Mixed trend rules agri commodities as year ends

Agri commodities futures showed a mixed trend on the last day of the year. While a majority of the commodities closed firm, spices and pulses ruled weak.

The government's decision to lift restrictions on the import of genetically modified soy oil toned down soy oil futures. The contract for delivery in January closed a rupee down at Rs 552 a kg on the National Commodity and Derivatives Exchange (NCDEX).

Meanwhile, mentha oil which saw a drastic fall in 2007 firmed up a little to close at Rs 422 a kg against the previous close of Rs 420 a kg. Excessive output and a recently imposed mandi tax in the physcial markets of Uttar Pradesh is taking its toll on the market.

The coarse grains market, amidst arrivals, ended positive with a slight upward movement.

Maize, which is witnessing a strong supply pressure, scaled up by a rupee to Rs 747 a quintal, where as barley climbed by Rs 2 a quintal. 
 

HOW THEY FARED Near-month futures prices of agri commodities
Commodity	Closing Price
	Last Week	Monday
ABarley	948	950
Maize	746	747
Soy oil	553	552
Chana	2,129	2,148
Jeera	10,428	10,450
Pepper	13,274	13,300
Turmeric	2,843	2,818
Chilli	3,813	3,770
Guarseed	1,626	1,634
Sugar M	1,328	1,331
Mentha oil	420	422
Source: NCDEX

Taking strength from the positive reports of the European Union on guargum, guarseed futures jumped to Rs 1,634 a quintal, up Rs 8.

Sugar, a victim of excess production, had put a break on its free fall over the last fortnight. The commodity moved up by Rs 3 on Monday to close at Rs 1,331 a quintal. The year end's closing price of sugar was Rs 16 more than its ruling price a month ago.

In the spices section, jeera, which until recently was struggling to maintain its support level at Rs 9,500 a quintal, closed at Rs 10,450 a quintal - up Rs 22 against last week's close. The rise in demand from domestic as well as overseas markets has pushed the market up.

Chilli, which is expecting a bumper crop in 2007-08, had been bullish in the recent past.

However, supply pressure saw chilli ending the day on a softer note with a decline of Rs 43 a quintal. Turmeric, which is expecting 25 per cent less crop, slipped to Rs 2,818 a quintal. This level is still around Rs 250 up from a month back.

Chana, the only major pulses variety being traded at the commodity exchanges, continued its downward rally on the back of less demand and good estimated output, ended the day at Rs 2,129, a fall of Rs 19 compared with the previous close and a fall of around Rs 150 from its ruling price a month back.