The Hindu Business Line : Tuesday, December 05, 2006

RICE
Turning popular
COMBINATION OF FACTORS: Paddy being harvested mechanically at a farm near Thrissur in Kerala. A combination of factors such as shortage of farm workers, rising labour costs and significant reduction in processing time has made mechanical ... More

CLIMATE & WEATHER
`Best weather' brewing for crops in TN, northern plains
Standing crops in the plains of North India and Tamil Nadu in the South could not possibly have asked for better weather than what is forecast to evolve during the rest of the week and into the next. "Just what the weatherman ordered" is how ... More

ANTI-DUMPING
US for mutual solution to shrimp dumping duty row
Offers to conduct analysis on shipments from India More

RUBBER
Spot rubber firms up
The domestic spot rubber closed slightly firm on Monday. It was not the real consumer support that kept the prices firm, but the market reacted to the late recovery in TOCOM and the spurt in domestic futures, sources said. RSS 4 finished better ... More

SUGAR
Sugar stocks shine
Sugar stocks such as Balrampur Chini and Bajaj Hindustan witnessed frenzied buying on Monday, with most of them hitting the upper circuit on hopes that the Centre may soon lift the ban on sugar exports. This is in the wake of drop in wholesale ... More

GOLD & SILVER
Rising trend in gold likely to continue
Dollar fundamentals negative, more slippage on cards More

OILSEEDS & EDIBLE OIL
`Oilseeds import from Nepal, Lanka negligible'
Shipments 9,900 tonnes during 2005-06: Minister More

Bio-diesel effect
ON THE RISE: A worker collecting coconut meal at an oil mill in Kochi. Coconut oil prices have begun to gain as rates of cheaper substitutes such as palm oil and soyabean oil have increased as they being used for bio-diesel. On Monday, December ... More

COFFEE
Coffee exporters urged to make use of New Mangalore port
The New Mangalore Port Trust (NMPT) has urged coffee exporters from Karnataka to make use of the `Gateway of Karnataka' - the New Mangalore port — to move their cargo. Promotion drive A press release by ... More

SPICES & CONDIMENTS
Vanilla growers seek support price
Vanilla growers have raised a distress call for relief against sliding prices that has hit the bottom in four years to less than Rs 1,000 against Rs 3,000 four years ago. The Vanilla Growers Association of India has urged the Union Government ... More

Cardamom to rise on US, Europe demand
Hit by a drop in production, prices of cardamom are set to move up from mid-December on a rise in demand from the US and European countries. India could be short by 1,500 tonnes this crop season ending June against the annual output of about ... More

Chilli futures decline 6 pc
Prices of chilli on NCDEX continued to decline, losing 6 per cent on Monday. It closed at Rs 6,415 a quintal on weak advices from the Guntur spot market where it fell by Rs 150 to Rs 6,800. "Chilli prices on the futures market have gained by ... More

REGULATORY BODIES & RULINGS
Four commodity futures traders suspended
Regulator warns three others for committing serious violations More