Moderate trading was again witnessed on the cotton market on Saturday as mills made forward buying to meet the immediate requirements, dealers said. The official spot rate was unchanged Rs 3200, they said. Phutti prices in Sindh and Punjab were at Rs 1550-1600 for the fourth consecutive day, they said.
The mills continued cotton buying to cover the urgent needs and it is likely that they pay higher rate for the quality factor, brokers said. They (mills) are buying cotton on anticipation that the Trading Corporation of Pakistan (TCP)'s intervention to stabilise prices in the coming days, they said.
On Friday, the NY cotton futures ended the week near its latest 3-3/4-year low after breaking below several technical support targets when a dismal reading of the US labour market gave investors little reason to hang onto fibber futures, brokers said. USDA releases its outlook for the 2008/09 cotton crop year at 0830 am EST (1300 GMT) on Monday.
The key December cotton futures closed about 2.25 percent lower at 42.07 cents a lb, a 0.91-cent decline. But the December contract fell as low as 42.0 earlier in the session, matching the August 2004 bottom on the spot cotton contract chart and breaking through several downside targets on the way down. December cotton volume stood at 14,630 lots by 3:26 pm (2026 GMT). March cotton ended with a loss of 1.09 cent at 45.60 cents a lb, about a 2.50 percent drop.
THE FOLLOWING DEALS WERE REPORTED: 400 bales of cotton from Khipro at Rs 3100, 1000 bales from Mir Purkas-Sultanabad at Rs 3100-3150, 1200 bales from Shahdadpur at Rs 3125-3150, 1000 bales from Sanghar at Rs 3100-3125, 1200 bales from New Saeedabad at Rs 3100, 1000 bales from Khirpur Rs 3125, 2000 bales from Upper Sindh at Rs 3250, 2000 bales from Shujabad at Rs 3150-3250, 200 bales from Muhammad Pur at Rs 3250, 400 bales from Lodhran at Rs 3190, 400 bales from Liquatpur at Rs 3250, 200 bales from Bhawal Pur at Rs 3250, 200 bales from Fort Abbas at Rs 3250, 400 bales from Jahania at Rs 3150, 200 bales from Jalal Pur at Rs 3190, 200 bales from Dunia Pur at Rs 3150, 400 bales from Chichawatni at Rs 3200, 200 bales from Mian Channu at Rs 3200, 1000 bales from Rahim Yar Khan at Rs 3250, 600 bales from Shadan Lund at Rs 3250-3275, 600 bales from Khanewal at Rs 3200-3250, 200 bales from Kabirwala at Rs 3225, 600 bales from Ahmed Pur at Rs 3250, 800 bales from Rajan Pur at Rs 3250, 400 bales from Dera Ghazi Khan at Rs 3225 and 200 bales from Vahari at Rs 3200, they 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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37.324 Kgs     3,200.00      100                   3,300.00
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Equivalent
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40 Kgs         3,429.00      100                   3,529.00
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