Gold and more gold taken from the soil of Africa.
Pan-African PerspectiveAfrican Commodities |
Gold and more gold taken from the soil of Africa. |
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RhodiumRhodium is a member of the platinum family of metals. Its price on November 23, 2007 was $6,775 an ounce. The projected output of Rhodium in South Africa in 2007 is 695,000 ounces or $4,708,625,000 per year. If we estimate that there are one billion African people in the world and use this as the figure for the global African population, using these data Rhodium sales alone generates revenue equivalent to $4.70 per individual global African a year. And yes, I did round down instead of up. I thought that one penny should go to the United States of Africa govenment. That would be approximate $695 per year for the government. This is only one commodity. Add the cobalt in the Congo, the oil in the Sudan, the diamonds in South Africa, Liberia, the other elements in the platinum palladium group, precious gems like rubies, emeralds, sapphires, gold, uranium and so on and so on. The picture is clear. Africa is a wealthy space trapped in an grossly unfair global market. Effective, efficient African unity is the key. The following article helps put things in context. Rhodium jumps as auto makers scramble for material Fri Nov 23, 2007 1:30 PM GMT139 By Pratima Desai LONDON, Nov 23 (Reuters) - Prices of precious metal rhodium have surged this week to around $6,775 an ounce, the highest levels since 1980 on strong demand from consumers in the auto manufacturing sector, traders said on Friday. Rhodium prices <RHOD-LON> are up more than 7 percent since the beginning of November and since January this year they have gained more than 20 percent. Expectations are that prices will move towards the record high of $7,000 an ounce seen in 1980. "Our understanding is, car makers, particularly in North America are relatively, lightly provisioned in terms of stocks," said Ross Norman, analyst at TheBullionDesk.com. "There may be an element of stock buiding ahead of the year end ... There isn't much metal sitting out there. Most rhodium is used by car makers in catalytic converters to limit carbon emissions, where regulations have become much stricter and contributed to rising demand for the metal. Traders said some consumers who had been borrowing rhodium had recently decided to buy instead. That can be seen in leasing or borrowing rates which have fallen to around 10 percent from above 30 percent a few weeks ago. "Some consumers were, up until about 6 weeks ago leasing rhodium. They've realised they were throwing money down the drain. They are back in the market looking for material to buy," a London-based trader said. "We leased (lent some rhodium) at 31 percent, but I did hear of another contract at 33 percent," the trader added. DEFICITS Precious metals refiner Johnson Matthey (JMAT.L: Quote, Profile , Research) estimated earlier this month that total demand this year would be 808,000 ounces compared with supplies of 804,000 ounces. "Successive deficits in the last four years have resulted in a tight stock situation and doubts still exist about the level of Russian exports," Standard Chartered said in a note. Johnson Matthey expects Russian supplies to fall to 70,000 ounces this year from 95,000 ounces in 2006. South Africa is the world's biggest producer of rhodium, which is a by-product of platinum. South African output should rise to 695,000 ounces in 2007 from 690,000 ounces last year, Johnson Matthey said. "However, this is much less than expected due to supply disruptions including strikes and accidents at some majpr operations," Standard Chartered said. "Previously more significant growth was forecast." Supply disruptions in South Africa could get worse if the country's mineworkers down tools in a protest against a spate of deaths in the country's mines. Platinum and rhodium together create an alloy used for the production of molten glass. Molten glass is extremely corrosive and to make it producers need an alloy that can stand extreme heat, won't melt or lose itself in the production process.
From Africa Recovery, Vol.12#4 (April 1999), Briefs page Low commodity prices hit African economies With three-quarters of sub-Saharan Africa's export revenues coming from primary commodities, the region is expected to be hardest hit by the record low global commodity prices of the last two years, says the World Bank in the first report of its Global Commodity Markets series. In some cases, prices have plunged to lows that are one-third of 1995 levels. But the price declines span the entire range of commodity sectors, with rubber prices down some 65 per cent from the 1995 level and nickel, copper and other base metal prices down 50 per cent. Lower oil prices will take a heavy toll on African oil producers such as Nigeria and Angola. Oil prices dipped to a 12-year low of less than $10 a barrel last year, from a high of about $22 some 20 months ago. The falling prices were due more to technology advances and policy changes in commodity-producing countries than to changes in demand patterns, the report says.
From Africa Recovery, Vol.13#1 (June 1999), Briefs page Commodity prices fell further in first quarter Prices of sub-Saharan Africa's non-energy commodity exports fell an average 7.5 per cent during the first quarter of 1999, according to the World Bank's April 1999 report, Global Commodity Markets. Falling prices of cocoa (-13.8 per cent), robusta coffee (-12.6 per cent) and sugar (-25 per cent) accounted for the continued downward trend in the sub-Saharan index of commodity prices. Petroleum prices rose sharply in March on news of an agreement by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries to cut back oil production in the one-year period from April 1999. But average oil prices for the entire first quarter fell slightly because of low prices in January and February. The World Bank predicts that most commodity prices should begin a slow recovery in second-quarter 1999, following the sharp drops of recent years. But forecasts of slow world economic growth mean demand for commodities may remain weak. Further erosion of commodity prices cannot be ruled out, with metal prices tipped to suffer further declines, according to the Bank. With production of cocoa, coffee and sugar expected to exceed consumption in the near term, their prices also are not expected to recover soon.
From Africa Recovery, Vol.14#1 (April 2000), Briefs page Africa's commodity prices remain low In the last quarter of 1999, world commodity prices began to recover from the record lows of the last two years, rising by 3.4 per cent. However, overall prices of sub-Saharan Africa's non-energy commodities fell by 3 per cent, said the World Bank's January Global Commodity Markets report. Cotton and cocoa fell 11 and 9.8 per cent respectively in the last quarter of 1999. Although cotton prices were up in January and February 2000, the price of cocoa continued to fall. This year's average price for cocoa may be close to the 1999 average of about $1.12 per kilogramme. The good news for some of Africa's producers was the increase in price for sugar (8.3 per cent), aluminum (4.0 per cent) and copper (3.5 per cent). But, after posting fourth-quarter gains, the price of robusta coffee fell to a six-year low in January. By the end of February, the price had dropped to 46.8 cents per pound from an average of 63.3 cents per pound in the fourth quarter of 1999, according to the International Monetary Fund. The Association of Coffee Producing Countries is reportedly considering a retention scheme to boost prices. Articles are from: Africa Recovery, United Nations |
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