Bloomberg reports that Oil plunged on concern that poor U.S. economic growth will reduce demand. The market news is quoted as saying: The IEA announced the release of 2 million barrels a day for 30 days yesterday to make up for supplies choked off by an armed rebellion in Libya. The U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve will provide 30 million barrels, European members will supply about 20 million and Asian nations the remainder.

IBTimes reports that the release of reserve oil caused commodity prices to drop across the board with the greatest toll affecting the precious metals markets.

Bloomberg reports that commodities dropped the most in seven weeks after the International Energy Agency announced plans to release emergency oil supplies.Gold for August delivery fell 2.4 percent to $1,516.60 an ounce, the first drop in eight sessions, and palladium for immediate delivery declined 2.2 percent to $747.25 an ounce.

By some estimates, one in four products either contains a platinum group metal or uses one in the manufacturing process. Palladium, like platinum, is used widely in the manufacture of catalytic converters, creating a link between the price of the metal and the health of the global auto industry. As such, palladium as an investment vehicle has characteristics of both industrial metals such as copper and precious metals such as gold. There are a number of different options for investing in palladium, including exchange-traded futures contracts, stocks of companies engaged in the extraction and sale of the metal and exchange-traded products

Switching to the long-term price, which better indicates how utilities see things, it was around $73/lb. prior to the disaster. After the first post-Fukushima price update, it only declined $1/lb., a fantastic sign that the utilities and the producers didn't see much of a long-term impact. It has declined a little since then-and is currently down 7%, to $68/lb.

World Nuclear News reports that the working conditions at Fukushima Unit are improving. The market news is quoted as saying: Workers at the damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant have entered the reactor building of unit 2 to assess the working environment. Ventilation of the building has led to a drop in humidity. Meanwhile, the system to decontaminate water on the site is in operation.

Potash has risen from relative obscurity, to one of the most talked about commodities in the global market, thanks to its application as a fertilizer. As the world's population increases, and the amount of arable land shrinks, the necessity to get the most food production from a finite land base has resulted in a skyrocketing interest, and demand for potash.

Analysts at Harbor Intelligence's Annual 'Aluminum Outlook Conference' are predicting stable to higher aluminum prices on the year. Despite high inventories of aluminum in warehouses, the analysts agree that demand growth and a looming supply issues in China will move the price higher. A poll of conference participants showed that 75 percent of respondents expected prices to average upwards of $2,600 per tonne in 2012, a majority also concluded that the regional premiums would increase.

REE Investor reported that Red Rock Resources (LON:RRR) has overcome a large obstacle regarding its mining rights for the Tshipi manganese mine. The market news is quoted as saying: ‘This was the last regulatory approval pending the decision to start construction of the Tshipi manganese mine,’ Red Rock said in a statement to the Stock Exchange.

Market Oracle reported on recent gains in shares of Molycorp (NYSE:MCP). The market news is quoted as saying: The price drivers today are plentiful: Financial Times reports that rare earth materials are being stockpiled in China, Piper Jaffray upgraded Molycorp to a buy, and a host of analysts piled on with positive assessments of the rare earth industry in general.

Bloomberg reported that after its reverse takeover is complete, OAO Polyus Gold will be valued at $12.7 billion. The market news is quoted as saying: Billionaire Suleyman Kerimov’s Nafta Moskva will own 37.9 percent of Polyus Gold International, 8.2 percent will be held by Polyus’ unit Jenington, and the public float will account for 17.6 percent, KazakhGold said.

Mining Weekly reported that Baja Mining’s (TSE:BAJ) copper/cobalt/zinc project in Mexico is progressing on schedule. The market news is quoted as saying: “The Boleo project is currently meeting its scheduled milestones, with environmental compliance and surface mining activities continuing in targeted areas, the processing plant and road earthworks well underway, in addition to the site camp, utilities and services being finalized,” the company said in a statement.