Groundnut Oil Firms Up, Zinc Slides, Sugar Steady

Better demand, coupled with moderate arrivals, took the groundnut oil price by Re 1 to Rs 340 per 10 kg yesterday at the oils and oilseeds market in Turbhe, Navi Mumbai. Arrivals are put at nearly 100-130 tonnes a day.

Imported palmolein remained steady on modest arrivals, while other industrial oils showed an easy to steady trend.

In futures section, March 1997 contract opened slightly lower and eased further towards closing. June 1997 contract opened higher, but declined towards closing. In other oils, linseed oil recovered by Rs 5 to Rs 315 per 10 kg on improved demand. The modest arrivals from the production centres, too, triggered the spurt in price. Kardi oil and sunflower oil (expeller) eased by Rs 2 to Rs 380 and Rs 278 per 10 kg on reduced offtake and brisk inflow In futures section, March 1997 contract opened Rs 2.50 lower at Rs 1,159 a quintal and declined further to close at Rs 1,155.50 a quintal. June 1997 contract opened Rs 19 higher at Rs 1,230 and declined to Rs 1,229 before closing at Rs 1,126. In oilseeds, castor seeds Madras bold and Maharashtra bold firmed up by Rs 2 to Rs 1,099 and Rs 1,093 a quintal on modest demand. Niger seeds Madras improved by Rs 25 to Rs 1,275 per quintal on improved purchases. Sugar: An easy to subdued trend continued at the wholesale sugar market. Both medium (M-30) and small (S-30) grade

sugar remained subdued on reduced demand. Small grade sugar eased to Rs 1,225-1,260 from the previous level of Rs 1,225-1,263 per quintal on subdued demand and modest arrivals. Medium grade (M-30) sugar, remained overall steady at the previous level of Rs 1,265-1,360 a quintal on dull offtake. Sugar for the check post deliveries were quoted at Rs 1,200-1,220 a quintal for S-30 grade while it was in the range of Rs 1,230-1,305 for the M-30 grade.

Non-ferrous metals: An easy to subdued trend continued in the local non-ferrous market yesterday.

In virgin section, zinc slabs eased by 50 paise at Rs 67.50 a kg on reduced industrial offtake while all the other metals ruled overall steady. The nominal per kg prices quoted at the market yesterday are: copper wire bar Rs 128.50; aluminium ingots Rs 72.50; lead ingots Rs 45.50; tin slabs Rs 344 and nickel cathodes Rs 365 a kg

In scraps section, all metals ruled steady. The nominally quoted prices are: copper heavy scraps Rs 118.50; copper utensils Rs 105.50; brass utensils Rs 88.50; brass sheet cutings Rs 89.00 and aluminium utensils Rs 58.00 a kg.

Bullion: A divergent trend was witnessed in the local bullion market yesterday. White metals ruled firm while yellow metals ruled easy to subdued.

The market sentiment remained weak. In yellow metals, standard gold and 22 carat gold eased further by Rs 15 and Rs 10 to Rs 4,885 and Rs 4,520 per 10 grams respectively on dull demand. Gold biscuit prices also weakened further by Rs 200 to Rs 59,100 per piece of 10 tolas on subdued consumer demand yesterday.

In white metals, silver .999 and .916 firmed up by Rs 10 and Rs 5 to Rs 7,050 and Rs 6,950 a kg on improved industrial offtake. The arrivals were limited while the Delhi advices, too, remained dull.