Groundnut Oil Gains, Bullion Firms Up

Renewed buying and limited arrivals from the upcountry centres yesterday pushed groundnut oil price up Rs 2 to Rs 340 per kg at the wholesale oils and oilseeds market at Turbhe in Navi Mumbai. Arrivals were put about 100 tonnes a day.

Other industrial oils showed an easy to steady trend while imported palmolein remained steady on modest arrivals. In futures, castorseeds March 1997 contract remained untraded yesterday while June 1997 contract, which opened higher, firmed up towards closing.

In other oils, kardi oil eased further by Re 1 at Rs 333 per 10 kg on reduced industrial demand and improved inflow. Castor oil commercial and BSS qualities eased by Re 1 each to Rs 253 and Rs 265 per 10 kg respectively on sluggish industrial demand. Copra oil white declined further by Rs 10 to Rs 630 per 10 kg on reduced industrial demand and modest arrival and ricebran oil lost Re 1 to Rs 155 per 10 kg on dull demand. Imported palmolein ruled steady at Rs 275 per 10 kg with movements. Majority of other oils ruled overall steady. In futures, castorseeds June 1997 contract opened Rs 2 up at Rs 1,193 and firmed up to Rs 1,195.50 per quintal. It declined to

Rs 1,186.50 before closing at Rs 1,194 a quintal on speculative short-covering.

In oilseeds, castorseeds Madras and Maharashtra qualities firmed up further by Rs 4 each to Rs 1,118 and Rs 1,112 a quintal respectively on better industrial offtake. All the other oilseeds ruled overall steady with narrow movements.

Sugar: A divergent trend was noticed in sugar prices at the wholesale sugar market at Turbhe, Navi Mumbai, yesterday. Small and medium grades of sugar ruled in opposite direction and the market undertone was hesitant.

Sugar S-30 grade firmed up to Rs 1,250-1,295 a quintal as against of the previous level of Rs 1,245-1,280 a quintal on better demand and moderate arrivals. While sugar M-30 grade eased further to Rs 1,280-1,340 from the previous level of Rs 1,285-1,345 a quintal on dull offtake. Sugar for the check post deliveries were quoted easy at Rs 1,220-1,235 a quintal for S-30 grade and Rs 1,250-1,300 for the M-30 grade.

Non-ferrous metals: A steady to subdued trend was noticed in the local non-ferrous market yesterday. Industrial demand remained slack and trade volumes were narrow.

Prices nominal prices quoted at the market were: (Virgin section) copper wirebars Rs 134.50, aluminium ingots Rs 74, zinc slabs Rs 77, lead ingots Rs 45.50, tin slabs Rs 315 and nickel cathodes Rs 373 per kg. Industrial demand was dull and there were a few movements in prices.

The nominal prices quoted in the in scraps section were: copper heavy scraps Rs 121.50, copper utensils Rs 109.50, brass utensils Rs 92.50, brass utensils Rs 96.50 and aluminium utensils Rs 59.00 a kg respectively on narrow movements.

Bullion: An upward trend was noticed in the local bullion market yesterday. Prices of both the precious metals ruled in upward direction on firm overseas advices supported by an improved demand. The undertone of the market remained firm.

In white metals, silver .999 and .916 improved by Rs 60 each to Rs 7,340 and Rs 7,240 a kg on improved advices of London bullion market. The demand for white metal was better demand and arrivals modest. The industrial offtake remained better in the local market and Delhi advices, too, indicated a firm trend.

In yellow metals, standard gold and 22 carat gold firmed up further by Rs 5 each to Rs 4,740 and Rs 4,385 per 10 grams respectively on firm overseas advices coupled with better consumer demand. Gold biscuits prices also improved by Rs 100 at Rs 55,500 per piece of 10 tolas on improved demand.