Indonesian olein falls: Indonesia's palm olein market was quiet in late morning trade on Monday as prices fell because of poor buying interest, traders said. Traders said India had bought olein for nearby shipments,but they did not say how much. The trader said players were sidelined because of expectations cooperatives assigned by the government to release cooking oil would release ample supply this week. Traders said olein was being offered in Jakarta at 4,600 rupiah/kg. Traders said India was buying RBD (refined, bleached, deodorised) olein from Indonesia, but no details on quantity was available. RBD olein is subject to an export tax of 55 per cent. The trader said export prices of olein hovered at 4,492 rupiah/kg, which is lower than the local prices.

Dalian soybean ends steady: Dalian soybean futures ended barely changed on Monday in sharply reduced volume after last week's tumultous trade. The November 1998 contract, which came under trading curbs last week,added one yuan to 2,629 ($317) per tonne from last Friday's close. Active January 1999 contract ended at 2,391 yuan, up one yuan. It opened at 2,380 and hit a high of 2,408 and a low of 2,368. Traders said the trading activity was subdued, with 95,410lots changing hands, compared to 165,724 lots on Friday. The Exchange raised margins and cut daily fluctuation limit on the November contract after the open interest in that contract month surged last Tuesday. And on Friday the Exchange ordered the members to cut their open positions in November by half. Trading would remain quiet as investors awaiting the dust to settle down, he said. In other months, March 1999 rose two yuan to 2,402, May 4 to 2,491 and July 7 to 2,510.

Tokyo corn futures slide: Tokyo corn futures slumped on Monday, despite a rise in the dollar, amid growing expectations Chicago futures would fall further, traders said. They said Tokyo corn futures prices were poised for further falls on Tuesday, ahead of a Japanese National holidayon Wednesday. Some expected the benchmark September contract to test the next support at 13,000 yen. Prices falls ranged between 240 and 410 yen per tonne.Benchmark September shed 410 yen to 13,150 yen, its intra-day low. Three of the nearby contracts closed below the psychologically important 13,000 yen level. Estimated volume was 26,776 lots. Contracts on the CBOT Project A system also slid during Asian trading hours as negative sentiment gained momentum. The December contract was quoted at $2.02- per bushel at 0720 GMT, down from $2.05 at the Chicago close on Friday.

South Korean oil project stalled: A South Korean consortium has not been able to begin drilling for oil in Libya because the government there has yet to give it a licence, the commerce industry and energy ministry said on Monday. The consortium was set to start drilling for oil at the NC174 mining field in the Western Central region this year, the ministry said, according to the National news agency Yonhap. Five Korean firms,including Hyundai Corp and Daewoo Corp, hold a one-third stake in the consortium with another third split among other foreign firms. The field is estimated to have potential reserves of one billion barrels of oil. The consortium planned to produce 30,000 barrels a day, the ministry said.

Okinawa refineries' running normal: Oil refiners on Japan's southern island of Okinawa said on Monday their plants have been operating normally despite mid-sized typhoon Vicki. "There are no disruptions in refining operations or in shipping operations," said an official for Okinawa Sekiyu Seisei Co Ltd, which has a crude processing capacity of 110,000 barrels per day (bpd). The other refiner on the island, 100,000-bpd Nansei SekiyuKK, said its plant was running as usual. The typhoon, with winds of up to 108 km per hour, was off the east coast of Okinawa at 0500 GMT, moving northeast away from the island at a speed of 35 km per hour, according to Japan's meteorological agency. Operations of refineries on the island,which is located on a busy "typhoon corridor", are disrupted from time to time in the autumn due to heavy rains, strong winds and high waves.

Indian garment exports up: India's garment exports rose to $2.05 billion in April-August 1998 from $1.87 billion in the same 1997 period, the government said on Monday. A government statement said ready-made garment exports consisted of 528.5 million pieces in April-August 1998, up from 487 million pieces a year earlier. It said garment exports to the United States, India's largest export market, had risen 13.57 per cent in April-August. Exports to the European Union were recovering from a fall of five per cent in April 1998 to a marginal drop of 0.88 per cent in April-August 1998 over a year earlier, the statement said quoting figures from the Apparel Export Promotion Council. Exports to Canada grew by 8.56 per cent in the five-month period, the statement said.

Textile workers' token strike: Textile workers in the region on Monday went on day's tokenstrike to highlight the plight of the textile industry and the workers. However, the proposed road-roko agitation, as part of the strike, was withdrawn late last night, following assurance given by Tamil Nadu chief minister, M Karunanidhi. The chief minister had reportedly convened a meeting of the representatives of management and workers on September 26 at Chennai, trade union sources said. The strike, which commenced at 0700 hrs would continue till tomorrow morning, involving over 65,000 workers.

Indian coffee exports rise sharply: India's coffee exports grew sharply in April-September 1998 to 108,864 tonnes from 85,422 tonnes in the same 1997 period, the government said on Monday. A government statement said the rise in exports was achieved despite lower world coffee prices averaging Rs 84,501 ($1988) per tonne in 1998 compared with Rs 96,285 per tonne in 1997. It said coffee exports earned $226.75 million in April-September 1998 compared with $237.47 million a year earlier because of the lower1998 prices. The statement said total coffee output in India is estimated at around 220,000 tonnes annually of which about 165,000 tonnes are exported.

Malaysian tin up: The Kuala Lumpur Tin Market price closed up five cents at 20.05 ringgit ($5.26) a kg on Monday on improved buying interest, traders said. The rise also reflected a higher close on the London Metal Exchange (LME) on Friday, they said. "Higher LME on Friday attracted some fresh demand from Europe and Japan," said a trader who also noted local buying interest. He said the performance of the London market would continue to influence the tin price here. Volume was 64 tonnes against 52 tonnes on Friday. The local price premium over the London market widened to $135 a tonne from $90 previously, traders said.

Copper weak:

Prices of copper and brass eased on non ferrous metal market here today on lack of industrial demand coupled with weak LME advices. Elsewhere, prices ruled steady.

Copper scrap heavy closed weak at Rs.104,while copper utensils at Rs 92.75, copper wire bar at Rs 117.50 and brass scrap at Rs 85.75 also remained subdued.