Tea prices up on rejuvenated demand: A rejuvenated demand from both exporters and domestic blenders helped both leaf and dust tea prices rally sharply at the Kochi auctions this week. The price increase was notwithstanding a rise in offerings in the leaf category. In the leaf category, where 6.36 lakh kg were on sale against 4.78 last week, a good demand was witnessed with orthodox broken being quoted by Rs 8 to Rs 15 a kg higher. Orthodox fannings were quoted higher Rs 6 to 12 higher, while crushed tear curl (CTC) broken and fannings were dearer by Rs 2 to 5 a Kg. Best nilgiri leaf broken ruled higher at Rs 88/96 a kg against Rs 80/86 last week, while its fannings was up to Rs 86/92 against Rs 80/84.50. Best CTC leaf broken increased to Rs 54/68 against Rs 52/60. In the dust category, where 7.76 lakh kg were on offer against 7.91 lakh kg last week, also a good demand saw CTCs were higher by Rs three to five a kg and sometimes more. Medium and poor ctcs were firm to dearer by Rs 2 to 3 a kg. However,orthodox highgrown dusts slid by Rs 5 to 6 a kg. medium and secondaries dust were steady to dearer. Best CTC dust prices increased to Rs 80/100 a kg against Rs 75/90, while medium ones were quoted at Rs 73/85 against Rs 70/80. Highgrown bopd dusts slid to Rs 74/81 against Rs 83/86, while medium was up at Rs 45/50 against Rs 41/50.

Sugar prices continue downtrend: Sugar prices continued its downtrend at the Vashi wholesale sugar market in Mumbai on Friday on account of poor offtake as against increased arrivals. Sugar small quality (S-30) was quoted marginally lower at Rs 1460/1500 per quintal while sugar medium quality (M-30) eased to Rs 1480/1530 per quintal. Following are the day's quotations with previous in brackets: (all per quintal):

Sugar small (S-30) Rs 1460/1500 (Rs 1475/1500) Sugar medium (M-30) Rs 1480/1530 (Rs 1490/1535).

India buys 10.78m tonnes wheat: The union government has so far purchased nearly 10.78 million metric tonnes of wheat in the current marketing year between April 1 and May 20, compared to about 7.94 million tons over the same period last year, according to official statistics made available Friday. Ongoing market arrivals of wheat in India during the 1998-99 marketing year, which began April 1, are substantially higher at nearly 11.21 million tonnes compared with about 8.29 million tonnes in the corresponding period of the previous marketing year. As reported, the government has said it will most likely purchase a record 12 million metric tons of domestic wheat during 1998-99, which is up 29% from around 9.3 million tons the previous year. Last month the government raised the minimum support price for domestic wheat 7.4% to 5,100 rupees (INR) a metric ton, from INR4,750/ton paid during the peak procurement period, between April and mid-June, in 1997. India's 1998 wheat crop is estimated at 68 milliontonnes and government experts said that if favourable weather conditions persists until mid-May, the crop may marginally exceed the record 69.23 million tons harvested in 1997.

Rice stays steady: Asian physical rice offers are holding steady late Friday, with market sentiment bullish in Thailand, traders said. Thai 100%B rice is offered at $335/ton, FOB, unchanged from Thursday but some $10/ton higher from Wednesday. "Around late Wednesday to Thursday, our prices rose sharply because Iran bought 150,000 tons of 100%B rice," said a Bangkok rice exporter source. He said the 150,000 tons are contracted at approximately $332/ton, FOB and are for shipment in June-August. Demand is also expected from Brazil, which has recently contracted 1-2 vessels of Thai rice, the Bangkok source said, adding there are rumours that Brazil has already contracted about 600,000 tons of US paddy. Offers of Thai low-grade rice are relatively unchanged because the grade is not in demand.

Liffe sugar outlook: Liffe white sugar futures were expected to see another day of slow trading, with many traders staying away from their desks because of the public holiday in most of Europe on Thursday and the pending holiday Monday in the US and UK, dealers said. Much of Continental Europe celebrated Ascension Day Thursday. Monday is a public holiday in UK and the US and as a result Liffe and CSCE will be closed then. Brokers were also saying that a lack of fundamental news meant there were no major factors expected to move the market either way Friday.

Cotton yarn prices firm up: Prices firmed up on the local cotton and yarn market on Friday following demand from powerlooms and handlooms amidst a scarcity of stocks. However, waste corn prices dropped due to reduced demand from carpet manufacturers. Traders said demand from some parts of Uttar Pradesh such as Pilkhua and Hapur also aided the rising trend. The volume of business also picked up to some extent.

Cotton closing report: Cotton futures on the New York cotton exchange settled higher on the day Thursday on buying to cover short positions ahead of a long holiday weekend, analysts said. Futures total open interest rose by about 1,300 contracts Wednesday as the market fell, leading many traders to conclude that "new spec shorts" added positions during the 0.46 cent per pound selloff, said Sharon Johnson, analyst with frank schneider & co, a brokerage in Atlanta, Georgia. Those shorts covered their positions Thursday because there was no follow through to the downside, she said. Speculators "got in some shorts and did not like the way they were looking as we rallied ," she said. The speculators also did not want to be vulnerable over the upcoming three-day weekend, she said. The US department of agriculture reported early Thursday that in the May 8-14 week, US export sales were 51,900 bales, 42% over the previous week but 13% under the four-week average.

Spot gold in Asia down, silver quiet: Spot gold is lower late Friday in Asia from New York on the back of major currency movements, as volatility sharply decreased on the precious metals complex. Gold weakened as the Japanese yen lost ground against the US dollar, which hit an intraday high of Y136.07, compared to Y134.95 late Thursday in New York. "Gold is moving in an extremely tight range at the moment, with prices higher early this morning in anticipation of the higher gram, while the front-month April 1999 contract closed up Y24 at Y1,1251/g.

Non-ferrous metals prices rule steady: Metal prices ruled fully steady at the non-ferrous metals market here on Friday due to poor arrivals and sluggish demand, traders said. Subdued advices from the London Metals Exchange (lme) partly weighed on sentiment. Following are today's quotations (all per kilo). Copper scrap heavy Rs 114.50, copper wire bar Rs 129.50, copper utensils Rs 98.75, brass scrap Rs 88.25, brass sheets cutting Rs 92.00, aluminium scrap Rs 63.00, aluminium ingots Rs 82.00, zinc Rs 76.00, lead Rs 42.00, tin Rs 352.00 and nickel Rs 298.00.

Leather prices steady: There was not much activity on the local leather market in Delhi on Friday with prices generally remaining steady on scattered enquiries from neighbouring area market. The volume of business was small. Following were the day's quotations: raw leather prices per skin in inches goat salted 30"x40" Rs 60 goat without salted 30"x40" Rs 70-75 sheep salted 32"x44" Rs 125 sheep w/o salted Rs 150-160.