Metals price hiked

Hot Rolled steel prices are seeing further jump after price hikes by SAIL (Steel Authority of India Ltd.). The prices are raised by Rs500 per ton keeping the metal in the price range of Rs28, 000 to Rs29, 000 per ton. The reasons attributed towards rise in coking coal prices according to industry resources and there could be further upsurge in prices for this. The prices of coking coal have been more than doubled from last year’s and hovering at Rs5, 600 from Rs2, 600 per ton last year. In the white metal Aluminium, the prices have been raised by Rs2000 per ton as per NALCO, the second largest Aluminium producer in India.

Manipulation in Sugar: request to increase quota

The traders and stockists in sugar trading are seemed to be getting in the mood of speculative gains in the market. Recently there has been transportation delay in Maharashtra that caused the traders at centre and other parts to rise spot prices by causing supply constraints. The prices are roaming at Rs22 up from about Rs17-18 a kg at the centre. The Bombay Sugar Association has asked government to release additional quota in sugar which is declared as 34 lakh tons for the first quarter (12 lakh ton for Jan, 11 lakh each for Feb and March). At the local wholesale market Vashi, Sugar M-30 rose to Rs1918 / Rs1975 a quintal from previous close of Rs1900 / Rs1970 a quintal. Sugar S-30 also jumped up to Rs1890 / Rs1955 from Rs1888 / Rs1935 a quintal.

Minimum Support Price increase in Pepper

As blessings for the pepper developers, the Kerala government has announced hike in the minimum support price to peg it at Rs 75 a kg from Rs 60 a kg last month. The amount allocated for MSP is fixed at Rs 45 crore, up about Rs 39 crore from Rs 6 crore which is an exciting figure for the producers. As per resources, The money will not be released directly by the state government. Instead, it has asked the Kerala State Co-operative Marketing Federation (Marktfed) to undertake that operation, which, in turn, has decided to devolve the responsibility on primary co-operative banks under its fold.
During the period, the spot price of fresh crop with 7-10% moisture has moved up by Rs 4-5 a kg to Rs 69 a kg and that of old crop to Rs 72 a kg. Future prices too join the line and soaring to higher levels. January contracts ended last week at Rs 7,475 per quintal while that for April and June contracts edged up to Rs 7,625 and Rs 8,062 per quintal, respectively.

Palm and Soya ease together

A high degree of correlation can be seen in the Vegetable Oils category especially crude Palm Oil and Refined Soya Oil since they target to similar audience. On Monday, both the futures contract in this segment witnessed fall, as it is believed that the softening Soya prices have been pulling the other in line. Bursa Malaysia Derivatives’ benchmark third-month Crude Palm Oil futures contract, March, ended lower at 1,374 Ringgit ($361.58) per ton from 1,361 Ringgit as previous close.

Selling Pressure in Bullion

Bullion prices were looking at fresh lows, as high selling pressure from stockists was present in the market. The London market was shut for a bank holiday. Due to strengthening in Dollar, Gold touched 2 months low at $430 a troy oz. Funds are not expected to step up long positions until after Friday's US jobs report. In the meantime, any dollar strength is likely to break into more technical selling. According to resources, in the local bullion market, standard gold (99.5) opened at Rs 6,275 and closed at the same level without any support, previous close for gold have been Rs 6,300 per 10 gm. Pure gold (99.9) also started on a subdued note and dropped Rs 30 per 10 gm at Rs 6,310 as against the last close of Rs 6,340. Ready silver (.999) in Mumbai traded at Rs 10,540, down by almost Rs95 from previous trades.

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