Edible oils rule firmer: Edible oils firmed up in an otherwise dull and listless trading at the oilseeds market here on Tuesday. Among edible oils, groundnut oil firmed up from Rs 435 to Rs 436 on good local offtake in the wake of poor arrivals. Groundnuts ruled steady. Imported palm oilrose sharply from Rs 398 to Rs 402 per 10 kgs in the absence of arrivals and reduction in stocks as against good demand. The industrial sector was dull and listless. Both castor oil and linseed oil ended steady in the absence of support. In the futures market, castorseeds june opened higher at Rs 1267 on overnight buying. Prices later improved further on good enquiries from exporters to meet export commitments and closed at Rs 1273 from the previous close of Rs 1263.50. Castorseeds September contract opened at Rs 1328 and on fresh bull support from leading operators advanced further to close at Rs 1334. Groundnut oil firmed up to Rs 436 from Rs 435. Palm oil hardened to Rs 402 from Rs 398 previously. Groundnuts ready at Rs 1970, linseed oil at Rs 390, linseeds ready at Rs 1400, castor oil commercial at Rs 380 and castorseeds ready madras at Rs 1248 were unaltered from the previous close.

Japan coffee stocks fall: Japanese warehouse coffee stocks totalled 58,368 tonnes at the end of March, down 12.9percent from the same month a year earlier, the Agriculture Ministry said on Tuesday.

Indonesian rubber prices stable: The Indonesian rubber market was quiet on Tuesday and traders said the country's political situation was absorbing the minds of most players. Traders said June tyre-grade SIR20 was done at 32.00 fob Medan. No deals were reported in other centres. "Traders have complained that buyers prefer to buy rubber from Malaysia and Thailand. I think the reason is the political situation in Indonesia," said one Jakarta-based trader. Traders said July rubber was being offered at 32.25 fobMedan, 32.00 fob Padang and 31.75 fob Pontianak and Jambi. June rubber was on offer at 32.00 fob Medan, 31.75 fob Padang and 31.00 fob Pontianak and Jambi. "The political situation has become the main concern again. Buyers are afraid in case Indonesian traders cannot fulfill their commitments for delivery if something bad happens here," said one trader. Riots sparked by rises in fuel and electricity rocked thekey commodity trading city of Medan in North Sumatra last week, which disrupted transport of goods to Belawan Port. Medan was quiet on Tuesday but many shops remained closed, traders said. Student protests have rocked several cities in the archipelago, demanding the resignation of President Suharto and blaming him for the worst currency crisis in decades.

Copper jumps on LME: Copper prices rebounded on the LME during Tuesday pre-market trading, bolstered by a fall in stocks, while aluminium shrugged off a large stock increase, traders said. Copper jumped from early lows near $1,730 a tonne as a250-tonne stocks fall calmed fears of another rise. Since last week metal has poured into warehouses in New Haven and Barcelona. Today's decline mitigated that to some extent, and prompted short covering that took prices to $1,746, up $20 from Monday's kerb close. "That (the stocks) has probably stopped the rot for now,"one trader said. Aluminium perversely ignored a 7,500-tonne stock rise which,after Monday'srise, brought the increase this week so far to 14,700 tonnes. There were 8,000 tonnes shipped into Newcastle, which was possibly a relocation from other delivery points. Traders said the market was relatively resilient on the downside. Despite the weight of short sales by funds, the market had attracted consumer interest. Other LME markets were slow and thinly traded. Tin was quoted at $5,700/5,710, up around $10. Zinc shed $1 at $1,092, while lead was little changed at $543/545. Alloy was quoted at $1,270/1,280.

Refinery starts operation: Government-run Indian Oil Corp (IOC) started up its new six-million-tonne refinery at Panipat in the western state of Haryana at the weekend, a company official said on Monday. "Crude oil was taken in for hot circulation on May 9. Refining will start any day in the next 2-3 days," the IOC official, who asked not to be identified, told Reuters. He said the unit was designed to process a mix of low sulphur West African light and domestic Bombay High crude. But anIndian government document obtained by Reuters said the refinery will take in only imported crude. Secondary units are expected to commissioned in November, the official said. The refinery was to be fully commissioned in July 1997 but was delayed due to late delivery of components by suppliers.

Hong Kong oil firm aims expansion: Oil explorer CNPC (Hong Kong) Ltd said on Monday it would strengthen its oil assets foundation and enhance profitability through aggressive expansion. "The directors consider 1998 as a year for further expansion and development of the group," CNPC said in a statement. "The group will broaden the scale of new cooperative projects with a view to increasing both the group's strength and the current year's revenue," it said. CNPC said it would selectively participate in high profitability petroleum projects in China and would seek suitable partners to jointly study feasibility of oil exploration and development projects in other countries. CNPC reported a sharp rise in profit ofHK$63.11 million, including an exceptional gain of 3.91 million, for the calendar year ended in December 1997, from HK$21.93 million in 1996. The company said six new wells would be drilled in 1998 and the initial production volume was expected to reach 1,000 barrels per day if all the six wells could commence production. A total of 452 wells were drilled in 1997, three new heating stations were built and an existing heating station was expanded. A total of 17 steam generators were installed and 37 metering stations were under construction.

Norway oil output rises: Norway's oil output edged up to3.10 million barrels per day (bpd) in April, below the 1998 benchmark set for output cuts from May 1 to help bolster world prices. A Reuters survey of oil operators on Tuesday showed April'scrude output rose about 60,000 bpd from 3.04 million in March, when production was braked by maintenance. Output in both months was well short of the government's estimate of 3.20 million bpd as average 1998 output beforecuts. Oil and Energy Minister Marit Arnstad has ordered oilfields to curb output by three percent, or 100,000 bpd, from May 1 to yield an annual average of 3.1 million as part of efforts by OPEC and non-OPEC producers to prop up the market.

NWE oil products flat: NWE oil products hovered near flat in Tuesday trade as market players searched for signs of near-term direction. Gasoline barges sat near steady with late Monday levels, with offers for Eurograde Rotterdam refinery material at about $162-$163 a tonne. Gas oil trade appeared subdued ahead of the expiration of the May IPE contract at midday London time (1100 GMT), which kept most traders out of the spot market. "Everybody's watching (the IPE) to assess their final paper positions," one trader said. High sulphur fuel oil also sat unchanged early Tuesday with one trade done at $69 a tonne out of Rotterdam. "It will probably be a headline-driven market, a crude oil driven market, but it's too early to tell," a trader said.

Cotton prices rulefirm: Prices ruled steady to firm on the Sewree cotton market here on Tuesday. Prices of short-staple particularly Gujarat 797 has increased by Rs 150/200 per candy. Spinners activity was centred around qualities S-4, 797, Y1, g12 lra and mech. Mech and J-34 SG. About 5,000 bales had transacted hands.