• Annual imports stand at 576 tonnes; exports reach 403 tonnes
• Average gold price US$973 per ounce
• India continues to rank as top export and import partner

Dubai Multi Commodities Centre Authority (DMCCA) announced today that the total gold trade through Dubai stood at US$29 billion in 2009, matching the value of gold traded in 2008. This data was compiled by the Data and Statistics Reporting division of Dubai Trade, an innovative, simple and secure portal that combines all electronic services provided by DP World, Economic Zones World, Dubai Customs and Dubai Multi Commodities Centre.

For the 12 months ending December 31, 2009, a total of 576 tonnes of gold was imported into Dubai, compared to 674 tonnes in the previous year. Although imports in tonnage terms saw a 15 per cent decline compared to the record set in 2008, it was 16 per cent higher than the average import of 498 tonnes since 2001. In 2009, gold exports from Dubai reached 403 tonnes, an increase of nine per cent compared to 371 tonnes in 2008. Read more

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Since the November standstill announcement, little information was released from either Dubai World or the government to reassure investors. Discussions with creditors have been inconclusive to date and it is expected the market to remain nervous until more clarity is given.

The bailout from Abu Dhabi to help repay the US$4bn Nakheel bond in December has significantly enhanced  confidence in investors that Abu Dhabi will continue to play a supportive role in debt restructuring processes for Dubai Inc credits, which suggests that  the likelihood of an extreme downside scenario for Dubai World creditors, such as bankruptcy/liquidation, or restructuring with a punitive haircut is now much lower.

However, the government support mechanism and its communication will now be viewed, quite rightly, as a more unpredictable process and spreads are likely to remain volatile until a formal standstill agreement is reached.

Below are highlighted  the key implications or risks in the near term for investors,  outlined in the latest MENA Quarterly report from Bank of America Merrill Lynch – Global Research, dated 15 February 2010 and authored by the Emerging Markets research team at Bank of America Merrill Lynch Global Research.

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Varengold Bank FX, a brand of Varengold Wertpapierhandelsbank AG, presents an Arabic language seminar on investing in Gold, Oil, and the commodity currencies.

Varengold Bank, the award winning German investment bank, today announced the launch of its new seminar series at the DIFC Capital Club. The first seminar, Commodities and Commodity Currencies, will delve into the reasons behind gold and oil’s mega-trends and their impact on the Australian Dollar, Canadian Dollar, and South African Rand.

“At Varengold we are firm believers in investor empowerment through investor education,” says Ilja Perschbacher, Managing Director of Varengold Bank Dubai. “Thus, in line with the current economic and investment climate, our first seminar will focus on how the macro-economic trends, growth in China, global uncertainty, and the credit crisis, drive commodity and currency prices.”

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Gerald Celente on Coast to Coast

Dubai Holding Commercial Operations Group LLC on Monday dropped Standard & Poor’s as its rating company because of a “lack of understanding of the business, its operations and relationship with the Government of Dubai.”

“Dubai Holding Commercial Operations Group (DHCOG) drops Standard and Poor’s (S&P) as rating agency due to its lack of understanding of the business, its operations and relationship with the Government of Dubai.

“Although DHCOG has been engaging with S&P and sharing adequate information frequently and in a transparent manner, S&P has nevertheless issued inaccurate statements coupled with factual errors that are misleading.

“Therefore, DHCOG discredits and disagrees with the content of the latest S&P report dated 25 January 2010,” Dubai Holding Commercial said in a statement to Nasdaq Dubai on Monday.

Earlier in the day, Standard & Poor’s downgraded Dubai Holdings ratings to B before withdrawing the rating citing a “lack of information”.

In a statement posted on Nasdaq Dubai, the company said it made a $828,650 payment on a $500 million floating rate medium term note due on February 1, 2012; a EUR35.6 million payment on a EUR750 million medium term note due on January 30, 2014; and a GBP30 million payment for a GBP500 million note due February 1, 2017.

SHUAA Capital, the leading financial services institution in the GCC, has today published its UAE Vision 2010. The vision provides an overview of the UAE’s market outlook for 2010 with a special focus on the banking, real estate and telecom sectors as well as stock briefs for more than 25 UAE listed companies. In addition, the 80 page report also reviews UAE’s markets throughout 2009. The report also revisited the UAE Vision 2009’s expectation of a 21% gain across UAE markets in 2009, which came slightly below the SHUAA Capital UAE Index’s 23% gain for the period.

Looking at GDP growth, the report’s author, Dr. Mahdi Mattar, Head of Research and Chief Economist, SHUAA Capital said: “2009 has been a difficult year for the UAE. However, we expect the Emirates to emerge from the recession in 2010, and we are forecasting real GDP growth of 2.5% this year, up from – 3.5% in 2009. This growth will largely be driven by strong projected real GDP growth of 4.1% in Abu Dhabi. The Capital will benefit from a recovery in oil prices and output this year, as well as strong growth in the non-hydrocarbon sector, which will be supported by government investment and spending. Meanwhile, we anticipate Dubai’s economy to contract 0.4% year on year in 2010, as the key construction and real estate sector continues to be a drag on growth in the emirate.”

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