In edible oils, Mumbai market saw groundnut oil decline further. Groundnut oil dropped further following persistent arrIvals from producing centres.

Imported RBD palmolein, however, edged up on stray buying support.In Delhi, barring groundnut, select edible oils firm on local buying and closed higher. Marketmen said buying by vanaspati units in some edible oils mainly influenced the trading activity while fresh arrivals in groundnut mill delivery pulled down the prices. Metals were mixed.

Bullion : Delhi market saw gold prices recover from previous day's lost ground on emergence of buying by local parties influenced by overseas advises and closed with gains. Silver continued to move down in thin trading to register fresh losses. Marketmen said a firm trend in gold in the International markets mainly influenced the trading activity. Silver continued to rule easy due to poor buying support from industries. Ten-tola gold bar (.999 purity) was quoted at Rs 52600 as compared to Rs 52400 yesterday.

Metals: Tin ingots in Delhi declined on reduce offtake by local industries and closed with losses. Traders said reduced offtake in tin ingot by solder manufacturs mainly influenced the trading sentiment. In Mumbai, there was a mixed trend. Tin and copper scrap heavy edged up on stray demand from industries while copper wire bar, copper utensils scrap, brass, zinc and aluminium utensils scrap eased on lack of buying support.

Traders said prices of other metals remained steady in scattered small trading activities.

Chemicals: citric acid drops in New Delhi's local chemical market today due to reduced offtake coupled with weak advices from producers. Citric acid (China) dropped by Rs 100 at Rs 3500 from thelast close of Rs 3600 per 50 kg. The volume of business was small.

Sugar: Mixed and divergent trend was witnessed in small sugar on the Vashi wholesale market here today due to uneven demand and supply transactions.

However, medium sugar declined further on lack of buying support. Small sugar quality (S-30) was quoted at Rs 1468/1485 perquintal as compared to Rs 1465/1495 previously. Medium sugar quality (M-30) Slipped further to Rs 1490/1525 per quintal from Rs 1490/1530 yesterday.

Paddy norms relaxed in Haryana
The Union government today relaxed the specification of paddy and out-turn ratio for custom milling in Haryana with effect from September 21, the day paddy procurement season started.

Under these relaxations paddy would be procured with damaged, discoloured, and sprouted grains upto a maximum limit of 8 per cent. Paddy conforming to the above specification would be procured at minimum support price of Rs 540 and Rs 510 per quintal for grade "A" and common variety respectively, an official spokesperson said here today.

Out-turn ratio for custom milling of such relaxed standard paddy would be 64 per cent for raw and 6 per cent parboiled rice, he added.

Till the end of last month 19.10 lakh tonnes of paddy had arrived in the mandis of the state, out of which millers had purchased 8.62 lakh tonnes and the government procuring agencies 10.48 lakh tonnes at the minimum support price.

The percentage of leviable paddy purchased by agencies was 58 per cent and that of millers 42 per cent, he said. Easy trend in bullion market