Amid Asia trade rivalry, Latin America scores deals

* Export rivalries slow agreements for major economies

* Commodities help spur trade deals for Asia, Latin America

By Patrick Markey and Antonio de la Jara

SINGAPORE, Nov 12 (Reuters) - As the world's major economies haggle over free trade, the appetite of China and other Asian nations for raw materials and commodities is allowing Latin American nations to secure a flurry of accords across the region.

Export rivalries between major economies mean some members of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation forum prefer bilateral deals to a regional free trade accord. But Latin America sees a string of trade deals as the path to a regional pact and a way to bolster Doha trade negotiations.

Thailand now views Peru as its gateway to Latin America thanks to a new free trade deal, and Chile wants to become a platform for Chinese investment as Latin Americans seek markets for raw material exports from copper to timber.

"Our bilateral accords are the building blocks," for a regional trade pact, Chilean Foreign Minister Mariano Fernandez told Reuters at the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Singapore this week.

China and other Asian nations have been eager to sign free trade agreements with resource-rich suppliers, but are more wary of countries with competing manufacturing bases within APEC, which accounts for 40 percent of the world's population and nearly half of global trade.

A trade deal between China and ASEAN comes into effect next year, while China has removed tariffs on imports, primarily oil and minerals, from many African nations. It extended lower tariffs to others at a recent China-Africa summit in Egypt.