Rising demand by the mills pushed the official spot rate higher on the cotton market on Thursday, some brokers said. The Karachi Cotton Association (KCA) official spot rate, after maintaining a stable trend for nearly three-four weeks, raised by Rs 25 to Rs 3325.
Phutti prices, which are not adequate to meet the demand, in both Sindh and Punjab held the overnight levels at Rs 1200-1600, they said. Nearly 14,000 bales of cotton changed hands between Rs 3050-3550, dealers said.
According to the market sources, the mills are still short of cotton and they may have to import more or less one million bales to meet requirement. Cotton analyst Naseem Usman said that the "we are facing shortage due to delay in cotton crop in lower Sindh due to water shortage.
The ginners, however, increased the asking prices as prices have started rising in the world markets, in the New York trade, cotton futures powered to a strong finish on Wednesday as a fund-led commodity wide rally spilled into fibre contracts and the market could spike higher if investors sustain their buying spree, brokers said.
The ICE Futures' May cotton contracts rose 1.91 cents to settle at 73.85 cents per lb, trading from 71.80 to 74.25 cents. The new-crop December cotton futures climbed 1.86 to end at 84.53 cents, in a band from 82.41 to 84.75 cents.
The following deals finalised: 400 bales of cotton from Mirpur Mathelo sold at Rs 3400, 800 bales from Khanpur at the same rate, 1000 from Samandari at Rs 3550, 600 bales from Lodhran at Rs 3500, 400 bales from Tiba Sultanpur at Rs 3550, 1000 from Vehari at Rs 3550, 6000 bales from Rahim Yar Khan at Rs 3350-3500, 2600 from Rajanpur at Rs 3250-3350, 400 bales from Noorpur Nouranga at Rs 3350 and 1000 bales more from Bahawalpur at Rs 3050-3300, dealers 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      3325.00        50                    3375.00
Equivalent-------------------------------------------------
40 Kgs         3563.00        50                    3613.00
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