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Metals – Copper lower as traders focus on poor US home

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LONDON (Thomson Financial) – Copper drifted lower as traders viewed poor housing data from the US as a sign of lower demand.

Losses were limited, however, as possible strike action in Peru on Monday loomed.

‘Some weak housing data that came out yesterday just reduced confidence in the market place,’ said John Meyer at Numis Securities. Traders were ‘concerned about the impact,’ the weak data might have in the future, he added.

At 12.39 pm, LME copper for 3 month delivery was down at 7,811 usd a tonne against 7,865 usd at the close yesterday.

US data out yesterday showed new home sales rose by 2.6 pct in March from February to 858,000 units. The market was expecting sales to rise to 900,000 units, after they plunged to the lowest level in nearly seven years in February.

However, strike action in Peru limited falls. Workers at the country’s Ilo copper smelter, operated by Southern Copper Corp, have rejected a wage offer and have said they will strike indefinitely from the beginning of next week.

They plan to join a nationwide protest, organised by the National Federation of Mining, Metallurgy and Steel Workers, against the high level of contract workers employed at mines.

‘Copper, having perhaps discounted the start of the Peruvian strikes, is now in a ‘wait-and see’ mode as participants wait to assess how much impact the strike will have and, most importantly, how long it will last,’ said Edward Meir, Man Financial analyst.

Last week, the price of the red metal surged to seven-month highs on supply fears after workers held a protest for better wages and welfare at Free-port-McMoRan’s Grasberg mine in Indonesia. Grasberg is one of the world’s largest copper and gold mines.

Elsewhere, further declines in existing copper stocks helped provide a floor for prices. The LME said copper stockpiles fell for the fourth day in a row this morning by a further 2,025 tonnes.

In other metals, nickel was down at 46,760 usd a tonne against 47,550 usd amid a large increase in LME nickel stocks. Data out earlier showed LME stocks rose by 210 tonnes or to total 5,052 tonnes.

‘We expect light buying to come in 45,800 usd as participants position themselves for another run to 50,000 usd,’ said Meir at Man Financial.

Although nickel stocks remain at critically low levels, recent inflows into LME warehouses have put pressure on prices, which remain close to record levels.

Elsewhere, aluminium was down at 2,821 usd a tonne against 2,823 usd, lead edged higher to 1,985 usd against 1,982 usd, while tin fell to 13,450 usd a tonne against 13,510 usd.

anealla.safdar@thomson.com

as/tc

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Qantas Airways acquires 30 pct stake in Vietnam’s Pacific Airlines

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SYDNEY (XFN-ASIA) – Qantas Airways Ltd said it has signed an agreement with the Vietnamese government to purchase a 30 pct stake in Pacific Airlines, Vietnam’s second largest carrier.
Australia’s flag carrier said the stake is expected to be finalized within the next few months.
Qantas chief financial executive Peter Gregg said the investment will support his airline’s budget carrier Jetstar’s growth strategy and enable an extension further into Southeast Asia.
‘Vietnam offers great growth potential for aviation. It has a large and growing domestic market and is increasingly popular as a tourist destination,’ he said.
Gregg said Qantas will work with Pacific Airlines to develop a new business plan for the carrier, which currently operates a fleet of Boeing 737-400 aircraft on domestic routes in Vietnam and international services between Vietnam and Taiwan.
‘Pacific Airlines’ strategy is to reposition itself as a low cost carrier and expand its operation both within Vietnam and internationally,’ he said.
‘We will be actively involved in the ongoing management of the company through board representation and key management appointments,’ Gregg added.

Toshiba targeting to sell 3 mln HD DVD players in fiscal 2007 – report

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TOKYO (XFN-ASIA) – Toshiba Corp aims to sell around 3 mln players compatible with the HD DVD next-generation optical disc format in the current year to March 2008, up sharply from the 250,000 units it sold last fiscal year, the Nikkei financial daily reported, without citing sources.

The global market for next-generation DVD players is seen at 4-5 mln units in fiscal 2007, with Toshiba seeking a 60-70 pct share, the Nikkei said.

To better compete with companies promoting the rival Blu-ray Disc format, Toshiba plans to continue with its strategy of cutting prices and releasing low-priced players in the US, the largest market, according to the newspaper.

The company slashed prices of both entry-level and midrange players by 100 usd there this month, bringing price tags to 399 usd and 499 usd, respectively.

(1 usd = 118.72 yen)

yasuhiko.seki@xfn.com

ys/mas

EU concerned by KLM move to buy out Moller-Maersk’s share of Martinair – report

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AMSTERDAM (Thomson Financial) – The European Commission is concerned over Dutch airline KLM-Air France’s intention to buy out co-owner Moeller-Maersk’s shares in Martinair — a move which Martinair says would see KLM become ‘too dominant’ on the Dutch market, according to financial daily Het Financieele Dagblad.

