Edible oils extend uptrend on millers’ buying

In a brief three-day trading, edible oils prices strengthened for the third week in a row in the oils and oilseeds market on sustained buying by vanaspati millers and retailers for the coming marriage season against restricted arrivals.

Trading activity was restricted as the markets remained closed on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday on account of Ramnavmi, Ambedkar Jayanti and Mahavir Jayanti, respectively.

However, mustard oil ended lower on lack of buying support against new arrivals from producing regions.

Non-edible oils closed on a steady note as the prices moved in a tight range on alternate small bouts of trading and fall in demand from industrial units.

Traders said sustained buying by vanaspati millers and retailers to meet the coming marriage season demand mainly pushed up the edible oil prices.

Tight stocks position due to fall in supply of imported oils in the domestic markets further fuelled uptrend in select edible oils, they added.

Meanwhile, edible oil import fell for the fifth straight month in March and shed 33 per cent to 4,12,088 tonnes against 6,12,293 tonnes in the same period previous year, the edible oil industry body SEA said.

In the national capital, groundnut mill delivery oil (Gujarat) rose Rs 150 to Rs 8,000 per quintal and groundnut solvent refined oil gained Rs 50 to Rs 1,350-1,360 per tin.

Soyabean refined mill delivery (Indore) gained Rs 350 and soyabean degum (Kandla) shot up by Rs 60 to Rs 6,150 and Rs 5,800, respectively. Crude palm oil (ex-kandla) rose Rs 90 to Rs 5,200 per quintal.

Palmolein oil (rbd) advanced by Rs 50 and palmolein oil (Kandla) edged up by Rs 40 to Rs 5,750 and Rs 5,450 per quintal, respectively.

On the other hand, mustard expeller oil (Dadri) declined by Rs 100 to Rs 5,450 per quintal on adequate stocks position following fresh arrivals.

Sesame mill delivery and cottonseed mill delivery (Haryana) remained steady at Rs 6,230 and Rs 5,550 per quintal, respectively, in limited deals.

GRAINS: In range bound trading, select grains prices moved up at the wholesale market during the past week on fresh buying by stockists and retailers amid limited arrivals.

Traders said wheat dara prices rose on fresh buying by flour mills for the coming marriage season, while bajra and maize rose on increased industrial demand against restricted arrivals.

They added that business volumes fell as the market remained closed for three days for Ramnavmi, Ambedkar Jayanti and Mahavir Jayanti.

Wheat dara (for mills) which remained stable during the major part of the week, found some buying support from flour mills and gained Rs 10 to Rs 1,210-1,215 per quintal. Atta chakki delivery followed suit and rose Rs 40 to Rs 1,230-1,235 per 90 kg.

Maize and bajra advanced by Rs 10 each to Rs 960-970 and Rs 1,350-1,360 per quintal, respectively, on rising demand from cattle-feed makers.

However, in the rice section, rice basmati common and Pusa-1121 varieties moved in a tight range and settled around the previous levels of Rs 5,600-5,700 and Rs 4,500-5,500 per quintal, respectively.

PULSES: In extremely thin trading, kabli gram and urad prices moved up at the wholesale pulses market during the past week on selective buying by stockists and retailers against less arrivals.

However, gram and its dal remained weak on lack of buying support against adequate stocks position.

Market analysts said selective buying from retailers against restricted arrivals mainly pushed up wholesale kabli gram and urad wholesale prices.

In the national capital, kabli gram small variety attracted brisk buying support from retailers and jumped up by Rs 500 to Rs 4,500-6,000 per quintal.

Urad and its dal chilka local, which were also seen in demand, gained Rs 50 each to Rs 4,050-4,450 and Rs 4,950-5,350 per quintal, respectively.

Urad dal best quality and dhoya followed suit and traded higher by the same margin at Rs 5,450-5,950 and Rs 5,500-5,600 per quintal, respectively.

On the other hand, gram and its dal remained weak and shed further ground. Gram, gram dal local and best quality were down by Rs 50 each to Rs 2,225-2,250, Rs 2,500-2,515 and Rs 2,600-2,700 per quintal, respectively.

SUGAR/JAGGERY: In restricted trading, sugar prices fell by up to Rs 65 per quintal during the week under review on fresh supply from mills, while gur prices rose up to Rs 150 per quintal on tight stocks position following fall in production in the neighbouring states.

