The price of tin on the Kuala Lumpur Tin Market rose seven cents to finish at 20.12 ringgit ($5.29) a kg after a higher London market overnight encouraged more buying, traders said. They noted an opening bid of 82 tonnes against offers of 62. Final turnover was 67 tonnes compared with 64 on Monday with buying mainly from Europe, Japan and Malaysia. The immediate trend depends on the performance of the London market and demand from Europe, they said. "Prices are seen holding steady and expected to trade around current levels," said a trader. "The market will also track the trend in London." The local price differential over the London narrowed down to $65 a tonne premium from $135 previously.

Indonesian olein stable:

Indonesian palm olein prices were mostly stable in late morning trade on Tuesday while the market continued to suffer from a lack fresh leads, traders said. Traders said olein, the refined form of crude palm oil, was being offered in Jakarta at4,600-4,700 rupiah/kg. Prices of olein, which is used as cooking oil, have fallen to 4,600-4,700 rupiah/kg, compared with 5,000-5,100 rupiah/kg last week on bearish trend, triggered by uncertainty in the country's political front. Traders said players were still worried about possible break out of fresh unrest during the currency crisis which caused prices of basic essentials to drastically rise. A plan by cooperatives assigned by the government to release cooking oil into the market to stabilise prices is also a factor which affected prices, said traders. Traders said the market largely ignored the political developments in Malaysia, the world's biggest palm oil producer.

MidEast grades under pressure:

Spot Middle Eastern crude grades were under pressure from unsold October barrels, while a very large crude carrier (VLCC) of September-lifting West African grades were sold to South Korea, traders said. A VLCC of Qua Iboe and Odudu crudes were sold to a South Korean refiner on a C and F basis,they said. The price was unavailable. In Middle Eastern grades, one November Dubai cargo was said to have been traded at around 20 cents per barrel over November quotes, traders said. Underlying sentiment for Middle Eastern crude trading remained weak with sizable amount of October cargoes left unsold, traders said. With refiners cutting crude throughput, and regional oil product sales depressed, market participants in Asia were banking on winter demand, traders said. Bids for October Oman were notionally assessed at minus 40cents per barrel below the official selling price (OSP) in slim trade, against offers of discounts of 25 to 30 cents. It was traded at 35 cents below the OSP in one of the latest known deals. There were as many as 10 October Oman cargoes and a few parcels of Murban left in the market, traders said.

HK gold easier, silver unchanged:

Hong Kong spot gold was slightly easier at midday on Tuesday, while spot silver remained unchanged, dealers said. Bullion was quoted at$288.60/289.10 an ounce at midday, down from its opening price of $288.90/289.40. Spot silver ended at midday quoted at $4.87/90 an ounce, unchanged from the opening. Tael gold at midday was quoted HK$2,649 per tael, up HK$1from the opening price of HK$2,648 per tael.

Good demand for Coonoor teas:

Teas met with a good general demand in the sale held here on Thursday and Friday last. A total quantity of 1,65,362 kg of tea comprising CTC leaf, ctc dust, orthodox leaf and orthodox dust was offered in the sale. The demand for orthodox brokens and fannings were much lower and prices for these varieties declined five to seven rupees per kilogram. Demand for orange pekoes continued to be strong and dearer. Market for ctc brokens opened about four rupees lower but firmed up during the sale and towards the end of the sale. On Friday morning prices were again one to two rupees fully firm to dearer. Primary orthodox dusts on offer met with good demand and realised prices which were firm. Other orthodoxdusts as well as ctc dusts sold at rates which were irregular around last.

Euro raw cotton unchanged:

European raw cotton prices are unchanged to higher Monday due to cotton futures on the New York Cotton Exchange settling higher Friday, said traders. The New York December cotton contract settled 1.19 cents higher at 75.80 cents a pound Friday, while the March contract also closed higher, at 75.00 C/lb, up 0.95 C/lb. Traders reported sporadic price testing enquiries with Spanish, Central Asian and West African varieties, but with the exception of gap-filling purchases, genuine buying interest remained light. "Cotton is chasing the buyers." Said a German-based cotton trader. "But the buyers are on the sidelines awaiting developments with the Mediterranean crop," he said.

