October 23, 2006	Monday	Ramazan 29, 1427

PRE-Eid holiday mood prevailed on the Karachi wholesale commodity markets last week as both buyers and sellers mostly kept on to the sidelines as they refrained from making fresh commitments nearly on all counters.

Stray business was reported in some essential items at the fag-end of the week where prices rose and fell with the demand and late selling due to the Eid holidays.

According to the sources, fixation of Rabi crop targets by the government, notably of wheat at 22.5 million tons was in line with the market thinking and could be achieved based on last season’s production.

The sowing of new crop wheat was expected to resume by next month in open fields, while those under sugarcane crop will begin in January i.e., soon after harvesting.

Barring some prices changes on essential counters, there was a relative calm on other sectors where prices generally held on to their previous levels.

Physical activity and offtake was far below, as both brokers and commercial houses were not inclined to take the risk of falling prices on selling caused by some negative news.

Floor brokers said that the arrival of some essential items and industrial raw materials showed a considerable decline as upcountry dealers held their stocks because of higher freight rates demanded by the cargo haulers.

However, the drying up of arrivals from interior markets did not leave any bullish impact on local prices in the absence of demand.

On export front, physical shipment of new rice crop was expected to resume by November as a loader was present in the port to stack a consignment of 13,000 tons for the Gulf.

In coming weeks rice shipments, according to exporters, were expected to gather momentum as the country was harvesting second consecutive bumper crop.

Prices of industrial raw materials remained stable despite a falling demand by the end-users and steady arrivals from the upcountry markets during the last couple of weeks.

The market decline was led by the pulses sector under the lead of gram whole and gram dal but on the other hand some other essential items showed modest increase. Both suffered fall ranging from Rs50 to 100 per bag. However, moong was quoted higher by Rs50, while masoor, urad and tuver were traded at previous levels.

Among other essentials wheat rose by Rs10, while basmati and kernel types of basmati were traded sharply higher by Rs250 to Rs600 per bag on active export demand and reports of pressure on ready supplies. Broken rice also posted gains ranging from Rs65 to 70 per bag.

IRRI-6 and 9 from Sindh, on the other hand were marked down by Rs20 and 50 on selling prompted by larger new crop arrivals and falling export demand owing to the Eid holidays.

Among cereals, maize was quoted higher by Rs10 to 20, while bajra and barley were firmly held at last levels amid slow demand.

Guarseed was an exception which came in for stray support from some processors and rose by Rs25 per bag. Pressure on ready supplies was another positive factor.

Oilseed sector was firmly held at last level as supplies matched the local demand. Prices of cottonseed, rapeseed, and castorseeds and til were held unchanged amid slow ready offtake.

Oilcakes were tended higher by Rs5 for rapeseed cakes, while cottonseed cakes were traded at previous levels despite steady new crop arrivals from the Sindh ginneries.—M.A.