In New Delhi, titabi and sakoti prices declined on the sugar market here today owing to slackened demand. In the mill gate section, sugar titabi and sakoti shed further Rs. 15 and Rs. five to close at Rs. 1395 and Rs. 1340 per quintal respectively. Following were today's quotations in Rs. per quintal: Sugar ready M-30 1480-1510, S-30 1440-1490, Sugar mill delivery M-30 1330-1400, S-30 1275-1315, Imported sugar 1540, sulphur bold 1410-1460, mini medium 1390-1410, dust 1320-1360, galawat 1175-1275, cutting 1250-1300, khandsari crusher 1310-1360 and moisture 1245-1275. Sugar mill gate (duty excluded) : sugar mill delivery M-30: Khatoli new 1500 Modi nagar 1420, titabi 1395, amroha oti 1340, samali N.T. Duty paid, baghpat s-30 1320, bulandshaher s-30 1265, nandai 1312 and imported sugar 1495 ex amritsar.Grain prices dip on increased arrivals

In New Delhi, grain prices declined on the grains and pulses market today on fresh arrivals from producing centres andclosed with losses. Marketmen said increased arrivals from producing centres had an edge over the demand which created an easy availability of stocks in the market. They said arhar in the pulses section also declined on increased arrival of fresh crop from Madhya Pradesh. The volume of business was good. Rice basmati (Lal quila) bran lost Rs..25 at Rs..5800, Lalmahal bran by a same margin at Rs..5850 and rice basm.3350-4100 per quintal respectively. Maize lost Rs..10 at Rs..550-610 per quintal on reduced offtake. In the pulses section, arhar lost Rs..175 at Rs..1725-1900per quintal and its dal by Rs..300 at Rs..2300-2600 per quintal on increased arrivals from Madhya Pradesh. Gram declined to Rs..1250-1350 per quintal and besan byRs..90 at Rs..1150 per 70-kilo. Edible oils move upIn New Delhi, select edible oils moved up on theoils and oilseeds market today on emergence of buying on fear of a rise in duty on spread over a wide front. Marketmen said there was aggressive buying on rumours that government mightraise duty on edible oils in the ensuing general budget. They said arrival was also restricted in the face of increased offtake. However, the volume of business was good. Groundnut mill delivery gained Rs..100 at Rs..4200-4250 per quintal on increased buying.

Mustard expeller rose by Rs..200 at Rs..3900 per quintal on vanaspati units buying. Sesame rose by Rs..100 at Rs..4800 per quintal and cottonseed mill delivery by Rs..50 at Rs..3300 per quintal. On the other hand, linseed oil in the non-edible lost Rs..200 at Rs..3800-3900 per quintal. Palm fatty also reduced from Rs..2675-2775 to Rs..2450-2700per quintal.Jaggery market down

In Muzzafar Nagar, in scattered deals, gurbalti and raskat dropped on the primary jaggery market here today on lack of demand. Gur balti (peli) and raskat declined from Rs. 850-875 and Rs. 570-590 to close at Rs. 825-850 and Rs. 560-590 per quintal due to slackness in demand.

`Loose tea adulterated'

Tea sold in loose in various parts of the country was mostlyadulterated, Bhagyajyothi Rural Development Trust president Vani Venkatraman has alleged. She said saw dust, sand stone, were used as adulterants. Twenty five random tea samples collected from various parts of the country by the consumer guidance society of India showed that 80 per cent of them did not "fulfil the statutory provisions of the prevention of the food adulteration act", she told PTI here. She said she had written a letter to the union finance minister, Yashwant Sinha, urging him to withdraw eight per cent excise duty on branded edible foods, particularly tea.

Dry fruit market remains steady

In New Delhi, steady market conditions prevailed here today on the dry fruit market with prices moving narrowly around previous level. The volume of business conducted was moderate. Today's quotations (rates in Rs. per 40 kg) Almond (california) 8400-8600 Almond (gurbandi) 4100-4200, almond (girdhi) 3500 , almond (kagzi) 5000-9000, almond kashmiri 2400-2800, almond kernel (california) (kg) 302-303,almond kernel (gurbandi (kg 280-290, abjosh 7500-9500(more).

