Groundnut Oil, Bullion Firm Up; Sugar Eases

Groundnut oil firmed up further at reduced levels on better demand coupled with reduced arrivals from the producing centres whereas other industrial oils ruled better-to-steady at the wholesale oils and oilseeds market yesterday.

Groundnut oil edged up by Re 1 at Rs 353 per 10 kg on improved consumer demand. Arrivals from the producing centres remained limited at around 80 tonne a day.

In other oils, copra oil white and sesame oil declined by Rs 5 each to Rs 540 and Rs 345 per 10 kg respectively. While cottonseed oil washed firmed up by Re 1 at Rs 306, soya oil refined eased by Re 1 to Rs 304 per 10 kg. Sunflower oil expeller firmed up by Rs 5 to Rs 330 per 10 kg on improved demand. Imported palmolein looked up by Rs 2 at Rs 300 per 10 kg on better demand.

In futures section, castorseeds March 98 contract opened Rs 3 higher at Rs 1178 and firmed up to Rs 1184.50 a quintal. It declined to Rs 1177.50 before closing at Rs 1184.50 a quintal.

In oilseeds, castorseeds - Madras and Maharashtra quality- improved by Rs 4 each to Rs 1214 and Rs 1208 a quintal respectively.

Sugar: An easy-to-steady trend was noticed in sugar prices on subdued consumer offtake and limited arrivals yesterday.

Sugar S-30 grade eased to Rs 1451/1486 against the previous level of Rs 1461/1486 a quintal. Sugar M-30 grade weakened to Rs 1476/1531 as against the previous level of Rs 1480/1531 a quintal Meanwhile, sugar for the checkpost deliveries were quoted low at Rs 1440/1460 a quintal for S-30 grade and Rs 1465/1500 for the M-30 grade.

Non-ferrous metals : A steady-to-subdued trend was noticed in the local non-ferrous metals market yesterday. In virgin metals, all the metals ruled totally steady, and were nominally quoted as under : copper wirebar Rs 115.25, aluminium ingots Rs 82, zinc slabs Rs 71.75, lead ingots Rs 39.50, tin slabs Rs 326 and nickel cathodes Rs 328 a kg. respectively on narrow movements. In the scraps section, all the metals ruled overall steady, and were nominally quoted as under : copper heavy scraps Rs 105.50, copper utensils Rs 94.25, brass utensils Rs 82.50, brass sheetcutings Rs 88 and aluminium utensils Rs 62.50 a kg respectively.

Bullion: A firm-to-upward trend was noticed in the local bullion market yesterday. Both the precious metals hardened on firm overseas advices.

In white metals, silver .999 and .916 improved by Rs 170 each to Rs 8,210 and Rs 8110 a kg respectively on strong overseas advices coupled with better industrial demand.

In yellow metals, both standard gold and 22 carat gold firmed up by Rs 20 each to Rs 4005 and Rs 3705 per 10 grammes. Gold biscuit prices also firmed up by Rs 300 at Rs 46,900 per piece.