Commodity trading on the international market-Crude oil nears $120 |25 April 2008

In Seychelles the landed costs in Port Victoria of both petrol (bennzin) and diesel have risen considerably during the past two months, draining more of the country’s foreign exchange to pay for more expensive importation of fuel.

The c.i.f (cost, insurance and freight) value for petrol went up from R5.60 a litre in early March to R6.17 a litre last week.

The import cost of diesel was R7.53 a litre last week, compared to R6.27 a litre early March. This is an increase of R1.26 in the cif value of diesel.

Diesel is now a more expensive fuel to import than petrol. And the cif prices for both fuels went up again this week (see fuel prices below).

In another bid to curb consumption and prioritise national expenditure, it is inevitable that fuel, particularly diesel, at the pumps in Seychelles will cost more next time the price revision is announced.

Diesel at the pumps in Seychelles costs R12 a litre compared to R20 a litre in Germany and Britain, according to the Seychelles Petroleum Company’s (Sepec) monitoring of world prices.    

After an attack on a pipeline by Nigerian militants, Shell has closed 169,000 barrels a day of crude production and declared force majeure on Bonny Light exports for April and May.

The outlook for long-term supplies darkened as Saudi Arabia confirmed it would put on hold any further capacity expansion plans, beyond the 12.5m b/d target the kingdom is expected to reach by next year.

The International Monetary Fund warned that commodity prices, especially those for food and energy, had reached levels where they risked becoming a destabilising force in the global economy.

However, Opec ministers repeated that there was no need to pump more oil, as the cartel met its largest customers at the International Energy Forum in Rome on Monday.

Hussain Al-Shahristani, Iraq’s oil minister, blamed speculators for high oil prices, saying: “There isn’t much Opec can do.

“Opec is producing as much as the market requires. As a matter of fact there’s some surplus on the market,” he added, echoing a view broadly held by the 13-member group.

Rafael Ramirez, Venezuela’s energy minister, said prices were likely to stay at around current levels and would not fall much below $90 a barrel because production costs had increased. He also blamed the rise in oil prices on speculators and the weakness in the dollar.

Rice at fresh peak on supply fear

Rice prices have scaled fresh heights in Asian trade amid concern that export bans by key producers will hit demand.
Rough rice for July delivery touched US $24.745 per 100lb for the first time, before falling slightly.

Export bans are in place in India and Vietnam to protect domestic supply and there are fears that Thailand, the world’s largest producer, could follow suit.

The global food crisis is a “silent tsunami” with an extra 100 million people facing poverty, the UN said.

“This is the new face of hunger – the millions of people who were not in the urgent hunger category six months ago, but now are,” said the head of the UN World Food Programme (WFP), Josette Sheeran. 

The international price of rice – a staple food for half the world – has risen about 68% since the beginning of the year.
The prices of soybeans, corn and wheat have also been marching higher and are near their all-time peaks.

A combination of high fuel costs, bad weather and land allocated to biofuels is constraining food supply. At the same time, producer countries are seeking to conserve food for their own people by curtailing exports.

But Thai Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej said Thailand would continue to be known as the “world's kitchen”, as the government considers using abandoned state land to increase agricultural output.

Thailand’s Office of Agriculture Economics projected that rice production after milling would be 20.4 million tonnes from this year’s crop, with 55% for domestic consumption and the rest for export.
Thailand produced 19.6 million tonnes of rice last year.

The tomatoes of Docklands

Cocktail R78.50

The small cocktail tomatoes were selling at R78.50 a kilo at the Docklands supermarket, New Port, this week.
The bigger tomatoes were selling at R55 a kilo.

Fuel prices

As at 23rd April 2008

Petrol (Bennzin)   R6.44 a litre cif

Diesel                   R7.68 a litre cif