China's economy remains robust and is still growing at a pace of nearly 10% despite the slowdown in OECD countries. The trade surplus has widened substantially thanks to a large decline in the cost of commodity inputs, and commodity demand in these "developing" nations are at record levels, offsetting demand destruction elsewhere across the globe. The demand dynamics for Oil is as great as ever, carryover grain inventories are at record lows and base metals inventories are in short supply when viewed on long-term charts so this is all I need to be assured the commmodity bull is still alive, safe on it's own island, but surrounded by befuddled paper markets drowning in an ocean of liquidity.

China Logs Record Trade Surplus In October; Inflation Eases 3 minutes ago (RTTNews) -

China's trade surplus hit a record high in October, despite weaker export growth. Tuesday, the Customs Bureau said China's trade surplus increased to a record US$35.2 billion in October, from the previous high of US$29.3 billion. The surplus stood above the expected level of US$30 billion and stood nearly 30% higher than a year ago. Slowing demand for the Chinese products amid a global economic slowdown led to exports rising just 19.2% year-on-year, slower than September's 21.5% growth. This is the slowest pace of export growth in four months. Exports in October totaled US$128.3 billion. Meanwhile, imports rose 15.6% in October, much slower than the 21.3% rise in the prior month and 19% growth anticipated by economists. Imports growth has slowed gradually from 33.7% in July. The data came just two days after the Chinese government unveiled a 4 trillion yuan or US$570 billion economic growth stimulus package to reduce the effects of a global economic slowdown. China also intends to relax its credit conditions, a shift to moderately loose monetary policy, reduce taxes and launch a huge infrastructure-spending program. Analysts expressed concern over China's slowing exports growth and most expect it to ease further in coming months. Earlier in the day, the National Bureau of Statistics reported that China's inflation eased to a 17-month low of 4% in October, marking the sixth straight month of decline. The October figure beat analyst expectations for a 4.2% annual increase following the 4.6% gain in September and a 4.9% jump in August. The slowing inflation may prompt the Chinese central bank to reduce interest rates further. Inflation had touched a 12-year high of 8.7% in February before beginning its retreat in the intervening months. On October 29, the People's Bank of China had lowered its benchmark deposit and lending rates by 27 basis points for the third time in six weeks in a bid to stir up growth. Growth is slowing, though the economy is believed to be largely unaffected by the global financial market crisis. The Chinese economy had expanded 9% in the third quarter of 2008, marking the slowest expansion in nearly three years. Economic growth fell to single digit from 10.1% growth in the second quarter and the 10.6% jump in the first quarter. In a note released earlier this week, Singapore-based DBS Bank said the weakening trend of major real economic indicators would likely drag GDP growth below 8% in the fourth quarter. For comments and feedback: contact editorial@rttnews.com Copyright(c) 2008 RealTimeTraders.com, Inc. All Rights Reserved