Sydney Futures Exchange (SFE) wheat sold steady to slightly firmer in a thin market on Monday. January 1999 edged up by 50 cents a tonne to A$170.00 onfour lots, while untraded contract settlement prices all rose by 50 cents to 75 cents. SFE's quiet and narrow day followed a similar tone in Chicago on last Friday ahead of Monday's US Memorial Day holiday.

French grain intervention offer

Offers to sell grain into EU-controlled intervention stores in France have reached 3,339,006 tonnes, figures released by French grain office ONIC showed last week. ONIC reported the following breakdown of offers: soft wheat-982,968 tonnes, barley-1,735,682, maize-572,012, rye-354 and sorghum- 47,990. French farmers can sell grain into European Union intervention at guaranteed support prices between November 1 and May 31. The deadline for selling maize and sorghum into intervention has been extended to August 15.

Oilseeds prices remain steady

There was little trading activitieson the oils and oilseeds market on Monday and prices after hovering around previous levels, finished unchanged. Marketmen said arrivals and offtake was at a low-ebb and volume of business was small as there was hardly any worthwhile trading activity. They said traders were less active on fears that government may take some decision on import duty on edible oils. Outside advices were also not conducive. The following were Monday's quotations per quintal: oilseeds: mustardseed 1330-1650, cottonseed 1050-1150, groundnut 1390-1600 and sesame 1900-2000. Vanaspati ghee (15 kgs tin) 650-770.

Tocom rubber ends weak

Tokyo rubber futures ended mostly weaker on Monday as selling overwhelmed short-covering after the spot May contract expired lower at noon, traders said. "The weaker spot expiry, contrary to earlier expectations, was the main driving force for trading today," said one analyst at a commodity broker. Market players were unwilling to take deliveries, causing the spot contract to expire lower at104.3 yen per kg at noon, down from Friday's close of 105.0 yen. Deliveries were 368 lots. Other contracts ranged from 0.7 yen lower to 0.2 yen up, with benchmark October ending down 0.7 yen at 113.0 yen. A newspaper report that at least 6,000 tonnes of rubber produced by the Indonesian state-run plantation company (PTPN) in north Sumatra is stranded in Medan warehouses by a lack of ships, and the yen's weakness against the dollar, failed to boost Tokyo rubber prices, the traders said.

Rubber stays flat

Natural rubber prices stayed flat on limited procurement by state-owned agencies and increase arrivals on the primary market in Kottayam on Monday, dealers said. "Procurement by agencies like rubco and rubbermark on behalf of STC were on a low key while arrivals tended to rise," they said. The STC has been asked by the government to procure 20,000 tonnes of rubber from the open market in order to help stabilise its prices. In the day's trading, RSS four grade prices were flat at Rs 3200 a quintal.At Kochi, the other major trading centre, it was up marginally at Rs 3225 a quintal against Rs 3,200 during previous trading. Lot rubber prices also closed flat at Rs 2900 here, while at Kochi there was no trading. The global rubber market witnessed a downtrend on lack of demand four futures. Prices for RSS three, the one comparable with India's RSS four, closed lower at Rs 3,199 a quintal against Rs 3,208 during previous trading.

Dalian soybean futures end up

Dalian soybean futures closed near intraday highs on Monday, boosted by Friday's gains on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT), traders said. Dalian's key September 1998 contract ended at 2,488 yuan ($301) per tonne, up 22 yuan from Friday's close. It opened at 2,476, hitting an intraday high of 2,493 and a low of 2,470 yuan. "CBOT gains buoyed Dalian soybean prices," one trader said. "Although profit-taking pared some gains in early trade, speculative buying at lower levels pushed contracts up or near intraday highs ahead of the close." CBOTsoybean contracts settled 1-3/4 to 5-1/4 cents per bushel higher, with July up five at $6.35-1/4, after earlier sinking as low as $6.29 for its lowest price since April 14. In Dalian, the July 1998 contract rose 50 yuan to 2,428 yuan; November 35 to 2,412; the January 1999 contract 32 to 2,390; March 29 to 2,390; and May 25 to 2,419. Combined volume expanded to 179,634 lots from 75,196 lots. The September contract was likely to test key resistance at 2,500 yuan in the short term after breaching the 2,480-yuan level, traders said.

