Activity slows down, prices turn lower on cotton market

Trading activity was down on the cotton market on Friday as leading mills kept on the sidelines in the absence of fresh leads, dealers said. The official spot rate was unchanged at Rs 3400, they said. The phutti prices in both the Punjab and Sindh were same at Rs 1650-1800. In the ready business, slight fall of Rs 50 was again seen in the prices at Rs 3400 in process of trading, they added.
Some mills indulged in the fresh buying as most of them preferred sidelines mainly because of arrival of the Pakistan Cotton Ginners Association (PCGA) fortnightly report, analysts said. Delay in the Trading Corporation of Pakistan (TCP) tenders causing some confusions among the cotton business circle and may be another factor behind the declining volume, they said.
On Thursday, the NY cotton futures finished lower on investor sales as losses in other markets weighed on fibre contracts along with weak consumption and export data, brokers said. The key March cotton contract fell 1.00 cent to close at 50.07 cents per lb, in a band from 49.77 to 51.20 cents.
On Monday, the contract finished at 52.07 cents in the highest close for cotton on a spot basis since trading over 52.50 cents in October 2008. Volume traded in the March contract was at 10,630 lots at 2:46 pm EST (1946 GMT). The May contract lost 0.54 cent to end at 51.01 cents.
THE FOLLOWING DEALS WERE REPORTED: 600 bales of cotton from Shahdadpur done at Rs 3275, 2000 bales from upper Sindh at Rs 3350-3425, 1000 bales from Khair Pur at Rs 3250-3275, 4000 bales from Rahim Yar Khan at Rs 3300-3400, 1000 bales from Mian Channu at Rs 3400, 400 bales from Chichawatni at Rs 3300 and 200 bales from Haroonabad at Rs 3290, 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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37.324 Kgs     3,400.00      100                   3,500.00

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Equivalent

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40 Kgs         3,644.00      100                   3,744.00

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