Groundnut Oil Easy, Sugar Dips, Bullion Stays Mixed

Groundnut oil ruled easy on modest arrivals from producing centres coupled with better demand, whereas other industrial oils ruled better-to-steady at the wholesale oils and oilseeds market, Turbhe, Navi Mumbai, yesterday.

Groundnut oil eased by Re 1 at Rs 365 per 10 kg. Arrivals from producing centres remained normal at around 80 tonne a day.

In other oils, cottonseed oil washed and refined qualities eased by Rs 2 and Re 1 to Rs 312 and Rs 316 per 10 kg respectively. Soya oil refined and sunflower oil expeller receded by Rs 2 and Rs 3 to Rs 312 and Rs 335 per 10 kg respectively. Copra oil white looked up further by Rs 5 to Rs 535 per 10 kg. Imported palmolein firmed by Re 1 to Rs 306 per 10 kg.

In the futures section, castorseeds March'98 contract opened Rs 1.50 higher at Rs 1,177.50 and declined to close at Rs 1,174 a quintal.

In oilseeds, nigerseeds Madras quality declined by Rs 15 to Rs 1,435 a quintal.

Sugar: A weak trend continued in sugar prices on subdued consumer offtake and limited arrivals yesterday. Both the grades ruled downward.

S-30 weakened further to Rs 1,411/1,445 against the previous level of Rs 1,441/1,470 a quintal on sluggish upcountry as well as local consumer demand. M-30 declined to Rs 1,435/1,500 as against the previous level of Rs 1,458/1,520 a quintal. Meanwhile, sugar for check-post deliveries were quoted low at Rs 1,400/1,420 a quintal for S-30 and Rs 1,427/1,445 for M-30.

Non-ferrous metals: An easy-to-steady trend was noticed in the local non-ferrous metals market yesterday. Demand remained dull, while the undertone was hesitant. In the scraps section, brass utensils eased by 25 paise at Rs 83 a kg on subdued industrial demand. All other metals were nominally quoted as under: copper heavy scraps Rs 105, copper utensils Rs 94, brass sheetcuttings Rs 88 and aluminium utensils Rs 62.50 a kg respectively.

In virgin metals, all the metals ruled overall steady and were nominally quoted as under : copper wirebar Rs 115.50, aluminium ingots Rs 82, zinc slabs Rs 71.50, lead ingots Rs 40, tin slabs Rs 335 and nickel cathodes Rs 327 a kg respectively.

Bullion: A mixed trend was witnessed in the local bullion market yesterday. Silver advanced further on firm overseas advices, while gold ruled overall steady.

In white metals, silver .999 and .916 looked up further by Rs 95 each to Rs 8,300 and Rs 8,200 a kg respectively.

In yellow metals, both standard gold and 22-carat gold ruled overall steady and were nominally quoted at Rs 3,975 and Rs 3,675 per 10 gramms respectively on steady overseas advices and modest local demand. Gold biscuit prices also ruled overall steady at Rs 46,500 per piece on narrow movements.