News: Friday, July 09, 2010 
Article of the Day
Kazakhstan Grain Harvest expected to fall 30%
By Damir Baimanov
A clear picture of how much heat and drought been affecting crops surfaced Thursday when the Agriculture Ministry said this year’s grain harvest will drop 30 percent this year to 15 million tons.
Although that is a disappointment, Deputy Minister Arman Evniev noted that the country can’t have record harvests every year, Kazakhstan Today and other news services reported. Last year growers achieved the biggest production ever – 21 million tons.
The shortage shouldn’t have an impact on Kazakhstani consumers, Evniev said at a press conference in Astana, because the country still has 6 million tons of grain from last year in storage.
Evniev said Kazakhstan exported 8.3 million tons of grain during the 2009-2010 season that ended recently.
“That is 36 percent higher against the previous year,” he said.
Evniev said he expects next season’s exports to be about 6.5 million tons, a figure that Kazakhstan has averaged in most of the past few years.
Kazakhstan has been increasing its exports in recent years. A coup this year was sales to Egypt, the world’s biggest wheat importer.
Kazakhstan is develop grain-exporting facilities on the Caspian Sea to provide an alternative to sending grain by rail to Russian and Ukrainian ports on the Black Sea.
Heat and drought are also taking a toll on Russia’s grain crop.
Officials are forecasting a 17 percent drop from last year to 85 million tons. If drought persists, officials said, the drop could fall to 80 million tons.
Despite this year’s troubles, Russia expects to have an exportable surplus of 20 million tons of grain, mainly wheat, thanks to big stocks accumulated from the past two years’ bumper crops.
Meanwhile, another big grain grower, Ukraine, has been having weather problems of a different sort.
Heavy rains have damaged crops, especially barley.
Ukraine is expected to produce about 45 million metric tons of grain this year, down from 46 million in 2009, according to Liza Malyshko, an analyst at UkrAgroConsult.
Growers, who enjoyed a bumper harvest last year, have lost between 300,000 and 400,000 tons of grain this year because rain battered plants and caused weeds to spread, Kazakhstan Today and other news services reported.
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Kazakhstan General
Nazarbayev signs U.S. -Forces Shipments Pact
President Nursultan Nazarbayev has signed an agreement under which Kazakhstan will carry goods by rail for transshipment to U.S. forces in Afghanistan.
The agreement is aimed at
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Three Officials fired over Prison Break
Minister of Justice Rashid Tusupbekov has fired the head of the ministry’s penitentiary oversight committee and two of his aides three weeks after more than a
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Justice discusses Legal Reforms in France
Supreme Court Chairman Musabek Alimbekov has discussed Kazakhstan’s efforts to achieve legal reform with French Justice Minister Michel Alliot-Marie in Paris.
The European Union has given Kazakhstan
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Oil and Gas Sector
Tengizchevroil over-produced, Prosecutors say
Chevron Corp.’s biggest venture in Kazakhstan produced $1.4 billion in oil illegally over several years, the Prosecutor General’s Office in Astana has determined.
The TengizChevroil venture in
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U.S. Agency sees Higher Kazakh Oil Output
Kazakhstan’s oil production will rise to 1.61 million barrels a day in 2011 from 1.57 million a day this year, the U.S. Energy Information Administration predicts.
Combined
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Saipem wins Kazakhstan Offshore Work
By Liam Moloney
Europe's biggest oil services company has won offshore contracts in Kazakhstan and other countries worth a combined 1 billion euros.
Italy’s Saipem said other locations
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Masimov asks about a Northern Gas Pipeline
Prime Minister Karim Masimov said Thursday that he will ask Oil and Gas Minister Sauat Mynbaev to look into the possibility of building a gas pipeline
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Finance and Investment
New Kazakhstan Restructuring Fund Ready to roll
By Clare Nuttall
The new Kazakhstan Capital Restructuring Fund will begin investing in financially distressed Central Asian companies soon, according to Business New Europe.
The fund is the
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Temirbank reregisters as Stand-alone Bank
Temirbank has reregistered with the government as a stand-alone company since it is no longer a subsidiary of BTA Bank.
The Samruk-Kazyna soverign wealth fund took over
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Kazakhstan to get Grant to improve Vocational Education
The World Bank Board will loan Kazakhstan $29.2 million to improve its technical and vocational education.
The government will add $4 million to the effort, bringing the
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Metals and Minerals
High Transportation Costs torpedo India Coal Deal
By Utpal Bhaskar
India's hopes of obtaining Kazakhstan coal for its fuel-starved power plants have run into a transportation-cost problem that appears to be a deal-breaker, the
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China seeks Rare Metals in Central Asia
China is increasingly looking to Central Asia for rare metals such as tungsten and chromium, according to a Beijing-based Ernst & Young analyst.
The Chinese also are
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Trade and Consumer Goods
Government to pay to ship Stored Grain West
By Kanat Kulshmanov
The government will pay to ship grain from storage facilities in North Kazakhstan Oblast to the western part of the country, where it can
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Masimov tours New Meat Factory
By Kanat Kulshmanov
Prime Minister Karim Masimov has checked out a new meat processing plant in North Kazakhstan Oblast, according to kazinform.kz.
