Groundnut Oil, Sugar Firm Up; Copper Steady

Groundnut oil shot up on renewed institutional buyings coupled with restricted arrivals from the upcountry centres, while other industrial oils ruled easy to steady at the wholesale oils and oilseeds market at Turbhe in Navi Mumbai yesterday.

Imported palmolein firmed up at lower level on better demand. In futures section, castorseeds March97 contract remained untraded yesterday while June97 contract opened higher but eased towards closing. Groundnut oil went up by Rs 5 at Rs 353 per 10 kg on improved institutional as well as local demand, coupled with limited arrivals. Arrivals were put about 80/100 tonnes a day.

In other oils, linseed oil and kardi oil declined by Rs 5 each to Rs 290 and Rs 332 per 10 kg respectively on improved industrial demand and limited inflows. Neem oil improved by Rs 5 to Rs 190 per 10 kg respectively on better industrial demand.

Copra oil white declined further by Rs 20 to Rs 550 per 10 kg on reduced industrial demand coupled with better arrivals. Imported palmolein firmed up by Rs 2 at Rs 283 per 10 kg on improved arrivals and subdued demand. Meanwhile, majority of other oils ruled overall steady on narrow movements. In futures, castorseeds June97 contract opened Re 1 up at Rs 1177 and firmed up to Rs 1178 a quintal. It declined and closed at Rs.1172 a quintal on reduced buyings.

In oilseeds, kardiseeds improved further by Rs 25 to Rs 1100 a quintal on improved industrial offtake. Castorseeds Madras and Maharashtra qualities eased by Rs 2 each to Rs 1112 and Rs 1106 a quintal respectively on easy offtake. All the other oilseeds ruled overall steady.

Sugar: Sugar prices firmed up further at the wholesale sugar market at Turbhe, Navi Mumbai yesterday. Sugar of both the grades; small and medium moved up further in the upward direction. The undertone of the market was firm. Sugar S-30 moved up further to Rs.1300/1350 a quintal against the previous level of Rs 1280/1310 a quintal on improved demand and moderate arrivals. Sugar M-30 firmed up to Rs 1350/1450 from the previous level of 1315/1400 a quintal, on better offtake. Meanwhile, sugar for the check post deliveries were quoted easy at Rs 1265/1300 a quintal for S-30 and Rs.1315/1390 for M-30.

Non-ferrous metals: A steady to easy trend continued in the local non-ferrous market yesterday. Industrial demand remained dull to subdued. The trade volume remained small.

In virgin section, all metals ruled overall steady on narrow movements and were nominally quoted as: copper wirebars Rs 135, aluminium ingots Rs 74.25, zinc slabs Rs.77.50, lead ingots Rs. 45.50, tin slabs Rs.316 and nickel cathodes Rs. 370 a kg respectively, on subdued industrial demand and narrow movements. In scraps section, all the metals ruled overall steady on narrow movements and were nominally quoted as: copper heavy scraps Rs 122, copper utensils Rs 109.50, brass utensils Rs 92.75, brass sheetcuttings Rs 96.75 and aluminium utensils Rs 59.25 a kg respectively on narrow movements.

Bullion: The Bombay Bullion Association remained officially closed on account of Good Friday.