West Bengal chief minister Jyoti Basu on Monday held a high level meeting to end the indefinite strike in the state's tea gardens. ``I am convening a tri-partite meeting in a couple of days to end the strike,'' Basu told reporters in Calcutta. The meeting was also attended by labour minister Shanti Ranjan Ghatak. Over 300,000 tea garden workers of Dooars, Terai and Darjeeling were on strike since July 12 in protest against the non-fulfilment of their charter of demands, which includes proper medical facilities in all tea gardens, including hospitals for the tea workers, additional employment as per land-labour ratio and regularisation of temporary workers. The strike call was given by the coordination committee of tea plantation workers and defence committee for plantation workers' rights.

Gold at fresh lows in Europe

Gold slipped to fresh 20-year lows in early European trade on Monday, dropping in thin conditions after New York's failed rally late onFriday left a bearish tone to the market, dealers said. London gold fixed at $253.15 a troy ounce in the morning, its lowest since May 14 and $2.50 below Friday's late fix. Gold has plunged from early May levels near $290.00, hit by news that Britain planned to sell 415 tonnes from its gold reserves during the next couple of years, switching the revenue into dollars, euros and yen. Increased physical demand, producer cutbacks and project suspensions at the lower prices have failed to lift sentiment in a market dominated by Britain's reserve auctions and other sales planned by the International Monetary Fund and Switzerland. Bullion dealers have speculated that last week's tighter gold lease rates, and the rise of one-month rates above those for a year, were due to another central bank removing metal from the lending market in preparation for a sale. Metals analyst for Macquarie Equities, Kamal Naqvi said in a weekend report that 10 countries had been listed among rumoured sellers but added that proof was hardto find.

IOC tender for superior kerosene

State-owned Indian Oil Corp (IOC) has issued a tender to buy superior kerosene oil (SKO) for delivery in the whole month of September, traders said on Monday. The tender seeks 30,000 tonne-sized SKO cargoes for delivery into Mumbai and 40,000 to 45,000 tonne-sized into Kandla on the west coast of India. It also seeks 40,000- to 45,000 tonne offers into Madras/Haldia on the east coast of India. Sellers can offer SKO delivery in all four weeks of September in the tender, which will close on July 29, and carry a validity until July 30. IOC had bought by tender up to 195,000 tonne of SKO for second half of August delivery over the weekend -- from Mobil, Kuwait Petroleum Corp and Independent Petroleum Group (IPG). Meanwhile, IOC has issued a tender to buy one million barrels of September lifting crudes, traders said in Mumbai. The tender seeks IOC's usual variety of Middle East and West African grades, they said. Traders have been asked to submit operationaland logistical details by July 21 and price details on July 22, they said. Both parts of the tender together will be valid until July 23. IOC has not made any award in its tender to buy crudes for October-to-March loading, traders said on Monday.

Pak vegoils imports to slow down

Pakistan vegoil imports are likely to slow in the coming week as importers become more cautious about falling Asian prices, dealers said on Monday. ``Prices have again fallen, which will make importers cautious,'' said a dealer Saulat Khan at vegoil brokers Saulat Enterprises. Malaysian palm oil prices extended their downtrend at midday on Monday as players liquidated positions on fears of rising stocks and weak technical factors. Khan said Pakistan imported 33,300 tonnes of palm oil in the first 15 days of July, but he said the uncertainty over prices could bring down imports in the next two weeks. ``Importers are also averaging out their orders,'' he said. Dealers said Pakistan traders had negotiated with suppliers tobook orders which are a mix of higher and current lower prices. Pakistan imported 9,42,768 tonnes of palm oil, in fiscal 1998-99 that ended in June, which was down 8.83 per cent from last fiscal year, the trade sources data said. Imports of soybean oil jumped 147 per cent to 358,229 tonnes.