Solid Minerals
Gold in its biggest weekly drop since November
SINGAPORE – Gold started its week by falling half a percent on the prospect of U.S. interest rate hike in early 2015 that has boosted the dollar and dented the mental’s appeal as a hedge against inflation.
This has been Gold’s biggest weekly drop since November.
A lack of activity in the physical sector also raised some concerns, with demand from top consumer China likely to be subdued because of a weak yuan and the discounted prices on the Shanghai Gold Exchange, which discourage imports.
Gold eased $7.14 an ounce to $1,326.80 by 0320 GMT, down from a six-month high of $1,391.76 hit early last week. The precious metal touched a record high above $1,900 in 2011, when a worsening debt crisis in Europe sparked a buying rush.
Gold is under pressure from the U.S. dollar as the U.S. Federal Reserve scales back its quantitative easing programme and has suggested a rise in interest rates quicker than expected, said Ronald Leung, chief dealer at Lee Cheong Gold Dealers in Hong Kong.
“We can say the initial support will be $1,325 to $1,320. The downside may be $1,300, and let’s see if it can break that or not. On the upside, I think $1,350 could be capped,” Leung said.
U.S. gold was at $1,327.70 an ounce, down $8.30.
The dollar index was steady at 80.149, not far off a three-week peak of 80.354 set on Thursday. A stronger dollar weighs on gold and other commodities as it makes purchases in other currencies pricier.
The 99.99 percent purity gold on the Shanghai Gold Exchange traded below cash and U.S. gold futures.
Premiums for gold bars in Hong Kong were unchanged from last week at $1 to the spot London prices.
In Tokyo, gold bars were offered at premiums of up to 25 cents to the spot London prices, higher than zero last week as supply tightened.
“Japan’s fiscal year ends this month and some trading houses are closing their positions. They have exported their gold stocks to London, so there’s a bit of shortage in physical supply,” said a dealer in Tokyo.
“But at the same time, gold prices in Japan are still high, so there’s selling from the general public. So the market is a bit balanced,” said the dealer, referring to gold futures on the Tokyo Commodity Exchange
Gold investors may be shifting their attention away from Ukraine, but palladium held near its highest since August 2011 on a miners’ strike in South Africa and concerns the standoff between major producer Russia and the West over Crimea could escalate.
NATO’s top military commander said on Sunday that Russia had built up a “very sizeable” force on its border with Ukraine and Moscow may have Moldova, another ex-Soviet republic, in its sights after annexing Crimea.
Asian shares gave up earlier gains on Monday after the China HSBC flash manufacturing purchasing managers index (PMI) fell to an eight-month low in March.
SPDR Gold Trust, the world’s largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, said its holdings rose 0.52 percent to 816.97 tonnes on Friday from 812.78 tonnes on Thursday.
Hedge funds and money managers raised their bullish bets in gold futures and options to the highest level since December 2012, as worries about tensions in Ukraine and China’s economy boosted speculative interest for a sixth straight week, according to data from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission on Friday.
The Nigerian Government has threatened to come down heavily on foreigners sponsoring bandictory as a way of sustaining illegal mining activities in parts of the country.
The warning was handed down in Abuja by Minister, Solid Minerals Development, Dr Oladele Alake, while receiving a delegation of the Nigeria-China Chamber of Mines led by its National President, Dr. Olugbenga Ajala.
Details of these were contained in a statement released by Head, Press & PR, Ministry of Solid Minerals Development, Alaba Balogun over the weekend.
The statement cited, Dr Alake, thus, “The government will come down firmly on these unscrupulous foreign operators sponsoring banditry to perpetrate illegal mining: let me use this medium to appeal through you to tell those sponsors to desist or face the full wrath of the law.”
According to Dr Alake, the Ministry is committed to establishing a multi-agency task force that will end the activities of illegal miners and their collaborators.
The Minster made it clear that the FG had given illegal miners a 30-day-ultimatum to legitimise their businesses, quit Nigeria or incur the wrath of the law.
