sugar slumps to fresh one-year low ; Gold Rally $GLD News

         Gold above $1,200 after rally near record high – Gold eased Friday morning after rising to nearly an all-time high on Europe's debt woes and a sharp drop in U.S. stocks. The metal has been a safe haven and demand is likely to help the metal hit new highs. Reuters

         Metals slide after Wall St's intraday blow-out – Base metals fell 2% or more on Friday in London as a suspected trading error sparked Wall Street's biggest intraday drop in years, highlighting a fragile investor sentiment. Reuters

         ICE raw sugar slumps to fresh one-year low – Raw sugar futures fell nearly 5% in early trading Friday as the sugar slide shows no signs of finding support. Traders said favorable weather in Brazil and an improving crop outlook have contributed to the bearish sentiment. III http://www.iii.co.uk/news/?type=afxnews&articleid=7881124&subject=markets&action=article

         Australia's Alumina favours spot sale shift – Alumina Ltd favors replacing contract pricing for aluminum with a similar spot sale scheme similar to the ones in the iron ore and coal markets. III http://www.iii.co.uk/news/?type=afxnews&articleid=7880609&subject=companies&action=article

         POSCO, Lotte vying for $3 bln Daewoo Int'l auction – Daewoo has received two final bids from POSCO and Lotte group for a deal worth nearly $3B as POSCO and Lotte look to take advantage of Daewoo's overseas trading networks and oil exploration projects. III http://www.iii.co.uk/news/?type=afxnews&articleid=7881150&subject=companies&action=article

         Tian Yuan pulls HK IPO; Korea's Mando prices deal – The Chinese iron ore producer delayed its $450M Hong Kong IPO, just a day after Swire Pacific called off its planned $2.7B property IPO due to market worries. Reuters

         BASF in advanced talks to acquire Cognis – sources – The world's largest chemical maker by revenues is in serious talks to buy Cognis, a German additives supplier. Sources say a bid could come as early as next week. Reuters

         CSN Q1 net income up 31 pct, sales recover – Net income at Brazil's largest steelmaker rose 31% YoY, but missed estimates as financial costs hurt revenues. Reuters

         JFE Steel says may invest $2 bln in mines – JFE Steel said it might invest $2.2B over the next 3-4 years for rights to various coal and iron ore mines in Australia and Brazil. Reuters

         China - speculation China may follow Australia and impose a mining "super tax".  London Independent.  http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/china-hints-at-imposing-mining-supertax-1965539.html

         IOSP repots 1Q earnings – IOSP reported 1Q earnings of $0.67 ex-items (st. $0.02) on revenues of $163.5M (st. $146M). Bloomberg

         RYN reports 1Q earnings – RYN reported 1Q earnings of $0.56 (st. $0.41) on revenues of $310.2M ($292M) and guided FY10 $1.80-2.00 (st. $1.83). Bloomberg