Modest rise seen in prices on cotton market

Prices moved up modestly on the cotton market on Friday amid persistent demand by mills, dealers said. The Karachi Cotton Association (KCA) official spot rate was unchanged at Rs 3175, dealers said. In the ready business prices showed an increase of Rs 25 to Rs 3275 as hundreds of bales of cotton were done at this level at several stations, they said.
In Sindh phutti rates were up by Rs 25 to Rs 1575-1625 in Sindh and in Punjab it was trading nearly at the same rate in process of trading, dealers said.
Commenting on the rising trend in the cotton rates, some brokers said that the ginners were not interested in selling, holding the stock to gain profit in the coming days. In the meantime, the mills despite making new deals, were waiting for the Pakistan Cotton Ginners Association (PCGA) fortnightly data, which will set the future direction of the market, they said.
It is very likely that in case ginners do not lower the prices, the mills may prefer to import cotton via land rout, which may be cheaper than the local cotton, they said. But it is difficult to say as to how the other international markets react in the coming days. Meanwhile, the NY cotton market is on both ways track these days, they said.
The trend in the NY cotton futures market was down as the ICE Futures open-outcry December cotton slid 1.45 cent to end at 61.70 cents per lb, trading from 61.65 to 63.15 cents. It was the lowest close since October.
The now key March contract sank 1.28 cent to 66.48 cents, moving from 66.45 to 67.65 cents. The rest lost from 1.02 to 1.65 cent. The ICE March electronic cotton contract was down 1.31 cents at 66.45 cents at 3:15 pm EST (2015 GMT), dealing from 66.42 to 67.80 cents.
THE FOLLOWING DEALS WERE FINALISED: 400 bales of cotton from Shahpur Chakar at Rs 3175, 2000 bales from Shahdadpur at Rs 3175, 800 bales from Sanghar at Rs 3150, 600 bales from Khipro at Rs 3150, 400 bales from Dadu at Rs 3200, 1000 bales from Khairpur at Rs 3225/3250, 1000 bales from upper Sindh at Rs 3200, 1000 bales from Rahim Yar Khan at Rs 3250/3275, 1000 bales from Sadiqabad at Rs 3250/3275, 1000 bales from Ahmedpur East at Rs 3250/3275, 1000 bales from Bahawalpur at Rs 3250, 1000 bales from Dera Gazi Khan at Rs 3250/3275, 1000 bales from Khanewal at Rs 3250/3275, 1000 bales from Rajanpur at Rs 3250/3275, 1000 bales from Mohammadpur Dunia at Rs 3250/3275, 1000 bales from Bahawalnagar at Rs 3250, 1000 bales from Gajjo at Rs 3250, 1000 bales from Bahawalpur at Rs 3250, 1000 bales from Chani Goth at Rs 3250, 1000 bales from Alipur at Rs 3265/75, 1200 bales from Shujabad-Jalalpur at Rs 3250/75 and 600 bales from Liquatpur at Rs 3250, they 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      3175.00        50                    3225.00

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

40 Kgs         3403.00        50                    3453.00

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