Cautious buying by mills on cotton market

Trade activity failed to pick up on the cotton market on Monday as leading mills kept on the sidelines due to lack of buying interest, dealers said.

The official spot rate was unchanged at Rs 9000, they added. In ready session, about 4,000 bales of cotton changed hands between Rs 8650-9200, they said.

Rates of seed cotton per 40kg in Sindh were 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.

Market sources said that shortage of quality lint and liquidity crunch is restricting normal business and it looks present may continue in the near future.

Cotton analyst, Naseem Usman said that to increase cotton production, the seed should be high yield and pest resistance.

It's surprising to note that in seminars and workshop, different issues faced by cotton crop raised by speakers and participants but last governments and even present govt also failed to provide basic facilities to the cotton growers, he observed. In fact, the growers are facing a lot of problems under the circumstances, other analysts said and adding that due to non-availability of certified cotton seed and pesticides to growers, the country may not achieve cotton production target.

According to the Pakistan Cotton Ginners Association (PCGA) fortnightly report till Nov 15, approximately 6.9 million bales have reached to the country's ginneries.

The following deals reported: 1000 bales of cotton from Ghotki done at Rs 9150/9200, 800 bales from Adilpur at Rs 9200, 1400 bales from Dherki at Rs 9200 and 1000 bales from Khairpur at Rs 8650/8750, dealers 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 16-11-2019
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37.324 kg          9,000      160        9,160        9,160             NIL
Equivalent
40 kgs             9,645      171        9,816        9,816             NIL
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