Liffe wheat futures mixed:

Liffe wheat futures closed mixed Monday, with a fall in the value of the pound failing to sustain a price rise seen earlier in the day, said brokers. Prices closed between 20 pence down to20 pence higher, wit January wheat losing most ground, closing at GBP74.20 a metric ton. After opening 50 pence up on the day due to a weaker sterling, prices failed to sustain the gains and lost ground late in the afternoon. "Market saw initial early rally against sterling but eased back in quiet trade," said ADM Investor Services International Ltd in their daily market report. A total of 200 lots changed hands. At 1625 GMT sterling traded at DEM2.8334, down from DEM2.84 99 late in london Friday. A fall in the value of the pound makes UK goods less expensive to foreign buyers, hence UK shippers can increase prices without losing competitiveness on export markets. Liffe barley futures failed to trade. Matif wheat futures are also mixed as at 1615 GMT, trading between FRF2.00 lower to FRF2.00 higher.

CBOT corn, wheat up:

Corn and wheat futures closed mostly higher Monday at the Chicago Board of Trade with wheat giving some support to the corn market, analysts said. "The wheat was showing the moststrength (Monday)," said Da Basse, analyst with Agresource Co in Chicago. "We had a lot of export business that is helping the wheat." He added that some traders are going long in wheat and short in corn. He said corn was steady because wheat's influence was pulling it higher, while harvest pressure tried to pull it lower. "There's not a lot to trade on fundamentally," said Basse. Steve Bruce, broker with ED&F Man on the CBOT floor, agreed saying that volume was thin and that traders were watching US president Bill Clinton's grand jury testimony.

Cotton steady, mill demand sluggish:

Cotton lint prices continued to be steady and enquiries from the mills remained poor and sluggish during the first fortnight of the month, according to South India Cotton Association (Sica). With no demand from the mills, prices remained unchanged in Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan belts. Bengal deshi quoted at Rs 1,500 to Rs 1,510, while J-34 saw ginned quoted at Rs 1,975 to Rs 2,010 per maund spot during the period,Sica said in its market report. While Shankar-6 of Gujarat was sold at Rs 21,700 to Rs 22,000, H-4 variety of Madhya Pradesh ruled at Rs 20,200 to Rs 20,500 per candy spot. The Maharashtra Cotton Federation made a downward revision of prices to create demand from the end-users. Trade sources anticipated 10 to 15 per cent increase in cotton area for the season, the report said. The prices remained firm in Andhra Pradesh, as MCU-5 sold at Rs 24,700 to Rs 25,000 per candy spot. More arrivals of DCH-32 and LRA were reported from Karnataka, where the prices remained steady, while prices remained unchanged in Tamil Nadu following the financial crunch and slow movement of yarn affecting the cotton trade and the industry, Sica said. With indications of good and quality crop for the ensuing season, trade circles were getting activated to handle new arrivals, Sica said.

GAIL resumes gas supply:

Gas Authority of India Limited (GAIL) on Tuesday resumed gas supply from the Hazira compressor station. Thesupply was restored following the receipt of 56 million cubic meters of gas from ONGC against the normal supply of about 35 million cubic meters of gas per day, a press release said. However, it would take some more time before customers were able to receive the full quantity of gas. It was mainly due to the time taken for the gas to travel across the pipeline and for the pressure to be built to the required levels. The time taken would also depend upon the rate of increase in the supply of gas by ONGC to GAIL. Natural gas supplies along the HBJ pipeline had to be discontinued since the morning of September 17, following stoppage of gas supply from ONGC owing to heavy floods in Surat.

New refineries to be set up:

Union minister of state for petroleum Santosh Gangwar has said some new refineries will be set up and the capacity of some of the existing ones increased during the ninth five-year- plan. Talking to reporters here last evening, he said it had been decided to set up new refineries at Binain Madhya Pradesh and Paradip in Orissa while the work in the Panipat refinery was going on a war footing and its commissioning was expected within three months. Gangwar said the government had also decided to set up 6000 refil retail outlets of LPG, diesel and petrol and one LPG agency for every 10,000 population, by the year 2002. Saying that the new exploration licensing policy would be declared shortly, the minister said in order to reduce the expenditure for import of crude oil, the government signed 13 contracts for exploration of new oilfields. While there was a possibility of finding natural gas in the Andaman Islands and oil in Godavari Basin, efforts were on to receive supply of natural gas from Iran and Bangladesh, he said.