Groundnut Oil Eases, Sugar Subdued, Bullion Steady

Groundnut oil prices eased further due to reduced offtake and moderate arrivals at the wholesale oils and oilseeds market, Turbhe, Navi Mumbai yesterday. However, industrial oils were rather subdued whereas imported palmolein ruled steady on dull demand. In the futures section, castorseeds June'97 contract opened lower and eased further towards closing. September contract remained untraded.

Groundnut oil eased by Re 1 at Rs 363 per 10 kg. Arrivals were put at around 95/100 tonnes a day. Copra oil white and sesame oil declined by Rs 5 each to Rs 570 and Rs 325 per 10 kg respectively on reduced industrial offtake followed by improved arrivals. Kardi oil and mowra oil looked up by Rs 3 and Rs 5 to Rs 358 and Rs 290 per 10 kg respectively on firm industrial demand coupled with restricted inflows. Imported palmolein ruled steady on the whole and was quoted at Rs 283 per 10 kg. Majority of the other oils ruled steady on narrow movements.

In futures, castorseeds June'97 contract opened Rs 4.50 lower at Rs 1105. It declined to Rs 1102 before closing at Rs 1103.50 a quintal.

Castorseeds Madras and Maharashtra qualities improved further by Rs 5 each to Rs 1104 and Rs 1098 a quintal respectively on improved demand and reduced inflows. Nigerseeds Madras declined by Rs 25 at Rs 1450 a quintal on reduced industrial demand. Most of the oilseeds ruled steady

Sugar: An easy to subdued trend was noticed at the wholesale sugar market. Sugar of both the grades showed a subdued trend. The undertone of the market was hesitant. Sugar S-30 grade eased to Rs 1410/1440 as against the previous level of Rs 1410/1425 a quintal. Sugar M-30 grade declined to Rs 1445/1485 from the previous level of 1465/1495 a quintal on reduced offtake. Sugar for the check-post deliveries was quoted easy at Rs 1385/1405 a quintal for S-30 grade and Rs 1420/1445 for the M-30 grade.

Non-ferrous metals: An easy to steady trend was noticed in the local non-ferrous market yesterday. Industrial demand remained subdued due to moderate arrivals. The trade volumes remained small. In the virgin section, nickel cathodes eased on profit taking at higher level by Re 1 at Rs 367 a kg, while zinc slabs weakened by 50 paise to Rs 78.50 a kg on reduced industrial demand coupled with modest arrivals. All other metals like copper wirebars, aluminium ingots, lead ingots and tin slabs ruled steady on the whole and were quoted at Rs 135.50, Rs 75.25, Rs 41.50 and Rs 311 a kg respectively on narrow movements.

In the scraps section, the market sentiment was steady. Brass sheetcuttings firmed up by 50 paise each at Rs 97.50 a kg on improved industrial demand. Other metals like copper heavy scraps, copper utensils, brass utensils and aluminium utensils ruled steady and were quoted at Rs 122, Rs 110, Rs 93.25 and Rs 59 a kg respectively on narrow movements.

Bullion: White metals ruled steady to subdued, while yellow metals showed a firm to upward trend in the local bullion market. The undertone of the market was weak. In white metals, silver.999 ruled steady on the whole and was quoted at Rs 7080 a kg on narrow movements. Silver.916 firmed up slightly by Rs 5 to Rs 6980 a kg on subdued industrial demand coupled with modest arrivals. Delhi advices also indicated a subdued trend.

In yellow metals, standard gold and 22-carat gold firmed up by Rs 10 each to Rs 4845 and Rs 4480 per 10 grammes respectively on improved demand with limited arrivals. Gold biscuit prices ruled steady at Rs 56,600 per piece of 10 tolas on narrow movements.