Rising Solar-Panel Generation Means Increasing Industrial Demand For Silver

The sun is adding some shine to the silver market.

One of the growing industrial uses for silver is photovoltaic cells in solar panels as the world seeks alternative forms of energy, metal consultancies said. There has been a jump in such demand in recent years, and analysts said millions more ounces of silver may be consumed for this over the next decade.

“Solar panels will probably be one of the leading industrial uses,” said Jessica Cross, CEO of VM Group.

Use of the long-established photovoltaic technology, referred to as PV, “really took” off in the last half decade, helped by government subsidies, said Philip Newman, research director for GFMS.

“The growth in demand did not primarily come about because of technological developments,” he said. “It came about because of changing attitudes of governments and government policy.”

Ultimately, the amount of silver used will hinge on growth that emerges in the PV solar market. This will depend on both future government support, as well as technology innovations that bring down the cost of solar power, said Erica Rannestad, commodities analyst with CPM Group. As it is, the cost for a typical PV module fell by around 40% in 2009 from mid-2008, she said, citing data from the trade group Solar Energy Industries Association.

One of the most popular government programs is a “feed-in tariff” mechanism in which electrical-grid operators pay producers of renewable energy long-term fixed prices for energy they feed into the grid. This originated in Germany and is especially popular in Europe, Rannestad said.

Any government policies calling for more renewable energy are likely to boost demand for solar cells. Europe is pushing for renewable energy to amount to 20% of total energy consumption by 2020, compared to around 10% in 2008, Rannestad said. “I expect new installations of solar panels to continue to rise on an annual basis,” she said.

Globally, solar-panel installations during 2009 meant 7.2 gigawatts of new electrical capacity, Rannestad said. (A gigawatt equals 1 billion watts.) Industry estimates suggest newly installed capacity will more than double to 16.5 gigawatts in 2010, Rannestad said. This may rise to 23.3 gigawatts by 2013 and 40.9 gigawatts by 2019.

Read more: The Santos Republic

US terminal gates closed for Thanksgiving holiday

Orient Overseas Container-Line (OOCL) has announced the closure of several US Marine Terminals during the US Thanksgiving Holiday on Thursday, November 25, 2010.

Details of the marine terminal gate operation schedule can be found below:

OOCL has announced that the Port of New Orleans will also be closed on Friday, November 26th.

All booking confirmations will include advice regarding any advanced AES documentation and/or Load Port CY Cutoff dates.

Information courtesy of OOCL.

Port of Rotterdam to offer ‘once-only’ rebate on harbour dues

The Port of Rotterdam will offer a “once-only” 3% rebate on harbour dues for ocean-going ships and inland waterway vessels in 2011.

The move comes as a result of the 1% structural increase on sea and harbour due tariffs experienced in 2010, with the port authority stating that it intends to help shipping lines in “their further recovery from the crisis.”

The rebate comes after months of discussions, with Rotterdam port associationDeltalinqs, focused on outlining methods in which to aid the sector in its recovery from the financial crisis.

Revenues from sea and harbour dues for 2009 were recorded at $371 million.

“The port authority shows an open eye for the fact that the companies are still recovering from the enormous crisis and that the revenues are not yet at the old level,” said Deltalinqs chairman, Wim van Sluis.

At the announcement, CEO of Port of Rotterdam Authority Hans Smit said: “We had an agreement for two years, but after the consultation of the market, it is agreed to give extra support. The crisis rebate of last year is now followed by a recovery rebate to enable our customers to land as smooth as possible.”

Association of Rotterdam Shipbrokers and Agents chairman, Piet Hoogerwaard added: “This general recovery rebate offers our customers the possibility to retain the improved results or to limit losses. It also contributes to the consolidation of the improved market share of the port of Rotterdam.”

Port of Rotterdam COO resigns

The Port of Rotterdam has announced that chief operating officer, André Toet, will be leaving the Dutch hub “because the Supervisory Board indicated that it could not see Toet as the future CEO of the Port Authority.”

