Groundnut oil held steady at Rs 355 per 10 kg on subdued demand coupled with modest arrivals of stock. The trading volume was modest and arrivals were nominal from overseas centres yesterday. Out-of-state orders indicated an easy trend.
Castor oil commercial and FSG qualities declined by Rs 5 each to Rs 382 and Rs 394 per 10 kg, respectively. Karanji oil eased by Re 1 at Rs 177 per kg on modest availability of ready stock. Cottonseed oil washed and refined qualities firmed up by Rs 2 and Rs 4 to Rs 232 and Rs 240 per 10 kg, respectively. Imported RBD palmolein held steady at Rs 210 per 10 kg.
Castorseeds June-2000 contract opened Rs 5 lower at Rs 1,779 a quintal and stayed steady. September contract opened Rs 36 lower at Rs 1,815 a quintal and declined to Rs 1,795 before closing at Rs 1,808 a quintal.
Castor oil international contract April-2000 opened Rs 4 lower at Rs 396 per 10 kg and ruled at the same level. Castorseeds declined by Rs 25 at Rs 1,760 per quintal on dull demand. All other oilseeds including castorseeds ruled steady.
Sugar: A firm trend was witnessed at Turbhe, Navi Mumbai. Both the grades of sugar ruled firm.
Small-grade sugar (S-30) improved further to Rs 1,400/1,425 a quintal against the previous level of Rs 1,390/1,420 on limited arrivals coupled with better demand. Medium-grade (M-30) firmed up to 1,440-1,490 a quintal from the previous level of Rs 1,430/1,480 on better offtake against modest availability. Sugar prices for check-post were quoted higher at Rs 1,380/1,395 a quintal for S-30 grade and Rs 1,420/1,435 for the medium grade yesterday.
Non-ferrous metals: A mixed trend was witnessed in the non-ferrous metals at the local market yesterday. Scrap metals ruled weak while virgin metals ruled steady. The demand was easy-to-steady against normal supply position.
In scraps, copper heavy scraps, copper utensils, brass utensils and brass sheetcuttings eased by 25 paise each to Rs 118.25, Rs 101.00, Rs 91.00 and Rs 97.00, respectively. Aluminium utensils ruled overall steady at Rs 69.00 a kg.
Copper wirebar looked up by 50 paise at Rs 127 a kg on limited availability against better demand. Zinc slabs eased by 25 paise at Rs 89.25 a kg. All other metals ruled steady and were nominally quoted as under: aluminium ingots Rs 90.50, lead ingots Rs 34.50, tin slabs Rs 378 and Rs 610 a kg.
Bullion: Mixed trend continued in precious metals prices at the local bullion market. Silver ruled divergent while gold ruled weak.
Silver .999 eased by Rs 10 at Rs 7,830 a kg on dull overseas advices and modest offtake, while silver .916 ruled overall steady at Rs 7,710 a kg. Delhi advices indicated a moderate trend.
Standard gold and 22 carat gold prices weakened by Rs 35 and Rs 30 to Rs 4,345 and Rs 4,020 per 10 gm, respectively, on weak overseas advices and modest offtake. Gold biscuits prices declined too and eased by Rs 450 to Rs 50,800 per piece on weak offtake and normal inflows.