KLM-Air France wants to buy the remaining 50 pct from Danish transport group AP Moeller Marsk, which wants to sell its stake.

The paper says other companies have expressed an interest in the Moeller-Maersk stake and said they are also keen on buying a part of the KLM-Air France share to obtain a majority of the shares.

A spokesperson for KLM responded that it is not interested in selling part of its share.

The stalemate has existed for eight years; P&O; Nedlloyd, which held the shares at the time and subsequently sold them to Moeller Maersk, wanted to sell its stake to KLM.

KLM was interested in buying the share, but the EU prevented the deal from going ahead.

antonia.vandevelde@thomson.com

ava/bsd

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Indonesia’s Pertamina, Russia’s Lukoil ink joint oil exploration/production MOU

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AKARTA (XFN-ASIA) – State oil and gas firm PT Pertamina said it has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Russia’s Lukoil Overseas to cooperate in oil exploration and production activities in Indonesia, Russia and other countries.

It added that the MOU also lays the groundwork for cooperation between the two in applying the so-called enhanced oil recovery (EOR) technology in depleted oil fields in Indonesia.

Pertamina added that as a follow-up to the MOU, the two firms will set up a steering committee to monitor the activities of their joint projects.

aloysius.bhui@xfn.com

ab/kmq

Pepperidge Farm helps fix grist mill

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NORWALK, Conn. (AP) – Pepperidge Farm Inc. is helping to repair a rare grist mill that inspired the company’s logo.

The upscale baked goods company in Norwalk is donating $15,000 to the 70-year-old Wayside Inn Grist Mill in Sudbury, Mass., to help with renovations that include installing a roof and painting the water wheel.

The mill was used to produce Pepperidge Farm’s flour from 1952 to 1967 and its image has been the company’s logo for 44 years.

The Wayside Inn Grist Mill opened in 1929, drawing attention to the inn, which dates to 1716.

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s visit to the inn in 1862 is credited with inspiring the poet to write ‘Paul Revere’s Ride,’ and one-time owner Henry Ford incorporated the inn as a nonprofit entity in 1944.

The grist mill is now a museum that provides the Wayside Inn with flour for its baked goods and for sale at its gift shop. It also serves as an educational resource for school children and other visitors.

Pepperidge Farm is owned by Campbell Soup Co.

Copyright 2007 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

UBS raises platinum, palladium forecast on expected ETF launches

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LONDON (Thomson Financial) – Recent strong interest for palladium and platinum Exchange Traded Funds (ETF) has prompted analysts at UBS Investment Bank to raise their price forecasts for the two metals.

Zurich Cantonal Bank’s announcement last Friday that platinum and palladium ETFs will be listed on the SWX market in Switzerland on May 10 have boosted prices of the two metals and raised speculation they could go higher still.

ETFs trade commodity futures and back up every ounce of stock bought on paper with the actual physical commodity. As a result, the launch of an ETF often squeezes the market as it eats up the amount of physical stock available.

The bank said it has ‘modest ambitions for the platinum and palladium ETFs’, expecting they will take only 70,000 ounces of platinum and 200,000 ounces of palladium off the market within a year.

‘We suspect this is too conservative,’ said UBS Investment Bank analyst John Reade. ‘Hedge funds and private investors have been historically active in the platinum group metals and we would not be surprised if the…ETFs attract considerable interest from these investors.’

UBS now expects both metals will surge going forward, with platinum hitting 1,350 usd an ounce and palladium reaching 420 usd over the next three months, an upgrade from previous estimates of 1,300 usd and 380 usd respectively.

anealla.safdar@thomson.com

ma

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Danisco to pay Novozymes 15.3 mln usd following Spezyme ethyl patent case

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COPENHAGEN (Thomson Financial) – Danisco AS said it will pay competitor Novozymes AS a total of 15.3 mln usd, which includes patent infringement damages of 8.2 mln usd, following the settlement of a patent dispute over the enzyme Spezyme ethyl, which is used in the production of bioethanol.

The payment will not impact Danisco’s 2006/07 earnings expectations since a provision for the amount was previously made, Danisco said.

Novozymes AS said the total settlement amount, which is due for payment immediately, will have a positive net impact on its 2007 operating profit of 75-80 mln dkr.

The parties have concluded an agreement on reciprocal waiving of the right to appeal the court’s decision of first instance on the issue, it added.

