A weakened rupee continued to weigh on the edible oils markets as local refiners were forced to increase prices of imported edible oils.

On Friday, refiners increased prices of palmolein and soya oil despite a wide gap between prices in the direct and resale markets. Groundnut oil rose by Rs 10 for 10 kg and cotton oil by Rs 3 for 10 kg, tracking firm reports from producing centres in Gujarat. Rapeseed oil and soya oil lost Rs 2 for 10 kg each while sunflower oil and palmolein were unchanged. Crude palm oil (CPO) futures on Bursa Malaysia Derivatives (BMD) Exchange closed sharply higher as investors covered short positions.

A leading broker said resellers traded 150-200 tonnes of palmolein in the physical market at Rs 565-567. Needy buyers purchased 40-50 tonnes of sunflower, cotton and groundnut oils. Liberty offered palmolein at Rs 588-590 for November delivery, super palmolein at Rs 605 and soya refined oil at Rs 632. Ruchi quoted palmolein at Rs 580 for November delivery, soya refined oil at Rs 632 for November delivery and sunflower refined oil at Rs 688 for delivery between November 25 and December 5. Allana offered palmolein at Rs 580 for delivery on November 25. In Saurashtra and Rajkot, a telia tin of groundnut oil improved by Rs 20 to Rs 1,265 and loose (10 kg) rose by Rs 10 to Rs 825. Cotton (wash) oil jumped to Rs 595 (Rs 590).

Malaysia's BMD CPO's December contracts settled at MYR3,271 (MYR3,229) and January at MYR3,260 (MYR3,218) a tonne. Soya oil for December delivery closed at Rs 645.30 (Rs 640.50) while for January delivery closed at Rs 651 (Rs 646.50) on National Board of Trade in Indore.

Bombay Commodity Exchange spot rates (Rs/10 kg): groundnut oil — 845 (835); soya refined oil — 623 (625); sunflower exp. ref. — 635 (635); sunflower ref. — 700 (685); rapeseed ref. oil — 717 (719); rapeseed expeller ref. — 687 (689); cotton ref. oil — 618 (615); and palmolein — 570 (570).