Rising prices keep buyers at bay on cotton market

Wait-and-see condition prevailed on the cotton market on Thursday as mills adopted the cautious attitude due to higher trend in the prices, they said.The Karachi Cotton Association (KCA) official spot rate was unchanged at Rs 3300, they said.
Some cotton analysts were of the view that the historic rise in the cotton prices for the forward deals of new crop is surprising for the related circle because they have no idea about the next cotton production figure.
Because, they are waiting the final figure for the current season, how any one can fix the highest rate for the next crop, it is possible that the production may be good and might exceed the expected target, they said.
It seems that the market is in the hands of speculators. It is true that the country is facing shortage of crop but it is importing to meet the problem, they said.Presently, to overcome the shortage problem during the next season, the government must take the matter seriously, they said.
Non-availability of irrigation water in the cotton growing areas of Sindh, which is delaying sowing is the biggest concern, it must be taken care of within no time.Another matter is late harvesting of wheat, causing delay in cotton sowing in the same areas, they said.
On Wednesday, the New York cotton futures were lower as the ICE Futures' May cotton contract eased 0.01 cent to end at 70.79 cents per lb, trading from 69.60 to 71.56 cents.The new-crop December cotton futures fell 0.46 to 82.57 cents, dealing from 81.94 to 83.30 cents. The following deals were reported as some 500 bales of cotton from Khanpur Mehar sold at Rs 3500 and 600 bales from Sadiqabad at Rs 3000, dealers said.

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The KCA Official Spot Rate for Local Dealings in Pak Rupees

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FOR BASE GRADE 3 STAPLE LENGTH 1-1/32"

 MICRONAIRE VALUE BETWEEN 3.8 TO 4.9 NCL

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Rate           Ex-Gin     Upcountry    Spot Rate Ex-Karachi

for            Price                        Sales Tax @ 15%

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37.32 Kgs      3300.00        50                    3350.00

Equivalent-------------------------------------------------

40 Kgs         3537.00        50                    3587.00

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