Trading activity showed further improvement as higher dollar rate diverted the exporters to buy phutti on the cotton market on Saturday, dealers said. The Karachi Cotton Association (KCA) official spot rate was unchanged at Rs 3650, dealers said.
Phutti prices in Punjab were Rs 1600-1650 and in Sindh was at Rs 1700, they said. Since the phutti arrivals started, the prices were on the downside but exporters' entry into the market stabilised rates, they said. Besides, hovering speculations about the Indian ban on cotton exports may also help in bring more stability in the prices, they said.
To meet the local demand, cotton import may be banned but it is very likely that Indian government may turn down this demand by the concerned circle, Naseem Usman said.
Explaining the prevailing trend in these days, leading analysts Naseem Usman said that price of phutti declined sharply from Rs 2200 to Rs 1600 in Punjab during last few days.
He also said that it is another factor that phutti supply will increase further in next few weeks, which could be a reason behind the destabilising trend in the prices. Pace of arrivals indicating that the production figure may improve from the last year's, they said.
The New York cotton market was closed on Friday for the US Independence Day holiday. Trading resumes on Monday. The following deals reported: some 200 bales of cotton from Sanghar sold at Rs 3750, same figure from Chichawatni at Rs 3700, same number of bales from Burewala at the same prices, same figure from Dipalpur at the same rate, 400 bales from Arifwala ad Rs 3690-3700 and 1200 form Sahiwal at Rs 3700, 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     3,650.00        50                   3,700.00
Equivalent-------------------------------------------------
40 Kgs        3,912.00        50                   3,962.00
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