The 4.5-billion-tenge Basko company plant in
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Communications and Transportation
National Railway Shipping Rates to rise 15%
The national railway company Kazakhstan Temir Zholy will raise its shipping rates 15 percent next year.
No passenger-fare increases were announced, but spokesman Yedil Iskakov said at
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Railway Flour Shipments jumped in 2009
Kazakhstan’s national railway says it handled 17 percent more flour shipments in 2009 than the year before.
Kazakhstan Temir Zholy said it shipped 2.73 million tons of
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Real Estate
Masimov visits Building-materials Plant
By Kanat Kulshmanov
Prime Minister Karim Masimov has toured one of the top building-materials factories in Kazakhstan.
The Petropavlovsk Building Materials Plant produces polyethylene pipe, steel structures and
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Regional Business News
Russian Bank’s Fate hinges on Shipyard Sale
By Dmitry Sergeyev
The fate of Russia's International Industrial Bank hinges on whether its tycoon owner can sell shipyards to the state to cover $1.5 billion in
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Russian Truckmaker KamAZ is rebounding
By Steve Rothwell
Russia’s largest truckmaker is betting on joint ventures to help it maintain a technological advantage over manufacturers in emerging markets and remain independent, Bloomberg
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Russia plans Far-Eastern Energy Drive
By Sergei Blagov
Russia plans a major initiative to develop natural gas in its far-eastern areas, according to atimes.com.
It will invest up to $100 billion in
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10 Russian Spies plead Guilty in Swap Deal
By Richard A. Serrano
In a high-stakes trade reminiscent of the Cold War, 10 men and women accused of spying for Russia abruptly pleaded guilty Thursday in
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British Tabloids will miss Anna Chapman
Was her real estate company a front?
Was her dad a KGB operative?
Did she ever go clubbing with Prince Harry?
Is her hair naturally that red?
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U.S.-Russia Spy Exchanges through History
Some notable past spy swaps between the United States and the former Soviet Union, according to the Associated Press:
-- Feb. 10, 1962: Francis Gary Powers and
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India to purchase Four Russian Coal Mines
NMDC, Asia’s third-biggest iron miner, plans to buy four coal mines in Russia to secure raw material for two planned steel mills in eastern and southern
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Prices and Statistics
Volume and Share Index by Visor Capital
Date: July 9, 2010; Source: Visor Capital
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Market Movers by Visor Capital
Date: July 9, 2010; Source: Visor Capital
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Oil and Gas Prices
Date: July 9, 2010; Source: Bloomberg.com
| Petroleum
($/bbl) |
|
Price* |
Change |
%Change |
Time |
| Nymex Crude Future |
75.61
|
.40
|
.53
|
04:13 |
| Dated Brent Spot |
74.67 |
-.05 |
-.07 |
04:23 |
| WTI Cushing Spot |
75.44 |
1.37 |
1.85
|
07/08 |
| Petroleum
(cent/gal) |
|
Price* |
Change |
%Change |
Time |
| Nymex Heating Oil Future |
201.85
|
1.32
|
.66 |
04:11
|
| Nymex RBOB Gasoline Future |
205.50
|
.39 |
.19 |
04:00 |
| Natural gas
($/MMBtu) |
|
Price* |
Change |
%Change |
Time |
| Nymex Henry Hub Future |
4.40 |
.01 |
.14 |
04:11 |
| Henry Hub Spot |
4.62 |
-.14 |
-2.94 |
07/08 |
| New York City Gate Spot |
5.05 |
-.26
|
-4.90 |
07/08
|
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Commodities
Date: July 9, 2010; Source: Bloomberg.com
| Commodity |
Price |
Change |
%Change |
Time |
| COPPER FUTURE (USd/lb.) |
304.650 |
3.100 |
1.03 |
04:14 |
| GOLD 100 OZ FUTR (USD/t oz.) |
1198.500 |
2.400
|
0.20 |
04:14 |
| SILVER FUTURE (USD/t oz.) |
17.895 |
0.023
|
0.13
|
04:12 |
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Metal Prices
Date: July 9, 2010; Source: Kitco.com
| Silver |
17.86 |
-0.10 |
| Platinum |
1522.00 |
+4.00
|
| Palladium |
447.00 |
+1.00
|
| Rhodium |
2,400.00 |
0.00
|
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Exchange rates
Date: July 9, 2010; Source: the National Bank of Kazakhstan
| 1 USD |
KZT 147.49 |
1 CHF |
KZT 140.07 |
1 CNY |
KZT 21.76 |
1 TRY |
KZT 94.92 |
10 JPY |
KZT 1.67 |
| 1 EUR |
KZT 186.66 |
1 AUD |
KZT 128.71 |
1 KGS |
KZT 3.22 |
1 UZS |
KZT 0.09 |
|
|
| 1 GBP |
KZT 223.67 |
1 CAD |
KZT 141.02 |
1 RUB |
KZT 4.76 |
100 KRW |
KZT 12.21 |
|
|
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