Shanghai copper futures slid to fresh life-of-contract lows in early trade on Thursday after metal prices weakened on the London Metal Exchange (LME) overnight, traders said. The key January 1999 contract stood at 15,900 yuan ($1,920)per tonne, down 80 yuan from Wednesday's settlement. It opened at 15,900 and traded between 15,850 and 15,910. The most active February 1999 contract fell 60 yuan to16,130 yuan. Although the LME losses were mild, the down trends unnerved Shanghai players, traders said. Three-month copper closed London kerb $8 lower at $1,610. Spot copper was quoted at 15,400-15,500 yuan per tonne,little changed from Wednesday. Aluminium were higher in the first hour of trading. The October 1998 contract rose 130 yuan to 13,380 yuan.

Sri Lanka to buy diesel:

Sri Lanka state-owned Ceylon Petroleum Corp (CPC) has issued a tender to buy diesel and kerosene for delivery into Trincomalee, a company official said on Thursday. The tender seeks 10,000 tonneseach of 1.0-per cent and 0.5-per cent sulphur diesel and 6,000 tonnes of illuminating kerosene for delivery November 16-20 to Trincomalee, the official said. The tender, usually issued only once in three to six months, closes on October 21 and is valid until October 23. CPC regularly buys diesel and jet for delivery to Colombo. In its last tender into Trincomalee, CPC bought 10,000tonnes of 1.0-per cent and 0.5-per cent diesel with 5,000 tonnes of illuminating kerosene for delivery August 5-10 from Shell at 98 cents per barrel over respective Singapore prices.

Nepal buys diesel from Shell:

State-owned Nepal Oil Co (NOC) has bought diesel by tender for delivery in November from Shell at $120.42 to $120.89 per tonne, a company official said on Thursday. The tender which sought 30,000 tonnes of 0.5-per cent sulphur diesel for delivery November 21-30 was awarded at $120.42 per tonne for single Port delivery into Paradeep and at $120.89 for either of two ports from Paradeep, Madras or Haldia delivery,all on the east coast of India, at NOC's option. The tender closed on October 14 with offers valid until October 15. In its last tender, NOC bought 30,000 tonnes of diesel, also from Shell, for September 11-20 at $112.00 per tonne for any two ports of Madras, Haldia and Paradeep.

Kenya coffee firms on slightly better quality:

Coffee prices were mostly firmer at Kenya's export auction on Tuesday, reflecting slightly improved quality, a senior official from Kenya Coffee Auctions (KCA) said. "It's based on a slight quality difference," the KCA official said. "The previous week's catalogue was exceptionally poor. This one isn't great but it's not quite as bad." Brokers said a lack of interest from overseas buyers continued to keep a lid on prices. The Coffee Board of Kenya sold all of 19,516 60-kg bags it offered for sale, officials said. Grade Ts were the exception to the upward trend, selling at an average of $82 per 50 kg lot from $91 last week. Grade TTs averaged $119 from $110 last week, PBsgained $13 to $130, while AAs sold at an average of $145 from $139 in the previous auction.

Liffe coffee range-bound:

After an earlier drop Liffe coffee struggled to push higher on Tuesday afternoon as it battled between some latent short-covering and industry price-fixing, traders said. Benchmark November ended down $13 at $1,692 per tonne, having only reached a day high of $1,699. Volume was an improved 3,486 lots of a 6,228 total traded. January ended down $3 at $1,612. Volume accounted for 2,153 lots of the total. In New York, arabica coffee futures were flat to a shade higher in range-bound trading ahead of midday, as the market took a breather following Monday's sharp sell-off. Second-month March was up 0.35 cent at 102.30 cents, with the rest unchanged to up 0.20 cent. Fundamentally, Brazil exported 2.025 million 60-kg bags of green coffee in September, 58 per cent higher than exported in the same period in 1997, the Brazilian Federation of Coffee Exporters (Febec) said. Febec's estimaterepresents a 20 per cent increase over August and is an upward revision from the association's previous September forecast of 1.85 million bags. The Green Coffee Association of New York will release its September U.S. stock report on Oct 15 at 1900 GMT. As of Aug 31, U.S. consumer coffee inventories stood at 1,821,000 60-kg bags, up 10,000 bags from the previous month, GCA reported last month.

Malaysia palm oil output up:

Malaysia's palm oil output in September rose 3.80 per cent to 875,109 tonnes from 843,062 tonnes in August, and against 937,222 tonnes in September 1997, the Palm Oil Registration and Licensing Authority (PORLA) said on Thursday. Exports in September were 756,192 tonnes compared with 759,565 tonnes a month earlier and 739,777 tonnes in September 1997. Malaysia's palm oil stocks rose 6.58 per cent to 718,790 tonnes at the end of September from 674,416 tonnes at the end of August, and compared with 906,570 tonnes at the end of September 1997, the Palm Oil Registration andLicensing Authority (PORLA) said on Thursday. Output in Peninsular Malaysia rose 2.58 per cent to 617,716 tonnes in September from 602,168 tonnes in August and against 674,189 tonnes in September 1997.

Brazil holds key to world sugar price:

Brazil, and particularly its opaque policy on alcohol, should provide the key to the development of world sugar prices in the near term, according to the managing director of analysts F.O. Licht. Speaking at a two-day conference on sugar and sweeteners, Helmut Ahlfeld said the government's unclear policy toward subsidies and regulation of its alcohol sector were a primary factor which could trigger significant movements in global sugar markets. "The key to the development of world prices is Brazil. This year could be a foretaste of what could happen if the Brazilian alcohol bomb explodes," Ahfeld said. World sugar prices are currently at their lowest levels in many years, depressed by over-supply and the temporary absence of buying from traditional importers.Brazil is the world's largest producer of sugarcane, used by millers to produce both sugar and alcohol. The balance between the two is variable and depends on internal and external price factors. "The government's tangled policy sometimes leads to shifts in sugar and alcohol policy," Ahfeld said. He cited Brazilian government statistics saying 40 per cent of all Brazil's agriculture subsidies went into the sugar and alcohol industry. For example, Brazil's government had planned to deregulate the hydrous alcohol sector in May -- following a similar move a year earlier to free up control of the anhydrous sector -- but delayed the deregulation until November.

Coir exports up:

Exports of coir and coir products from the country have increased by 3,481 tonnes in 1997-98, fetching an additional export revenue of Rs 26.35 crore compared to the previous fiscal year. Export of these products during 1997-98 was 49,850 tonnes valued at Rs 238.93 crore as against 46,369 tonnes valued at Rs 212.58 crore during1996-97, Coir Board sources said here on Thursday. West European countries continued to be the major users of Indian coir accounting for 64 per cent of the total export. The USA was the single largest consumer with 19 per cent, they said. Exports to USA were in the order of 9,023 tonnes valued at Rs 46.36 crore in the period, compared to 8,129 tonnes valued at Rs 38.94 crore during 1996-97. According to the sources, the coir industry in Kerala provides employment to 3.61 lakh workers of whom 80 per cent are women.