Prices remain stable on cotton market

Prices maintained firm trend on the cotton market on Thursday in the process of moderate trading, dealers said.

The official spot rate was unchanged at Rs8750, they added. In ready session, over 11,000 bales of cotton changed hands between Rs8000-9000, they said.

Rates of seed cotton per 40kg in Sindh low quality rate was higher by Rs400 to Rs3000, while the best quality lost Rs250 to Rs4050 due to quality factor, and in the Punjab prices were down by Rs300 to Rs3200-4100, they said.

In Balochistan, seed cotton prices of inferior type were higher by Rs100 to Rs3600 the fine type, however, low quality lost Rs100 to Rs4200, they said.

In Sindh, Binola prices per maund were at Rs1400-1700, in Punjab and Balochistan rates were at Rs1500-1600, they said and added that polyester fibre was available at Rs179 per kg.

Market sources said that mills took interest in buying of fine quality cotton to replenish their stock.

Cotton analyst, Naseem Usman said that most of the buyers have covered their long position following the reports of short supply of quality lint.

The ginners, on the other hand, were trying to sell the unsold stock above their psychological levels, other brokers said.

Adds Reuters: Cotton futures held steady on Wednesday, buoyed by a positive global supply and demand report from the US Department of Agriculture (USDA), while investors remained cautious ahead of Dec 15th, deadline for fresh US tariffs on Chinese goods.

Cotton contracts for March rose 0.03 cent, or 0.05%, to 65.96 cents per lb by 1:50 p.m. EST (1850 GMT). It traded within a range of 65.34 to 66.19 cents per lb.

Total futures market volume fell by 9,304 to 14,424 lots. Data showed total open interest fell 37 to 194,863 contracts in the previous session.

The following deals reported: 1000 bales of cotton from Tando Adam at Rs8200, 2000 bales from Saleh Pat at Rs8300-8500, 6000 bales from Khairpur at Rs8000-8500, 2000 bales from Khanpur at Rs9000 and 400 bales from Liaquatpur at Rs8500, they said.

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The KCA Official Spot Rate for Local Dealings in Pakistan Rupees
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                     FOR BASE GRADE 3 STAPLE LENGTH 1-1/16"
                    MICRONAIRE VALUE BETWEEN 3.8 TO 4.9 NCL
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Rate              Ex-Gin   Upcountry   Spot Rate    Spot Rate    Difference
                    For      Price     Ex-Karachi  Ex. KHI. As   Ex-Karachi
                                                   on  11-12-2019
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37.324 kg         8,750       160         8,910        8,910            NIL
Equivalent
40 kgs            9,377       171         9,548        9,548            NIL
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