January 8, 2014
In nearly two weeks, India's rapeseed futures jumped to their highest as extreme cold weather in key producing areas raised doubts over production, while soyoil futures fell following losses in overseas palm oil.
Soy futures were treading water as weak demand from oil mills offset thin supplies. A weaker rupee makes edible oil imports expensive, but raises margins of oilmeal exporters.
At 0745 GMT, the rapeseed contract for January on the National Commodity and Derivatives Exchange was up 1.08% at INR3,637 (US$58.50) per 100 kilogrammes, after rising to INR3,644 (US$59) earlier in the day, the highest level since December 24.
Very dense fog has been observed in Rajasthan and such a situation is likely to remain in next three days, the weather department said.
Malaysian palm oil futures slipped to a two-week low as forecasts of bumper supplies from the world's top palm producers continued to weigh on investor sentiment, while weak competing overseas markets put pressure on prices.
The key February soy contract was 0.15% lower at INR3,726 (US$60) per 100 kilogrammes, while the February soyoil contract fell 0.41% to INR681.05 (US$11) per 10 kilogrammes.
At the Indore spot market in Madhya Pradesh state, soy fell by INR16 (US$0.26) to INR3,823 (US$61.50) per 100 kilogrammes, while soyoil edged down INR2.25 (US$0.04) to INR690.75 (US$11) per 10 kilogrammes. At Jaipur in Rajasthan, rapeseed rose by INR25 (US$0.40) to INR3,700 (US$59.50).