According to him, this will help “to streamline and structure the Small-Scale Artisanal Miners for maximum yield to the Federal Government.”
The delegation paid a courtesy call on the Minsiter at the Ministry’s headquarters in Abuja.
By Edozie Obasi-Eze
Amidst heightening uncertainties in the domestic petroleum products market characterised by scarcity and irregular pricing, the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) has declared that there’s no intention to review pump prices upwards.
This was contained in an advisory issued by General Manager, Corporate Communications, NMDPRA, Kimchi Apollo.
He stated that the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited (NNPCL) had imported PMS with current stock levels sufficient for 34 days.
In an attempt to address panic buying and speculations which have seen price of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) oscillate between N180-N250 in the Lagos area, Apollo assured that there was enough quantity of the product in the country already.
He said, “Consequently, marketers and the general public are advised to avoid panic buying, diversion of products and hoarding.
“In keeping with the Authority’s responsibilities as outlined in the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA), the Authority assures the public that it would continue to monitor the supply and distribution of petroleum products nationwide, especially during this holiday season.”
The Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) says it is verifying and reconciling revenue collections in the Solid Minerals Sector of the economy.
The Federal Commissioner, RMAFC, Chief Tokunbo Ajasin, stated this at a strategic meeting on the commission’s 2022 nationwide monitoring of revenue collections of the Nigerian mining sector in Akure on Monday at the state Ministry of Finance Conference Hall.
This is contained in a statement by Mr Banjo Egunjobi, the Head of Media Unit of the ministry.
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Ajasin said 25 enterprises exported minerals in 2019 with no record of royalty payment, while about N2.76 billion outstanding liabilities had been established against 2,119 mining companies nationwide.
He said that this arose from failure to pay the Annual Service Fees for their company titles.
According to the Federal Commissioner, the Commission is empowered to monitor all revenue accruals from the extractive industries to ensure prompt and accurate remittances to the Federation Accounts.
He added that the monitoring was a follow-up on the 2016 exercise to assess the challenges hindering optimum revenue collection from the sector.
Ajasin said the monitoring comprised revenue collections and the activities of miners in the state.
According to him, the major issues of concern to the Commission is the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparent Initiative NEITI 2020 report.
He added that the number of defaulting companies would be determined after engagements.
“There is also the issue of underpayment of royalty by 25 enterprises that exported minerals in 2019 with no record of royalty payments.
“These companies owe the government about N482 million in overdue royalty.
He said the 2,119 mining companies’ default nationwide arose from the failure to pay the annual service fees for their respective mineral titles.
Ajasin also said the Commission’s mandate in the extractive sector was to recover the established liabilities owed to the Federation Account.
He, therefore, urged participants to explore the opportunities in the state to harness the revenue potential in the Solid Minerals sector to boost Internally Generated Revenue.
The State Commissioner for Finance, Mr Wale Akinterinwa, stated that the process of allocating the 13 per cent derivation on crude oil paid to the states across the federation depended on the effective monitoring of revenue and the collection of established liabilities from mineral resources.
Akinterinwa noted that the cooperation given by the state Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Energy, Mines and Mineral Resources and others to enforce payment of the reported liabilities would assist in fulfilling the objectives of the exercise and a means of engaging some Strategic Revenue Drive for the state.
The commissioner said the present administration of Gov. Oluwarotimi Akeredolu would do everything at its disposal to facilitate the collection of revenue as listed in the NEITI Audit Report 2022.
He, therefore, urged stakeholders to accord full cooperation to the RMAFC team and be committed to achieving the desired goal.
Also the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry, Rev. Jide Ekpobomini, said sourcing for a quick alternative to all income was necessary and could not be overemphasised.
He said government revenue inflows would surely be boosted if the sector was vigorously harnessed.
Also his counterpart from Ministry of Energy, Mines and Mineral Resources, Mr Wemimo Ogunsanmi, said the state government had initiated a strategic mineral development plan to exploit the solid minerals sector, hence the establishment of the ministry.
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