February 24, 2008	Sunday	Safar 16, 1429

LONDON, Feb 23: The price of oil soared to an historic high above $101 this week, while gold and platinum also scored record peaks as speculators dived into already buoyant commodities markets.

Prices of raw materials are surging on concerns over tight supplies and strong demand for raw materials, particularly from emerging economic powers China and India.

OIL: New York crude spiked Wednesday to a record high of $101.32 a barrel on fears about supply disruptions around the globe and amid strong demand.

Also on Wednesday, Brent North Sea crude struck a record peak of $99.22.

Oil gained sharply, supported by a combination of factors, including persistent supply concerns, said Sucden analyst Andrey Kryuchenkov.

In addition to continuing worries over the ongoing row between Exxon Mobil and Venezuela, with the Latin American exporter threatening to cut more supplies to the US, investors are receiving more comments from various Opec members indicating no change or even a possible cut to the group’s supplies at its meeting in early March. A Texas oil refinery explosion, bitter cold weather in the United States, the world’s biggest consumer of heating fuel, and Turkey’s military move into northern Iraq also underpinned prices.

Despite supply worries, the Organisation of Petroleum Countries could cut output at its meeting in Vienna next month because demand for oil drops in the second quarter as winter ends in the northern hemisphere.

One Opec member is Venezuela, which has reduced supplies to the United States owing to a row with US energy giant ExxonMobil, the world’s biggest oil company.

ExxonMobil says it has won court orders in New York, London, the Netherlands and the Netherlands Antilles freezing some $12 billion of assets in those jurisdictions from Venezuela’s state-owned oil producer PDVSA.

The legal battle relates to ExxonMobil’s bid to secure compensation after Venezuela’s government nationalised key oil fields in the Orinoco basin, including two ExxonMobil operations.

Crude prices slumped on Thursday after two days of record peaks as a stronger-than-expected rise in US crude-oil reserves damped supply jitters.

On Friday, New York’s main oil futures contract, light sweet crude for delivery in April, was at $97.52 per barrel, compared with$96.38 for the now-expired March contract a week earlier.

Brent North Sea crude for April rallied to $95.94 from $95.64.

PLATINUM AND PALLADIUM: Platinum, which is used to produce expensive jewellery and catalytic converters in vehicles, hit a historic pinnacle of $2,206 an ounce.

The white metal faces a tight supply situation because South Africa, which produces about 75 per cent of the world’s platinum, is in the grips of a power crisis that has badly hit the country’s mining industry.

In recent months South African production of platinum has also been severely hampered by accidents and a miners’ strike.

Platinum’s sister metal palladium, which has also been affected by the South African situation, hit $525.50 an ounce -- a high point which was last scaled in 2001.

On the London Platinum and Palladium Market, platinum rose to $2,155 an ounce at the late fixing Friday from $2,057 a week earlier.

Palladium climbed to $506 an ounce from $439.25.

GOLD AND SILVER: Gold prices enjoyed a record high of $953.91 per ounce on Thursday.Analysts said gold jumped higher as investors sought a haven for their cash amid concerns over rising inflation and surging oil prices.

James Moore of TheBullionDesk.com said the precious metal looks set to extend higher in the coming sessions as investors seek assets to offset rising inflation.

He added: The metal should now look to challenge $950, with $1,000 an ounce still a realistic target this quarter.Meanwhile on Thursday, silver hit the highest level for 27 years, at $18.05 an ounce.

Silver mirrored the move in gold ... hitting a new multi-decade high, noted UBS analyst John Reade.

On the London Bullion Market, gold soared to $943 at Friday’s late fixing from $912.50 a week earlier.

Silver rose to $17.94 an ounce at the late fixing from $17.38.

BASE METALS: Base metals prices rallied across the board as tightening global supplies dictated market direction.

The strength in base metals prices is impressive given recent equity market volatility and macroeconomic concerns, said Barclays Capital analysts.

Recently metals prices have decisively broken their link with equity markets and are being driven higher by supply concerns.On Friday, copper for delivery in three months jumped to $8,325 a ton on the London Metal Exchange from $7,815 a week earlier.

Three-month aluminium prices climbed to $2,917 a ton from $2,850.

Three-month nickel rose to $28,525 a ton from $27,700.

Three-month lead gained to $3,260 a ton from $3,030.

Three-month zinc climbed to $2,490 a ton from $2,350.

Three-month tin increased to $17,550 a ton from 416,897.

GRAINS AND SOYA: Soya surged to a record peak at $14.28 on Tuesday, while maize enjoyed a historic closing high of $5.24 a bushel on Thursday.We are in an uptrend with a lot of investment fund money pushing the market this week to new highs, said US Commodities analyst Dax Wedemeyer.

He added that runaway crude oil prices had underscored bumper gains for corn or maize, which is used to produce ethanol, a clean plant-based fuel.

By Friday on the Chicago Board of Trade, wheat for May delivery rose to $10.35 a bushel from $10.27 the previous week.

May-dated soyabean meal -- used in animal feed -- soared to $14.24 from $14.05.

The price of maize for March delivery advanced to $5.21 a bushel from $5.14 a week earlier.

On LIFFE, the price per ton of wheat for November delivery rose to 155.50 pounds from 153.80 pounds a week earlier.

COCOA: Cocoa prices surged to multi-year peaks in London and New York.

This market, and many in the softs complex, seem to be ... influenced by the large quantity of seemingly endless (investment) fund money that they are attracting, said Sucden analyst Stephanie Garner.

By Friday on LIFFE, London’s futures exchange, the price of cocoa for May delivery rallied to 1,324 pounds a ton from 1,311 pounds a week earlier.

On the New York Board of Trade (NYBOT), the May cocoa contract spiked to $2,567 a ton from $2,530 a week earlier.

COFFEE: Coffee prices also soared.

Demand comes from funds who want a piece of the action, said one anonymous trader.

By Friday on LIFFE, Robusta for May delivery rose to $2,504 a ton from $2,362 a week earlier.

On the NYBOT, Arabica for May delivery increased to 162.30 US cents a pound from 154.65 cents.

SUGAR: Sugar prices also gained ground on fund buying.

By Friday on LIFFE, the price per ton of white sugar for May delivery jumped to 376 pounds from 372.10 pounds a week earlier.

On NYBOT, the price of unrefined sugar for May delivery stood at 14.35 US cents a pound compared with 13.68 cents for the March contract the previous week.

RUBBER: Rubber prices stretched higher, backed by weak supplies and strong demand from China and Europe.

Production in several major producing countries including Malaysia and Thailand was hampered by the dry season, which means that trees produce less latex.

On Friday, the Malaysian Rubber Board’s benchmark SMR20 increased to 277.40 US cents per kilogramme from 268.30 US cents last week.

WOOL: The Australian wool market finished 2.1 per cent lower on average, owing to abundant supplies.

The Eastern Index slid to 9.74 Australian dollars a kilo, from 9.92 Australian dollars a week earlier.—AFP