian Prime Minister Salomon Lerner told Xinhua on Friday.

Xinhua News - CN President Hu Jintao with PE President Ollanta Humala

Lerner also confirmed that the Peruvian government doesn’t have intention to review or modify the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) signed between Peru and China, which came into force since 2010.

The 5th China-Latin America Business Summit will be held in Lima on Nov. 21 and 22. In this framework, Lerner said Peru offers “a series of possibilities of investment” and cooperation in many fields.

“I reassert the invitation to the Chinese companies to explore possibilities of association with Peruvian companies,” he added.

Click here to read the full article direct from Xinhua News

Leaders of China, Peru seek new cooperation

HONOLULU – Chinese President Hu Jintao met with Peruvian President Ollanta Humala on Friday, with both sides urging deeper economic cooperation.

Humala also called for more Chinese firms to invest in Peru.

The duo met on the sideline of the 19th Economic Leaders’ Meeting of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC).

During the meeting, Hu said Sino-Peruvian ties are at a strategic high, and he pledged the two sides would sustain high-level communication on matters of mutual concern

Click here to read the full article direct from The China Daily

Chinese president calls for stronger ties with Peru

HONOLULU, United States, Nov. 11 (Xinhua) — Chinese President Hu Jintao met with his Peruvian counterpart Ollanta Humala Tasso here Friday, and the two pledged to work together to further advance the strategic partnership between the two countries.

The two are in Hawaii to attend the 19th Economic Leaders’ Meeting of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum scheduled for Saturday and Sunday.

Noting that both China and Peru are important developing countries in the Pacific Rim, Hu said China always treats and handles its relations with Peru from a strategic height. He put forward a four-point proposal to further boost bilateral ties.

Click here to read the full article direct from Xinhua News