Companies: VED   

Coal has stolen some of the glory of more glamorous minerals of late on prospects for tight world supply as China cuts back exports to maintain deliveries to the coal-fired power stations that supply 80 per cent of its electricity. Gold and platinum have been testing new record highs, of US$933 and $1,684 an ounce respectively, but not holding them.

Oil has been harder to read, as Brent Crude trades at around US$92 a barrel. Cold weather in the north-east USA and refinery output cuts imply that there will be further price rises. However, inventory figures showing higher-than-expected US stocks actually imply the opposite.

A leaked memo has revealed how concerned Shell is about what it considers to be the serious underfunding of its key Nigerian operation by the state-owned Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation. This has renewed concern about the level of Shell’s reserves.
India’s Vedanta Resources has been hit by lower metal prices with a strengthening rupee. The company, which produces most of its copper in India but has operations in Australia, has been striving to expand its activities in Zambia.

Vedanta Resources	LSE	£1488.28m	516.00p	-95.50p
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Coal is king			08/02/2008