IN BRIEF (Page 9)

HK Exchanges to buy LME

Hong Kong Exchanges & Clearing Ltd agreed to pay 1.39 billion pounds ($2.15 billion) for London Metal Exchange, the world's largest metals marketplace.

The offer of 107.6 pounds a share will be recommended by all of the 135-year-old LME's directors when it is presented to shareholders, according to a statement from Hong Kong Exchanges. The agreement will be sent to shareholders within 15 business days and a meeting will be held before the end of July, according to the statement.

Coffee expo held in Beijing

The 2012 Beijing International Coffee Exposition ends on Saturday at the China World Trade Center, which acted as an exchange platform for domestic and foreign coffee producers and equipment makers.

The exposition attracted exhibitors from home and abroad, and offered opportunities for Chinese coffee farms from provinces such as Yunnan and Hainan to show their products

US soybean sales to China

US exporters reported sales of 262,000 metric tons of soybeans to China for delivery in the year starting Sept 1, the US Department of Agriculture said on Friday in a statement.

Sales of 147,000 tons to China were canceled for delivery before Aug 31, according to the statement.

Shippers must report any export transaction of 100,000 tons or more for any commodity sold in one day to a single destination.

China-bound oil cargoes expand

The capacity of supertankers bound for China expanded 11 percent in the past week, signals from the vessels showed.

Very large crude carriers with a combined capacity of 17.1 million deadweight tons, or about 125 million barrels, were heading to the country, compared with 15.4 million tons a week ago, according to IHS Inc data compiled by Bloomberg. China's share of total shipments rose to 12.9 percent from 12.1 percent.

Fund's returns down sharply

The equity investment returns of China's social security fund decreased sharply last year to 0.84 percent from 4.23 percent in 2010, driving the fund manager to focus future plans on industrial sectors, the fund holder's annual report said.

By the end of last year, the total asset value managed by the National Council for the Social Security Fund was 868.8 billion yuan ($136.5 billion), including a 504.1 billion yuan direct investment asset that accounted for 58 percent of the whole capital, the report said.

China's gloomy stock markets last year were a drag on the fund's investment returns, analysts said.

China to support software exports

China's software exports totaled $14.34 billion last year, and the government is likely to implement more policies to encourage the development of the software outsourcing business, a Ministry of Commerce official said on Friday

"The software outsourcing business will become one of the most important engines to boost the development of China's software industry," said Assistant Commerce Minister Qiu Hong.

The total output of the nation's software information services was 1.85 trillion yuan ($290 billion) last year, nearly 23 times higher than in 2000.

Agencies - China Daily

(China Daily 06/16/2012 page9)