Modest trade activity on cotton market

Prices fluctuated marginally on the cotton market on Thursday in the process of modest trade activity, dealers said.

The official spot rate was unchanged at Rs 9100, they added. In ready session, about 10,000 bales of cotton changed hands between Rs 8600-9250, they said.

Rates of seed cotton per 40kg in Sindh fell sharply at Rs 3000-4250 and in the Punjab prices were at Rs 3800-4600, they said. In Balochistan, seed cotton prices were at Rs 4200-4700, they said.

In Sindh, Binola prices per maund were at Rs 1400-1700 and in Punjab rates were at Rs 1550-1750, they said and adding that polyester fibre was at Rs 183.

According to some brokers, a few mills took interest in fresh buying of lint cotton to meet immediate requirements.

Cotton analyst, Naseem Usman said that virus attack on standing crop and short supply of fine quality forcing mills to replenish their stock.

Paucity of funds and some other negative factors creating lack of buying interest among buyers, he observed.

Adds Reuters: ICE cotton futures slipped on Wednesday as the dollar scaled a near one-month peak, while lack of clarity on the US-China trade negotiations kept investors on edge.

Cotton contracts for December fell 0.35 cent, or 0.54%, to 64.39 cents per lb by 12:35 p.m. EST (1735 GMT), trading within a range of 64.32 to 64.85 cents per lb.

Total futures market volume fell by 35,942 to 31,424 lots. Data showed total open interest fell 6,608 to 233,153 contracts in the previous session.

The following deals reported: 600 bales of cotton from Ghotki at Rs 9125/9150, 200 bales from Pano Aqil at Rs 9125, 400 bales from Khanpur Mehar at Rs 9100, 1600 bales from Khairpur at Rs 8600/8800, 4800 bales from Rahim Yar Khan at Rs 9200/9250, 100 bales from Sadiqabad at Rs 9200/9250, 1000 bales from Haroonabad at Rs 9000, 1200 bales from Yazman Mandi at Rs 8900/8950 and 800 bales from Bahawalpur at Rs 8900, 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 13-11-2019
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37.324 kg          9,100      160        9,260         9,260            NIL
Equivalent
40 kgs             9,752      171        9,923         9,923            NIL
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