Commodities

Commodities daily update: precious metals, base metals, crude oil (March 12, 2010)

Contributed by Nirmal Bang

By Nirmal Bang

- India's gold collections under exchangetraded funds rose 86 percent on year to 9.622 tonnes in February on increased retail investor participation, data from the funds showed.

- Euro zone industrial production in January recorded its biggest monthly increase on record and figures for December underwent a radical upward revision, pointing to stronger-than-expected economic recovery.

- Deliverable copper inventories in warehouses monitored by the Shanghai Futures Exchange rose 5 percent from a week earlier, while deliverable aluminium inventories climbed 3 percent, the exchange said on Friday.

- South Korea has bought 1,000 tonnes of zinc ingot for shipping by May 31 to the port of Busan, the state-run Public Procurement Service said on its web site.

- Oil refineries around the world will process 72.5 million barrels of crude oil a day in the first quarter, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said on Friday, lowering its estimate slightly from the previous month.

- World oil demand this year will be slightly higher than previously expected, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said on Friday, because of growth in developing countries.