Danisco announced on February 19 that a federal court in Delaware found it had infringed Novozymes’ patent for the enzyme.

The case began in March 2005, when Novozymes brought patent infringement litigation against Genencor International Inc, which was subsequently acquired by Danisco.

gustav.sandstrom@thomson.com

gs/jag

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ING Real Estate acquires 12,000-square metre retail park in Austria – UPDATE

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(Updating with acquisition price)

AMSTERDAM (Thomson Financial) – ING Real Estate has acquired a 12,000-square meter shopping centre in Austria, the company said.

A company spokesperson confirmed this afternoon that ING paid 25.5 mln eur for the property.

Shopping Centre 17 in Brunn am Gebirge, Austria, will form part of the ING Real Estate Property Fund Central and Eastern Europe, which the company launched last year.

The retail park, which opened in 1996, is currently being leased to 14 tenants.

ING said the property is ‘located in a very popular retail area comprising 325,000 square metres of retail space.’

The area is home to Shopping City Sud, one of the largest shopping centres in Europe.

Dave van Ginhoven, +31-6-14496797, dave.vanginhoven@thomson.com

dvg/ic/dvg/ic

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Hawaii has great energy potential

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HAWI, Hawaii (AP) – With its ocean breezes, ample sunlight, pounding waves and a continuously erupting volcano, Hawaii seems blessed with the means to produce clean electricity and achieve energy independence.
But that isn’t anywhere close to happening. For one thing, the technology isn’t quite ready.

The big drawback with wind and solar energy, for example, is that the flow of electricity stops when the breeze dies down and the sun sets. Since there is no good way to store the power for use later, homeowners need conventional electrical service — meaning fossil fuel-burning plants — as a backup.

‘Our community understands the time is now to think about these things, and yet we demand that they keep the lights on,’ Mike Gresham, vice president for UPC Hawaii Wind Partners, which runs the state’s largest wind farm, consisting of 20 turbines on Maui.

And so, despite rising prices, oil and coal are still the most reliable and convenient energy sources in Hawaii.

In fact, Hawaii relies on imported fossil fuels more than any other state, with about 90 percent of its energy coming from foreign countries and most of the rest coming from renewable resources in 2005, according to state data.

The United States as a whole imports 30 percent of its energy, with 6 percent from renewables, according to the Energy Information Administration.

The major reason Hawaii is so dependent on foreign oil is that it is way out in the middle of the Pacific, far from the pipelines, electrical transmission lines and coastal oil fields on the U.S. mainland. Fuel can be easily delivered aboard Asian tankers instead.

With world demand for electricity climbing ever higher, Hawaii passed a law last year that calls for one-fifth of the state’s energy to come from renewable sources by 2020.

Things are clearly moving in that direction. Among the renewable-energy projects under way is a $200 million Maui wind farm that will power 15,000 homes starting in 2008.

But solar and wind power still account for a very small percentage of the energy consumed in Hawaii.

The problem with solar power is that the sun sets just when electricity customers need electricity the most, between 5 p.m. and 9 p.m. So far, solar power has not proven feasible for producing electricity in Hawaii, but an estimated 80,000 homes and other facilities are served by solar water heaters.

As for wind, ‘you need a storage method that can come in and back that up’ whenever the breeze dies down, said Karl Stahlkopf, president of Renewable Hawaii, a subsidiary of Hawaiian Electric Co.

The Big Island, for example, has a wind farm in Hawi with 16 windmills turned by the tropical breeze. The 100-foot turbines can generate enough electricity for more than 1,200 homes.

During one recent afternoon, however, the tradewinds were so weak that only eight of the turbines were turning, forcing the local electric utility to compensate with other energy sources to avoid power shortages.

‘The potential is huge. We are not lacking the resources,’ said Maurice Kaya, chief technology officer for the Hawaii Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism. ‘There may be technological solutions to this intermittence, but we are not there yet.’

One potentially more reliable source of clean power is geothermal energy. Geothermal equipment draws heat from the molten rock deep within the Earth’s crust to drive turbines. Hawaii, the home of Mount Kilauea, is a place of great volcanic activity.

The big advantage of geothermal energy is that it is an uninterrupted source of power.

‘Unlike wind, geothermal is just like fossil fuel — we keep on producing,’ said Barry Mizumo, a consultant for Puna Geothermal Venture, which contributes 15 percent of the Big Island’s peak power capacity.

Several businesses are also working on early efforts to take advantage of Hawaii’s world-famous waves and harness the power of the tides. And Hawaii’s electric utilities plan to convert plants to burn biofuels such as palm vegetable oil by 2009, Stahlkopf said.

Copyright 2007 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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