Following decline in production in the major growing areas of South and Pune, stockists started holding their inventories and in view of firm dollar as compared to Indian rupee, importers also started holding their inventories, consequently, rajmash chitra on the local market, flared upto Rs 2650-2900 from Rs 2550-2750 a quintal. On inflow of new rajmash from the South, in January last, it was priced at Rs 1925-2000 a quintal.

As against this, arhar, urad and their pulses crashed by Rs 10-110 a quintal as demand from the stockists as well as dal millers at higher rates was reported sluggish. Inferior kabligram also dipped by Rs 25 a quintal due to poor offtake. Despite daily arrival of 100-110 lorries, gram Rajasthani firmed up by Rs 25 at Rs 1025 a quintal on hectic buying by the dal millers.

Daily arrival of wheat from UP, Haryana and Punjab was reported about 16000-17,000 bags and on weak MP andRajasthan advices, wheat dara slipped by Rs 2 a quintal. Port delivery demand in rice permal in Punjab and Haryana was reported from exporters at Rs 935-960 a quintal and demand in sela permal was reported good from Eastern Indian buyers. Bajra prices held steady on regular arrival from UP.

Sugar easy

Mill delivery sugar prices revealed an easy tendency as upcountry demand from bulk buyers remained dull. Mawana sugar was traded at Rs 1442, Nadhai at Rs 1325 and tax-paid Khatauli at Rs 1477 a quintal. Gur peri tumbled down by Rs 25-50 at Rs 1150-1200 a quintal due to poor offtake because of rising mercury.

Groundnut oil firm

On reports of reduction in import duty on edible oils, palmolein in Malaysia having climbed upto $ 732.50 from $ 715 dipped to $ 730 a tonne. Palmolein in Mumbai was down by Rs 20 at Rs 3900 a quintal. On increased offerings from Gujarat, groundnut oil solvent refined plummeted by Rs 20 at Rs 680-690 a tin while groundnut oil firmed up by Rs 50 a quintal amidst tightsupply position from Rajasthan.

Cottonseed oil slumped by Rs 50 a quintal as cottonseed stock in MP was reported adequate. Despite procurement by NDDB at Rs 3750 a quintal, mustard oil in the market declined by Rs 30-40 a quintal and new mustard laha was down by Rs 50 a quintal as buyers withdrew from the market.

Mumbai: Groundnut oil declined further steeply on the oilseeds market here today on poor demand along with weak Gujarat advices. Palm oil eased on weak global advices.

Castor oil and castorseeds turned weak on lack of industrial and exporters' offtake. In the futures section, castorseed June and September contracts recovered on fresh buying by shippers.

In the edible section, groundnut oil declined steeply by Rs 6 to close at Rs 417 from Rs 423. Palm oil fell by Rs 4 to end at Rs 387 from Rs 391.

In the industrial section, castor oil commercial weakened to Rs 282 from Rs 283, while castorseed Madras declined to Rs 1258 from the last close of Rs 1262. Linseed oil at Rs 385 and linseedbold at Rs 1400, however, held steady.

In the futures section, castorseed June contract improved to Rs 1270.50 from Rs 1269.50 while September contract edged up to Rs 1332 from Rs 1331.

Sharp rise in black pepper

Black pepper, on the local market recorded a sharp rise of Rs 200 a quintal as prices in Cochin firmed up on speculative buying by professional bulls. On increased offerings in Ranchi and other mandies, tamarind dipped by Rs 25 a quintal due to slack demand. Nutmeg recorded a gain of Rs 5 a kg and inferior mace climbed up by Rs 50 at Rs 625 a kg. due to restricted supply coupled with scattered wedding demand.

Among dry fruits, abjosh suffered a sharp setback of Rs 200 per 40 kgs due to weak demand during summer.

Bullion suffers

On discouraging New York advices, spot silver prices suffered heavy losses and gold also ruled easy on Delhi bullion market on Tuesday.

As compared to Friday, New York silver future plunged to 523 cents from 558 cents an ounce and on inflow of20,000 kgs imported silver on Monday, spot silver .999 crashed to Rs 7525 from Rs 7800 a kg. and as compared to Friday prices, it was down by Rs 575 a kg. Silver coins, too, slumped by Rs 100 at Rs 10100-10300 per 100 pieces.

Gold in London slipped to $ 298.75 from $ 301 an ounce coupled with daily inflow of about 800 kgs gold in the market, gold biscuit and standard mint gold slipped by Rs 20-30 at Rs 4180 and Rs 4190 per 10 gram respectively. Gold sovereign also slipped by Rs 25 at Rs 3475-3525 per 8 gram.

Mumbai: Silver prices fell further steeply by Rs 255 per kg due to sharp fall in the global prices. Gold also eased further on weak London advices.

Ready silver of .999 fineness fell sharply by Rs 255 to close at Rs 7670 as against Rs 7925 yesterday. Raw silver showed a fall of Rs 265 at Rs 7560 from Rs 7825 while tenderable silver declined by Rs 255 to Rs 7675 from Rs 7930.

Standard gold eased further by Rs 10 to end at Rs 4130 from the last close of Rs 4140. 22-carat gold was nominallyquoted weak at Rs 3820 from Rs 3830 and ten-tola gold bar of .999 purity fell by Rs 100 to Rs 48,500 from Rs 48,600.

Harapatta bardana declines

B. Twill (2 & 2, lbs) and harapatta bardana marked down by Rs 50 at Rs 1750, Rs 2000 and Rs 1550 per 100 bags on easy advices from Calcutta coupled with poor buying response in the local market. Hessians also eased by Rs 5-10 per 91.4 metres. On the other hand, twines spurted by Rs 25-50 per quintal due to decline in inflow from Nepal and Calcutta and better offtake.

Cotton yarn steady

In hank, cone and hosiery yarn, most of the counts were unchanged and dull on poor demand from handloom and powerloom units of local and adjoining states. Deshi cotton prices were steady in Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan mandies on low selling by the stockists.

Mentha oil higher

Paraffin wax firmed up by Rs 25-50 at Rs 1750-1800 per 50 kgs. on tight supplies and buoyant consumers demand. Residue and press wax also moved up sharply by Rs 250-500 per tonne.Slackes wax quoted at Rs 21000 per tonne.

Mentha oil, flake and bold marked up by Rs 5-8 per kg due to declined inflow from producing markets whereas on stockists selling and poor offtake, thymol declined by Rs 10 at Rs 280 per kg. Camphor slab also eased by Rs 5 a kg. on declined trade enquiries. Caustic soda flakes held steady on poor supply.

Aluminium rod up

Aluminium wire bar and its rod were placed up by Rs 1.50-2.50 at Rs 84.50 and Rs 93 per kg on better offtake while the arrivals declines. Aluminium wire and utensils scrap and sheet cutting edged up by Rs 1-2 at Rs 81, Rs 72 and Rs 75 per kg. As tin ingot recently shot up by Rs 10 at Rs 350 per kg in Calcutta, its prices in local market edged up further by Rs 5 at Rs 345 per kg.

Zinc slab also marked up by 25 paise per kg. Copper wire bar, rod and its wire moved downward by Re 1 at Rs 131.50, Rs 134.50 and Rs 138.50 per kg. on advices from LME. Copper utensils, mixed scrap and accessories also marked lower by 50 paise to Rs 1.50 per kg.Brass boring, accessories and Bharat scrap slipped by 50 paise a kg. on declined trade enquiries.