Nordic Third-Quarter Power Falls From Four-Month High; Next-Year Declines

(Bloomberg) -- Nordic third-quarter power prices
dropped from a four-month high. Next-year power also fell,
tracking lower carbon-emissions costs.

Electricity for the third quarter, the most-traded contract
in the region, lost 0.8 percent to 29.55 euros ($39.35) a
megawatt-hour at 10:36 a.m. Oslo time. Yesterday the contract
advanced to 29.80 euros, the highest since Feb. 7.


Read more at Bloomberg Energy News

Malaysian Palm Oil May Average 54 Percent Higher This Year, OSK Forecasts

(Bloomberg) -- Palm oil futures in Malaysia, trader
of the benchmark contract, may average 54 percent higher this
year because of demand led by China for the world's most
consumed vegetable oil, according to OSK Research Sdn.

The futures may average 2,400 ringgit ($694) a ton this
year, Alvin Tai, an analyst at OSK, said today. This compares
with an average of 1,559 ringgit last year. He raised his
forecast by 12 percent from an earlier estimate of 2,150 ringgit.


Read more at Bloomberg Commodities News

Cadbury faces second salmonella prosecution

(Reuters) - The council is prosecuting Cadbury under the General Food
Regulations and the Food Hygiene Regulations for, amongst other
things, failing to immediately alert authorities it had reason
to believe some of its chocolate was infected with salmonella.




In addition, Herefordshire Council announced on Friday it
is to prosecute Cadbury over the same alleged offence which
occurred in 2006. Cadbury faces the possibility of unlimited
fines from both court cases in Birmingham and Herefordshire.


Read more at Reuters.com Business News

Africa market size, rules hinder private equity

(Reuters) - Private equity funds are circling African companies but the money being spent on the continent still represents a small slice of the global industry, a banker said.

Private equity is being deterred by regulatory concerns, lack of liquidity and small markets, Martin Kingston, Executive Deputy Chairman of Rothschild & Sons, South Africa said late on Thursday.


Read more at Reuters Africa

Hedge Funds Forecast Windfall Profits From Europe's Expanding Power Market

(Bloomberg) -- Hedge fund manager Marcel Melis
ignores stock charts, commodities reports and bond prices as he
sips his morning coffee. All his attention is focused on one
thing: the weather.

Melis analyzes forecasts for areas from the snowcapped
mountains of Norway to the beaches of Spain's Costa del Sol to
predict changes in demand for power and gas. The founder of
Energy Capital Management BV, which has raised $60 million and
started trading in October, targets returns of 25 to 30 percent.


Read more at Bloomberg Commodities News

Asian Aframax Tanker Rates Fall as Refiners Hold Back on Booking Vessels

(Bloomberg) -- The cost of shipping 80,000 metric
tons of oil on Asian routes fell 1.2 percent yesterday as
refiners held back on booking ships to transport their July oil
purchases, leaving a glut of vessels competing for business.

The rate of shipping crude or fuel oil on so-called Aframax
tankers to Singapore from Kuwait dropped to Worldscale 144.42
yesterday, according to the London-based Baltic Exchange.


Read more at Bloomberg Energy News

Rand trades firm, eyes US inflation

(Reuters) - South Africa's rand firmed on Friday, adding to gains of the past two days after a choppy week, with markets braced for key U.S. inflation data due later in the session.

The local currency was at 7.1750 to the dollar at 0637 GMT, 0.2 percent stronger than a previous New York close of 7.19, and well off a low for the week of 7.3225 against the greenback touched on Wednesday.


Read more at Reuters Africa