Following were today's quotations per quintal: grains; wheat deshi 600-750, wheat (MP) 970-1010, wheat dara 560-570, chakki atta (Ashoka 90 kgs) 565, roller mill atta (Ashok brand) (90 kgs) 565, maida (Ashoka) 600-610, sooji (Ashoka) 630-640, rice basmati (Lal Mahal) 5500 rice basmati (lal qilla) 5300 rice basmati common 3425-4050 IR 8-725-750, permal 825-975, permal sela 815-965, kabli gram 1700-2175, peas white 950-1000 peas green 1100-1 bhia 1900-2100.

Gur prices remain steady: In Muzzafar Nagar, steadyconditions prevailed on the primary gur (jaggery) market with prices remain static after moving in narrow groove on alternate bouts of buying and selling. Gur prices in the Delhi-wholesale market also remained unchanged on restricted activity.

Indonesia's palm olein quiet: The Indonesian palm olein market extended its quiet trend in late trading on Tuesday on a lack of fresh leads, traders said. "Still the same issue...I don't feel like selling anything until we are sure what's going on here regarding the cooking oil distribution scheme," said one trader in Jakarta.

The trader said ex-factory olein was hovering at 4,000 rupiah/kg in Jakarta, even though the government intended to keep it as low as 3,500 in order to stabilise prices. Trade and Industry Minister Rahardi Ramelan said state-run trading company Dharma Niaga would distribute cooking oil in an effort to help stabilise prices which had fluctuated over the past few weeks, newspapers reported on Tuesday.

Republika newspaper quoted Ramelanas saying on Monday the company would only distribute the olein refined by state-run plantations in cooperation with government-owned joint marketing agency KPB.

Dubai gold imports at 153 tonnes: Dubai imported 153.05 tonnes of gold in the first quarter of 1998, Dubai Custom's head Obeid Saqr Busit said.The official WAM news agency said that the 1998 first quarter imports dropped by 1.25 per cent from the same period last year. He did not give reasons for the decline, but Dubai traders said earlier that a move by India this year to liberalise its gold trade had a negative impact on Dubai's bullion re-export trade.

Dubai has established itself as one of the world's leading re-exporters of gold and silver. Some 80 per cent of the 660 tonnes of the gold imported by the emirate in 1997 was destined for the Indian subcontinent.

Malaysia tin ends unchanged: Prices on the Kuala Lumpur tin market closed unchanged at 22.42 ringgit ($5.70) a kg on Tuesday as both buyers and sellers decided to closedeals at the opening level, traders said. There was continued support from Europe and Malaysia, they said. Turnover was 68 tonnes against 86 tonnes on Monday.

"Prices are holding steady, with the gains in London and further buying underpinning sentiment," said a trader who expects prices to rise on the back of increased demand and supply tightness in London. The local price premium over the London market narrowed to $160 a tonne against $175 on Monday, the traders said.

Copper steady in Australia: Copper prices showed a slight decline from overnight values in light trading on Tuesday in Australia, metals dealers said. Three-month London Metal Exchange copper was quoted at US$1,675 a tonne against $1,682 at Monday's LME afternoon kerb. "We're not seeing much to move the price," one dealer said.

Bouts of currency-driven selling in copper earlier this month have eased, although a return to fluctuations in the value of the US dollar to the yen could rattle more metal loose from the Japanese sector,another dealer said.

A sharp rise forecast for Australian refined copper exports earlier on Tuesday was unlikely to influence the market much, as the increases were largely built into current prices, the dealer said. Australia's refined copper exports are forecast to jump 91.7 per cent to 230,000 tonnes in 1998/99 (July/June).

Copper, nickel decline

A weak trend prevailed on the Delhi non-ferrous metal market when copper, nickel and zinc prices fell on lack of buying support against restricted supply and closed lower. Marketmen said lower London Metal Exchange (LME) advises also influenced the market sentiment. The volume of business was small.

Nickel (Russian) was down by Rs.3 at Rs 282-288 per kilo on reduced offtake. Zinc slab was lower by Rs 2 at Rs 75 per kilo. Copper wire bar was also down by Rs 4 at Rs 135 per kilo and copper rod by Rs 4 at Rs 137 per kilo. Copper wire lost Rs 3 at Rs 143 per kilo. The volume of business was small.

Indonesian rubber flat: The Indonesian rubbermarket was quiet on Tuesday and traders said they were holding stocks because buyers kept asking for cheaper prices. "July rubber has been sold out, but traders want us to lower the already cheap prices. We just don't want it," said one trader in Jakarta. "It is better to hold our stocks for a while," he said. Traders said September tyre-grade SIR20 was quoted at 27.75U.S. Cents/lb fob Palembang and Surabaya, at 28.00 fob Medan and at 27.50 fob Pontianak and Jambi.

Cotton variety moves up: In Coimbatore, prices of wagad (Gujarat) variety moved up by Rs 85 while other select cotton varieties including Maharashtra remained steady at the South India Cotton Association. (Prices per quintal and in Rs): Bengal deshi fine (Punjab) 4286, wagad (Guj) 4218, v-797 (Guj) 4555, Jayadhar (Karnataka) 4682, j-34 (Pjb) 5358, F-414 (TN) NQ, Lra-5166 (TN) 5539, H-4 (M P) 5708, LK-29 (AP) 6158, shankar-6 (Guj) 6186, MCU-5 (AP) 6664, DCH-32 (Karnataka) 8492. Group-I Maharashtra varieties: Mech-1 yeotmal/Amravati 5821,H-4 yeotmal/Amravati 5821, Lra-5166 Nagpur/yeotmal 5483, NHH-44 yeotmal/Amravati 5202, AK.H-4/AK.235 5202, 1007 yeotmal/Amravati 5202, ahh-468 yeotmal/Amravati 5202.

Pertamina to import gas oil: Indonesia is looking to buy 1.8 million barrels of gas oil in July, the same volume as in June, a state-owned oil company Pertamina official said on Tuesday. Pertamina is still looking at issuing a tender for its July oil imports, but there will be no purchase tenders for fuel oil and jet/kerosene, said the official, who asked not to be identified.

Caustic soda ends lower: Caustic soda flake fell in the Delhi chemical market due to lack of demand and Mumbai advice. Caustic soda flake (50 kg) dropped by Rs 10 from 800-830 to settle at Rs 790-820. Elsewhere, prices of other commodities ruled steady on scattered enquires. The volume of business was small.

North Sea Brent makes slight gains: North Sea Brent prices edged a couple of cents higher in late US trade, dealers said. August Brent wasassessed at $13.27 a barrel in the US, after it closed 39 cents higher at $13.25 a barrel earlier in the day on London's IPE. In lacklustre after market trading, only 500 partial lots of August cash Brent changed hands, dealers said. They said 300 lots sold at $13.28 a barrel, while another 200 lots of partials were done at $13.24 a barrel.

Export of weapon grade chemicals: Government has allowed export of certain weapon grade chemicals without license subject to some conditions. These dual-purpose chemicals would be allowed to be exported freely subject to the condition that it would be made to only those countries that were signatories to the chemical weapons convention. Also, only those dual purpose chemicals which are included in the schedule 3 to the chemical weapons convention will be allowed to be exported, an official press release here said. The exporters will have to furnish details of the exports and end user certificate within 15 days from the date of actual exports.