Castor seed prices increased on 9th March due to higher demand from 
crushers. Moreover, decline in the arrival also lifted up the price at the spot market.
Castor seeds bold and castor oil commercial prices increased due to consistent demand from shippers and soap manufacturers.
Recent study has found the production of medicated soap from castor oil.
Medicated soaps are those used for bathing, and contains additives that helps kill germs and other microorganisms. They can also have other functions like skin toning and age defying effects. Generally all types of soaps are prepared using caustic soda.
Now scientists from Nigeria have performed an experiment to produce medicated soap 
from castor oil extract. Castor oil was extracted via soxhlet extractor and the characterization studies were carried out. It was found that the acid value and saponification value of the oil were between the ranges of values specified by ASTM.
The soap produced gave a pH of 8.9 and the antibacterial activity of the soap on the bacterial isolate Staphylococcus aureus showed a greater inhibition zone, thus concluding that a highly effective soap can be produced from castor oil.
CastorOil.in brings you the weekly report of castor seed price at Bombay Commodities Exchange.
Check out the table and the graphical data.
| Price Date | Rupees Per Quintal |
| 27 Jan | 3175 |
| 28 Jan | 3070 |
| 29 Jan | 3050 |
| 30 Jan | 3060 |
CastorOil.in brings you the weekly report of castor oil and meal prices at Bombay Commodities Exchange.
Check out the table and the graphical data.
| Date | Castor commercial oil Prices US$/MT | Castor Meal US$/MT |
| 1 Feb 2016 | 948 | – |
| 2 Feb 2016 | 970 | 70 |
| 3 Feb 2016 | 977 | 70 |
| 4 Feb 2016 | 984 | 70 |
| 5 Feb 2016 | 977 | 70 |
With castor contracts being suspended by NCDEX from January 27, daily volumes of the commodity have moved up sharply on the regional Rajkot Commodity Exchange. The volumes have increased from 920 tonnes to 5310 tonnes in two weeks.
There are 101 registered members in RCX but only 12 are active. Activity of non-members has increased in recent times which also reflects on the increased volumes.
Solvent Extractors’ Association of India has estimated castor seed production to rise by 10% at 1.39 million tonnes for the year 2015-16. In 2014-15, the castor seed 
production stood at 1.27 million tonnes.
As per the latest SEA report, sowing of castor seed crop increased to 1.13 million hectares this year, as against 1.10 million hectares last year. It is expected that castor seed production in Gujarat will increase by 8% to 1.15 million tonnes as against 1.06 million tonnes last year.
National Commodity and derivatives Exchange has planned to assist castor seed traders in liquidating their stock through its e- spot market arm, NCDEX eMarkets Ltd. (NeML).
Through NeML castor seed traders can liquidate their entire holding in a phased manner instead of carrying the entire quantity and go the physical market for selling. Selling through a spot exchange might yield better realization than transporting entire quantity to physical markets on one occasion.
CastorOil.in brings you the weekly report of castor seed price at NCDEX.
Check out the table and the graphical data.
The closing price for last week was Rs. 3486.35/quintal. This week, a decrease in price of castor seed was observed throughout the week.
In general, a decrease in the price of castor seed was observed at the end of the week compared to previous week.
| Price Date | Rupees Per Quintal |
| 18 Jan | 3526.5 |
| 19 Jan | 3520.6 |
| 20 Jan | 3481.25 |
| 21 Jan | 3445 |
| 22 Jan | 3450 |
CastorOil.in brings you the weekly report of castor seed price at NCDEX.
Check out the table and the graphical data.
The closing price for last week was Rs. 3651.9/quintal. This week, a decrease in price of castor seed was observed throughout the week.
In general, a decrease in the price of castor seed was observed compared to previous week.
| Price Date | Rupees Per Quintal |
| 11 Jan | 3630.6 |
| 13 Jan | 3490 |
| 15 Jan | 3486.35 |
Recent study has found a new source of biodiesel from castor oil which has less viscosity than the original castor oil.
Castor oil cannot be used as such for biodiesel production due to its high viscosity. Hence scientists from Singapore have found an alternative method to produce low viscosity biodiesel from castor oil.
By chemical modification of ricinolein in castor oil and methyl Ricinoleate, new products called ketone-containing glycerides were obtained. These ketone containing triglycerides were used for the production of biodiesel.
The biodiesel obtained by this method was found to have low viscosity.
Thus, vehicles can now run with a fuel which has less viscosity.