Menthol, Boric acid firm up

Menthol, boric acid prices flared up in the local kirana market in Mumbai on Monday due to a fresh demand. Menthol bold crystal (1 kg) rose by Rs 40, menthol flake (1 kg) rose by Rs 40, menthol oil (1 kg) rose by Rs 15 and boric acid technical (50 kg) (superior) rose by Rs 50 respectively from previous levels. The volume of business was moderate. due to the ongoing Asian economic crisis, traders said.

Wagad and V-797 move up

Prices ofWagad and V.797 (both Gujarat) moved up by Rs 29 and Rs 57 respectively, while MCU-5 (Andhra Pradesh) declined by Rs 56 at the South India cotton association in Coimbatore on Monday. (rates per quintal in Rs): Bengal deshi fine (Punjab) 4125, Wagad (Gujarat) 3937, V-797 (Gujarat) 4190, Jayadhar (Karnataka) NQ, J-34 (Bhatinda line) 5358, F-414/sg NQ, lRA-5166 (TN) 5539, H-4 (MP) 5708, LK-29 (AP) 6102, Shankar-6 5933, MCU-5 (a p) 6608, DCH-32 (Karnataka) 8154.

China copper futures end sharply

Copper futures on the Shanghai and Shenzhen metals exchanges ended sharply lower Monday, hit by a large increase in warehouse stocks at the Shanghai exchange amid continued sluggishness on China's cash copper markets, traders and analysts said. The benchmark Shanghai September futures contract slid CNY330 to CNY17,020/metric ton on trading of 61,870 tons. Shanghai warehouse copper stocks jumped 9,371 tons to 61,532 tons. Traders said stocks usually range between 20,000 and 30,000 tons. "The China copper markethas been in oversupply for months, and buying is sluggish," a Shanghai-based trader with Hengyin Futures Co. said. "The sudden increase in stocks started a new wave of selling." At least another 10,000 tons of copper is said to have reached Shanghai last week and remains outside the Shanghai warehouse, adding more downward pressure to the futures market, traders said.

US aluminium cash premiums fall

Premiums in the US aluminum cash market fell slightly on Monday as inventory levels increased, dealers said. Premiums, which were previously reported at 4.75 to 5.50 cents above the London Metal exchange prompt date, were set at 4.50 to 4.75 cents a pound this week. LME three-month aluminum traded at $1,406.50 Friday. John Gross, president of JE Gross, said that although aluminum inventories have been in a long-term down trend, more recently they have begun to build. Friday inventories in London Metal Exchange Warehouses grew by 2,575 metric tons to 541,525 tons. However, Gross said it was too early totell whether the build is the result of a shift in supply or demand."I would hesitate to put it in one category or the other. The increase has been a short-term change in the trend. The longer term trend is declining," he said, explaining that it's too soon in the pattern shift to determine a reason for the change. Meanwhile copper cash premiums remained steady, as lower prices caused scrap to remain tight, dealers said.

Precious metals show mixed trend

Precious metals were mixed in slow trading with both the British and US markets closed for holidays. Dealers said they expected narrow ranges to prevail barring unexpected developments. "I don't think very much is going to happen," one metals analyst at a major Swiss bank said. "Gold will stay around $300, perhaps a bit lower or a bit higher."

IOC sells naphtha to Vitol

Indian Oil Corporation has sold one 25,000-tonne low aromatic naphtha (LAN) cargo lifting May 28-30 from Madras to Dutch trader Vitol at an undisclosed price, industrysources said on Monday. The tender closed May 21 and was valid for one day. The cargo was sold on a free-on-board (fob) basis, the sources said. IOC last awarded a 25,000-tonne LAN cargo lifting February 8-10 from Madras on the east coast to Swiss trader Glencore at a $16.44 per tonne discount to Japanese cost-and-freight naphtha quotes industry sources said.