Muzaffarnagar and Muradnagar gur markets also remained firm on less arrivals against better offtake.

Market analysts said increased supply of sugar in the market against reduced offtake by retailers and bulk consumers such as softdrink and ice-cream makers mainly influenced the trading sentiment.

Gur prices rose on tight supply from Uttar Pradesh and Haryana as production ended following change of weather, they added.

Business volumes fell as the market remained closed on Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday on account of Ramnavmi, Ambedkar Jayanti and Mahavir Jayanti.

Sugar medium and second grades prices fell by Rs 65 each to Rs 2,960-3,060 and Rs 2,950-3,050 per quintal, respectively.

Similarly, sugar mill delivery medium and second grades fell by Rs 25 each to Rs 2,750-2,925 and Rs 2,725-2,900 per quintal, respectively.

In the millgate section, mawana and dorala sugar prices fell by Rs 20 each to Rs 2,845 and Rs 2,840 per quintal, respectively. Sugar titabi eased by Rs 10 to Rs 2,850 per quintal.

In the jaggery section, gur pedi and dhayya prices rose by Rs 150 each to Rs 2,500-2,550 and Rs 2,550-2,600, respectively. Gur chakku rose Rs 100 to Rs 2,300-2,350 and shakkar traded higher at Rs 2,600-2,700 from Rs 2,600-2,650 per quintal.

At Muzzafarnagar, gur chakku and khurpa rose Rs 100 each to Rs 2,050-2,250 and Rs 2,050-2,100 per quintal, respectively. Gur raskat improved by Rs 50 to Rs 1,875-1,975 per quintal on better offtake by beer makers.

In Muradnagar, gur pedi and dhayya were quoted higher from Rs 2,100-2,150 and Rs 2,150-2,200 to Rs 2,150-2,250 and Rs 2,300-2,350 per quintal, respectively.

DRY FRUITS: Almond and cashew prices declined in the national capital during the week under review mostly due to considerable fall in demand from local traders and stockists due to off marriage and festival season. Increased arrivals from the producing belts also put pressure on the prices.

Almond California prices fell by Rs 200 to Rs 9,800 per 40 kg while its kernel fell by Rs 10 to Rs 340-350 on lack of support.

Cashew kernel No 180, 210, 240 and 320 prices declined by up to Rs 15 to Rs 625-635, Rs 585-590, Rs 520-525 and Rs 440-460 per kg, respectively, on subdued demand. Copra prices fell by Rs 100 to settle at Rs 7,400-7,500 per quintal on reduce offtake.

Pistachio varieties such as Hairati and Peshwari eased by up to Rs 10 to Rs 1,000-1,050 and Rs 1,250-1,300 per kg, respectively.

BULLION: In a brief three-day trading, both the precious metals silver and gold surged to record high in the bullion market during the past week, on brisk buying by stockists due to the upcoming marriage season amid a rally in overseas markets.

While gold climbed to an all-time high of Rs 21,710 per 10 gram, silver set a record at Rs 63,200 per kg in three trading sessions as the markets remained closed on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday for public holidays.

Trading sentiment bolstered as gold in the international markets spurted to an all-time high of $1,489.30 an ounce on speculations that the sovereign-debt crisis in Europe will worsen, boosting the appeal of the precious metal as an alternate investment.

Silver also touched the highest level in 31 years to $43.07 an ounce. Besides, retailers buying for the upcoming marriage season further fuelled the uptrend.

Silver ready commenced higher on fresh buying support and maintained the uptrend on local support to close at its highest level of Rs 63,200 per kg, showing a jump of Rs 1,800. Silver weekly-based delivery shot up by Rs 1,790 to Rs 62,435 per kg. Silver coins also hit a record by adding Rs 2,000 to Rs 68,500 for buying and Rs 69,000 for selling of 100 pieces.

In line with a general firming trend, gold of 99.9 and 99.5 per cent purity opened marginal lower on lack of buying support and fell further to Rs 21,430 and Rs 21,310, respectively.

However, a sharp recovery at the fag-end pushed up the prices and gold of 99.9 and 99.5 per cent purity settled at record levels of Rs 21,710 and Rs 21,590 per 10 grams, respectively, showing a rise of Rs 165 each. Sovereigns also moved up by Rs 50 to Rs 17,750 per piece of eight gram.

COMMENT NOW