André Toet (Photo courtesy of Center for Maritime Economics and Logistics)

Toet, a former Maersk Line senior executive, will be leaving his position as COO of Europe’s largest port in January 2011.

Toet is responsible for successful cost control when it comes to the construction and maintenance of infrastructure at the port.

The port said that “the supervisory board and the two fellow executive board members — Hans Smits and chief financial officer Thessa Menssen — are very sorry about the announced departure of André Toet, but respect his reasons.”

Menssen will be taking over Toet’s role upon his departure, with the recruitment and selection procedure for the position of Menssen’s replacement having already been launched.

In a breakdown from the Port Authority, Rotterdam’s supervisory board had informed Toet about his future prospects shortly after the summer, upon which he decided to continue his career elsewhere.

Petroleum

Crude oil

JP 54 (aviation fuel)

D2 (Low sulfur diesel)

Fuel oil

MJS Commodities has wide expertise when it comes to handling oil, and deals in many of its associated products. We understand, analyse and adjust for the variations that occur in oil and product quality.

Protected: Weeding through Commodity Trading Jungle

Invest in Gold

For centuries gold has been the ultimate cushion against the dangers of stocks price falls, fluctuating rate changes, inflation, rising/falling real estate prices, natural calamities, wars and more. Gold has been the best way to safeguard your investments against unstable financial markets.

WHY IS GOLD SUCH A GOOD INVESTMENT?

Whether or not gold is a good investment, is a question that does not have a simple answer. Gold has appreciated substantially over the past couple of years. The growth rate of late has been much higher than the conventional rate of appreciation. However, if we look at the past 15-20 years record, it is seen that Gold is a hedge against inflation.

Over the last 20 years, the average return from Gold has been around 7%. So, if the past trend continues, one could expect around say 6-9% returns from gold in the long-term.

Also, another aspect that we should look at is a weakening currency. No matter which country you originate from, there is a chance that your country’s currency will suffer a downfall at a particular point of time.

Gold, on the other hand, retains its true value and can help you protect your riches because it does not rely on the state of the country’s economic, whether it is on the up or downtrend. Therefore, investing a small portion of one’s investment portfolio in gold would be a good idea.

HOW CAN ONE INVEST IN GOLD?

Gold can be bought in various forms and the decision should be based on the reason you need gold. If you see this purely as an investment, you can either buy it in the form of physical gold — bullions, bars, biscuits and or coins or even in a dematerialized form.

For most people, gold purchases usually mean buying jewellery. However, the disadvantage of buying gold in the form of jewellery is that its resale is not always a profitable proposition.

Here are some other ways of investing in gold:

GOLD ETFs

You can invest in gold by buying Gold Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs). Being ETFs, these funds are listed and traded on the stock exchange i.e. investors can buy and sell them like any other stock on the stock exchange, on a real- time basis.

All you need is an account and/or a share trading account with a broker or sub-broker who deals in stocks. These are traded in units of one. That means you can buy one or more units at a time. Each unit represents approximately the market value of one gram of gold.

Gold ETFs are traded close to real-time gold prices in the market, that is, ETF prices move up and down with the market price of gold in the conventional marketplace. Your expenses in an ETF would be very low: you would pay securities transaction tax (STT), brokerage /service tax, and the like, which are unlikely to exceed around 1% of market price.

If you decide to sell your ETF units, you can do so through your stock broker or sub-broker and the charges would be the same as what you paid while buying the ETF. Thus an ETF is very convenient, and you need not worry about the purity of the gold, secure storage, insurance against theft, and so on.

But then again, not many like the hassle, right? The other option we recommend is doing the traditional route: Physical gold buying.

PHYSICAL GOLD

This is the traditional way to invest in gold. Investors can buy gold and then store it in a bank’s locker. In this way, you will be protecting yourself from rising gold prices, while also sparing yourself anxiety about the purity and safety of your gold. You can keep accumulating gold at a slow rate, perhaps even ten ounces at a time through us.

MJS Commodities assists private and companies in making this happen. We are able to sell you gold bullions at current market spot price, at minimum order of 10 ounces up to X amount of kg per week or month for proven cash buyers. For bigger orders, such as in metric tonnes, we sometimes entertain it if the client is a proven buyer. We request submission of profiles and interview as part of our protocol. We prefer knowing our clients in order for us to properly meet their needs.

