Delhi, June 7: Barring gram, steady-to-weak conditions prevailed on the local grains and pulses market on Saturday.On increased offerings from Punjab and Haryana millers coupled with slack demand from Eastern Indian buyers, rice permal on the local market dipped by Rs 10-25 a quintal.

Upcountry buyers were meeting their demand from West Bengal and Raipur in MP. Wheat dara prices remained subdued at Rs 485-515 a quintal under pressure of offerings from the neighbouring states. Business in coarse grains remained sluggish. White gowar improved by Rs 10 a quintal on beer covering.Arrival of 600 bags of new moong was reported from Banswara and Aligrah mandies, consequently, its prices slipped by Rs 10 a quintal.

Similary, urad and its dal climbed down by Rs 25-100 a quintal because of weak demand from millers as well as upcountry buyers. Dal masoor and dal moth dhoya revealed a declining tendency while gram Rajasthani recorded a gain of Rs 10 a quintal due to restricted supply.

Gur steady

The Government was contemplating import of 5 lakh tonnes sugar for PDS coupled with pre-monsoon showers in Mumbai, mill delivery sugar dipped by Rs 5-17 at Rs 1250-1430 a quintal. Mill delivery sugar Mawana was traded at Rs 1423, Majhola old at Rs 1230, Asmoli new at Rs 1310, tax-paid Dhampur at Rs 1400 and Khatauli was traded at Rs 1419 a quintal. In the wake of rainy weather conditions, demand in sugar from cold-drink units remained thin. Gur prices held steady.

Sunflower oil slumps

On increased offerings from Punjab, cottonseed oil went down by Rs 30 a quintal and sunflower oil slumped up by Rs 40 a quintal. Under pressure of offerings of new red sesame from West Bengal, sesame oil tumbled down by Rs 50 at Rs 2750 a quintal while on Monday last, it was priced at Rs 3000 a quintal.

Groundnut oil ruled firm on hectic buying by the Telia kings of Mumbai and Rajkot. Planning Commission has fixed a production target of 255 lakh tonnes for oilseeds for the next season. Production of oilseeds for the current oil year by the Ministry of Agriculture was placed at 245 lakh tonnes while in the opinion of traders, it was about 220 lakh tonnes.

Mumbai: Groundnut oil eased modestly in an otherwise dull and featureless oilseeds market here on Saturday.The edible section was modestly active with groundnut oil declining modestly on increased arrivals from the producing regions as against slack local demand.The industrial sector was quiet and listless with castor oil and linseeds oil maintained at their previous levels on stray support.

In the futures market, castorseeds September opened better at Rs 1161 on overnight buying. Later, prices improved further on enquiries from shippers and leading operators and closed at Rs 1163 from Rs 1159 previously.

Groundnut oil eased to Rs 362 from Rs 363. Groundnuts ready at Rs 1880, linseed oil at Rs 288, linseeds ready at Rs 1300, castor oil commercial at Rs 249 and castorseeds ready madras at Rs 1099 were unaltered from the previous.

Black pepper spurts

In the absence of fresh offerings from Cochin coupled with hectic buying by the stockists, black pepper registered a sharp spurt of Rs 200-400 at Rs 13200-15200 a quintal while cardamom small, on smuggled inflow, slipped by Rs 5 a kg. Among dry fruits, almond Afghani marked up by Rs 50 per 40 kgs amidst tight supply position.

Silver steady

Yellow metal on the local bullion market recorded gains while silver prices held steady on Saturday.

Despite inflow of about 150 kgs of gold under the Special Import Licence on Friday, gold biscuit looked up by Rs 15 at Rs 4740 and standard mint gold firmed up by Rs 10 at Rs 4760 per 10 gram as gold in London went upto $ 345 from $ 343 an ounce. Gold sovereign held steady at Rs 3850-3875 per 8 gram.Inflow of imported silver on Friday declined to 6000 kgs from 10,000 kgs. Silver weekly delivery opened at Rs 6855 against Rs 6850, but later, for want of speculative support, it came down to Rs 6845 a kg at noon.

Business in spot silver.999 remained sluggish till noon and nominal rates were quoted at Rs 6845 a kg. Silver coins remained unchanged at Rs 10100-10200 per 100 pieces.

Mumbai: Silver prices dropped sharply on account of increased arrivals of raw silver and fresh stocks through imports as against poor industrial demand at the local bullion market here on Saturday.

Weak overseas advices also helped the downtrend. Gold remained steady on scattered support.

Silver ready .999 fineness dropped by Rs 45 to Rs 6850 from Rs 6895 previously. Tenderable silver declined by the same margin to Rs 6855. Raw silver .916 fineness slumped by Rs 50 to Rs 6745 compared to the previous close of Rs 6795.

Standard gold was steady at Rs 4680, 22-carat gold was nominally quoted at its previous level of Rs 4330 and ten-tola gold bar .999 purity was static at its previous close of Rs 54,800.

Hessian dips

On weak Calcutta advices coupled with slack demand from packers, hessian (44x 8.12) on the local market dipped by Rs 5 at Rs 670 per 91.4 metre.

B Twill (2 & 2, lbs) climbed down by Rs 15-20 at Rs 1625 and Rs 1840 per 100 sacks respectively on weak Calcutta advices coupled with slack demand.

Similarly, Harapatta bardana, under presure of offerings, climbed down by Rs 25 at Rs 1475 per 100 sacks. Among old bardana, prices of wheat flour, maida, FPS and sugar bags held steady on scattered support.

Waste yarn sluggish

On emergence of renewed buying support from hosiery manufacturers coupled with paucity of ready stock, in hosiery yarn, DCM and Mahavir (20,30,34 & 40) perked up by Rs 5-15 per bundle. Most of the counts in hank and cone yarn held steady at their previous closings. Business in waste yarn remained sluggish because of weak demand from carpet and durree weavers of UP.

Mentha oil slips

Activity on the local chemical market remained sluggish on Saturday. On increased offerings of new crop , prices of mentha oil, menthol flake and bold on the local market slipped by Rs 10 at Rs 450, Rs 660 and Rs 980 a kg respectively as buyers withdrew from the market. Citric acid, under pressure of imported goods coupled with slack demand from consuming units, further tumbled down by Rs 100-200 at Rs 2650-4200 per 50 kgs.

Elsewhere, no change was recorded in prices in a thin trading.

Tin ingot easy

On increased imported arrival, tin ingot eased by Re 1 a kg while lead ingot desi soft marked up by 25 paise a kg. on good demand from builders. Zinc slab revealed a firm tendency while offtake in other metals remained at a low ebb because of tight money market conditions.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.