Tin prices recover on local buying

In New Delhi, tin prices recovered on the non-ferrous metal market today on emergence of fresh buying and finished with gains. Market sources said persistent arrival of goods had created easy availability of stocks but emergence of buying and reports of some improvement in its price on the london metal exchange boosted the sentiment. Tin ingot gained Rs. 2 at Rs. 347 per kg on reduced offtake against fresh supply. The following were today's quotations per kg: Tin cent) 153, nickel 244-247,zinc slab 67, zinc rods 57, bell metal scrap 145, copper wire bar 112, copper rod 118, copper wire 119, copper scrap 99-100, chadripital 79, brass sheet cutting 82-83 and brass boring 67-68. Lead ingot 33, lead imported 39-41, aluminium (22 gauge)100-101, aluminium (30 gauge) 108-111, aluminium (36 gauge) 116-119, aluminium rod 88, aluminium cg ingot 84, aluminium wire scrap 79 and aluminium utensils scrap69.

Citric acid firm up

In New Delhi, prices of citric acid hardened on the local chemical market here today due to increased demand from soft drink manufacturers coupled with shortage of stocks. Citric acid (China, Bombay dyeing and bharat starch)looked up by Rs. 50 to 250 to close Rs. 3700, Rs. 4650, and Rs. 3450 respectively per 50 kg.Ess was small. Following were today's quotations: Ammonia bicarn (25 kg) 265-270, ammonium cholrise (50 kg)375-600, acetic acid (1kg) 27.00, boric acid technical (50 kg) 2400-2500 borex granular (50 kg) 1550. Caustic soda flake (50 kg) (DCM) 680, caustic soda flake(kci) 680, caustic soda flake (Gujarat) 680 and caustic soda flake (Modi) 710, citric acid (50 kg) (China) 3700, citric acid (50 kg) (Bombay dyeing) 4650, citric acid (bharat starch) 3450, camphor slab (1 kg) 115-130 camphor powder (1 kg) 101-115, glycerine (1 kg) 74-77 hexamine (1 kg) 42-43 hydrogen peroxide (1 kg) 19.50, mercury (34.5 kg) 9,750 menthol bold crystal (1 kg) 420, menthol flake (1 kg)393, menthol oil (1 kg) 294.

Leather market steady

In New Delhi, steady to easy trend was prevailed on the local leather market here today when prices after moving in a small range closed around the previous level. Folather prices per skin in inches in Rs.: Goat salted 30"X40" Rs. 65-70, goat unsalted 30"X40"Rs. 85-95, sheep salted 32"X40" Rs. 110-115 and sheep unsalted 32"X40" Rs. 140. Treated leather prices per sq dm: Goat suede 6-7.50 or 3.50 lot, goat napa 2.50-4.00 or4.50 lot, sheep napa 250-7.00 or 5.00 lot, furnished leather Rs. 100 per sq meter Rs. 90 lot and buff Rs. 30-100.

Select cotton variety down

In Coimbatore, prices of Shankar-6 (Guj variety) declined marginally by Rs 56 while other select cotton varieties including Maharashtra remained steady at South India Cotton Association (Sica) today. (Prices per quintal in Rs.): Bengal deshi fine new crop(pjb) 4233, wagad (guj) N Q, V-797 (guj) 4555, jayadhar (ktk) 4668, J-34-new crop (pjb) 4822, F-414 (tn) N Q, lra-5166 (tn) 5343,H-4 new crop (MP) 5343, lk-29 new crop (ap) 5708, shankar-6-new crop (guj) 5596, mcu-5-new crop(ap) 6692, dch-32-new crop (ktk) 722ra: (all new crops): mech-1 ytl/amt 5765, H-4 ytl/amt 5765, lra-5166 nagpur/ytl 5427, nhh-44 ytl/amt 5202, ak.H-4/ak.235 5202, 1007 ytl/amt 5287, ahh-468 ytl/amt 5202.

Cotton yarn prices remain unchanged

In New Delhi, there was no change in trading pattern on the cotton yarn market today as prices moved in a restricted range on small bouts of buying and sellinvious levels. Marketmen said arrival and offtake was at a low ebb and volume of business small. Following were today's quotations per 4.54 kg: Waste yarn: Jyoti 2 fcount -120, diamond 2 count -123 and deepak 2 count-127. Hank yarn: (prices in Rs. per 4.54 kilos) jind 6 count 262annapurna 6 count-255, annapurna 10 count-263, qulabpura 20 count- 378, mahavir 2/6 276 and bhatinda 2/20 395. Cone yarn (per tin) 5 kilos) : hissar 4 count 246, jind 6count- 280.