It is evident that gold is an asset class that you can rarely go wrong with. Therefore, think seriously about investing in gold. MJS Commodities is right here to be at your side when you are ready.

Sugar Prospects

World consumption is expected to increase to 257 million tons raw value from 168 million b 2030, driven by rising demand in the developing world, with the overall sugar market almost doubling in that time.

F.O. Licht, the German-based analyst said about global sugar production: “The after effects of the financial crisis and nearly three years of low sugar prices between 2006 and 2009 could make their presence felt next year, as the replanting ratio in Brazil has fallen,” Licht added: “This could lead to a reduction of the volume of cane suitable for sugar production, which in combination with lower fertilizer use could lead to falling Brazilian sugar production next year, which would be for the first time in 11 years.” World beet sugar production will fall to 32.7 million tons in 2010/11, down nearly 1.3 million tons from last year’s 34.0 million as yields in the EU return to average from last year’s record levels, Licht said.

Brazil

Brazil’s main centre-south 2010-11 sugar output reached 27 million tons as of Sept. 30, the Sugarcane Industries Association, or Unica, said Thursday. Mills in Brazil produced 30.1% more sugar than the same period a year earlier in the centre-south region, which accounts for 90% of the country’s cane crop, the trade association said in a statement. Unica also said Brazil’s centre-south sugarcane region crushed 444.5 million tons as of Sept. 30, up 17.3% from the same period a year earlier. The association in August trimmed its annual crush estimate to 570 million tons for the full year from its estimate in March of 595 million tons as a result of damage caused by a prolonged drought from May through to August. The region’s total ethanol production reached 20.3 billion litres as of Sept.30, up 22.6% from the same time a year earlier. Industrial yields, known as ATRs, are at 142.1 kilograms per tonne of cane, up 7.4% at the same period last season, due to the long dry spell earlier in the season.

Meanwhile, Brazil’s sugar output for the 2010-2011 crop season is expected to reach 40.5 million tons, according to Stefan Uhlenbrock, a commodities analyst for consultancy F.O. Licht. He also said sugar production for this season should be on a par with last season, but there could be a fall in the 2011-2012 crop season in Brazil due to prolonged dry weather. He spoke to Dow Jones Newswires on the sidelines of a conference in Sao Paulo. The possible fall next year is unlikely to be drastic but will lead to a slight decrease in sugar output, he said. Ulenbrock said world sugar prices could test the 30 U.S. cents per pound mark against the Mar11 sugar contract on ICE in the near future. Datagro released a report today projecting Brazil’s 2010-2011 output at 34.3 million tons, and the main crush at 574.8 million tons. Ethanol output for 2010-2011 was pegged at 27.8 billion litres.

India may have 3 million surplus

The Director general of the Indian Sugar Mills Association told local press sources that the country could have up to 3 million tons of surplus sugar for exports in the current marketing year, thanks to a larger crop and carryover stocks. The quantity includes about 1 million tons that the government has agreed to allow for export to meet an old obligation against tax-free imports of raw sugar. He added that he expected sugar output to reach 25.5 million tons and that opening stocks would be 5.8 million tons.

Russia

Russia harvested 11.9 million tons of sugar beet to October 12 on 541 100 hectares, or 52.4% of the total area to be harvested, with an average yield of 22.07 tons a hectare, the national sugar producers’ association Soyuzrossakhar reported during the month, quoting information received from the Agriculture Ministry. The amount of beet harvested to date was 2.2 million tons less than on the same date last year and the average yield was 7.56 tons less than a year ago. Soyuzrossakhar has forecast the beet harvest this year at 26.8 million tons with an average yield of 25.9 tons a hectare, compared with 26 million tons and an average yield of 32 tons a hectare in 2009. Soyuzrossakhar said Russia was likely to produce between 3.0 million and 3.1 million tons of refined sugar from domestically harvested beet this year, compared with 3.2 million tons in 2009.