Better-than-expected phutti arrivals, falling trend in New York futures push rate down on cotton market

Better-than-expected phutti arrivals and declining trend in the NY cotton futures pushed prices down on the cotton market on Saturday, dealers said. The Karachi Cotton Association (KCA) official spot rate was unmoved at Rs 5,800, they said.
Prices of seedcotton in Sindh dropped by Rs 100 to Rs 2100-2600 and in Punjab rates also lost the same amount to Rs 2300-2800, they said. In ready dealings above 36,000 bales of cotton changed hands at Rs 4,200-6000, they added. Commenting on the present trend in the market, some analysts said that most of the mills and spinners kept on the sidelines due to falling trend in the NY cotton prices and partly because of strong phutti arrivals despite damage in monsoon rains.
Trading volume was fairly better as ginners were ready to oblige the mills due to huge unsold stock with them, in the meantime, some ginners, showed no interest in fresh selling on expectations of rise in prices, they observed. They also noted that mills were reluctant buyers and did purchasing of fine lost at their psychological levels. Gloomy picture of world economy is not encouraging small or big investors to do business because they are in grip of uncertainties in the absence of guiding factors.
According to an influential industry publication Cotlook on Thursday cut its forecast for world 2011/12 cotton consumption and raised its cotton-surplus projection, as economic fears sap demand for the fibre. "The deteriorating economic outlook has become the dominant influence on the behaviour of buyers throughout the cotton textile value chain," the monthly report for November by Cotlook said.
Exports of cotton from Ivory Coast totalled 91,657 tonnes from January to October 2011, down more than 46 percent compared with the same month last year, provisional port data showed on Friday. The sharp fall was the result of a violent post-electoral conflict, which shut down exports for three months this year, traders said. Most cotton is grown in the formerly rebel-held north, but the only ports for shipping it are in the south.
On Friday the NY cotton futures fell by their daily limit, as investors fretted over Europe's debt crisis and players exited long positions in the December contract before first notice day next week, brokers said. "A lot of it's Europe, which had a lot of pressure on a lot of commodities today, cotton more so," said Sharon Johnson, senior cotton analyst at Penson Futures.
The spot December cotton contract on ICE Futures US slid by its daily limit for the second day in a row, declining 4.69 cents, or 4.71 percent, to end at 94.90 cents per lb. Its range spanned 94.77 cents - the lowest since August 9 - to $1.0015. Now-most-active March cotton futures dropped 3.21 cents to close at 93.14 cents, a 3.33 percent decline, after trading between 93.12 and 97.74 cents per lb. Total volume traded on Friday rose to 25,263 lots, about 18 percent greater than the 30-day norm, according to preliminary Thomson Reuters data.
The following deals were reported: 400 bales of cotton from Tando Adam sold at Rs 4200, 1200 bales of cotton from Mir Pur Khas at Rs 4300, 400 bales of cotton from Kotri at Rs 4300, 1000 bales of cotton from Khair Pur at Rs 5200/5300, 3000 bales from Upper Sindh at Rs 5600-5700, 200 bales from Duniya Pur at Rs 5550, 200 bales from Adda Floor at Rs 5600, 400 bales from Qutub Pur at Rs 5600, 600 bales from Hasil Pur at Rs 5500-5700, 200 bales from Bahawal Nagar at Rs 5600, 400 bales from Jahanian at Rs 5650, 1000 bales from Dera Ghaazi Khan at Rs 5675-5750, 600 bales from Ghazi Ghat at Rs 5700, 1400 bales from Burewala at Rs 5700, 1000 bales from Shujabad at Rs 5700-5750, 1000 bales from Bahawal Pur at Rs 5650-5700, 3200 bales from Rahim Yar Khan at Rs 5650-5800, 200 bales from Jalal Pur at Rs 5750, 400 bales from Uch Sharif at Rs 5750, 2000 bales from Khanewal at Rs 5750/5800, 400 bales from Sillan Wali at Rs 5775, 200 bales from Bakkhar at Rs 5775, 400 bales from Lodhran at Rs 5800, 1400 bales from Vehari at Rs 5800, 1000 bales from Layyah at Rs 5800, 1200 bales from Fazil Pur at Rs 5900, 3000 bales from Rajan Pur at Rs 5900, 2400 bales from Fazil Pur at Rs 5900, 1000 bales from Rajan Pur at Rs 5900, 5800 bales from Mianwali at Rs 6000 and 600 bales from Sadiqabad at Rs 5700-5800.