Modest trading was seen on the cotton market on Friday as ginners showed some hesitance in selling below their psychological levels, dealers said. The Karachi Cotton Association (KCA) official spot rate was slashed by Rs 150 to at Rs 5,850, they said. In the ready business some 5,800 bales of cotton changed hands between Rs 5600-6090, they said.
In the meantime, after the rains in the country, phutti prices in Sindh were at Rs 2600-2650 and in Punjab the rates were higher by Rs 200 to Rs 2800-2850 in process of trading they added. Market sources said that despite the uncertainty over the Regulatory Duty (RD) on exports of cotton yarn, the mills were active and made fresh deals on expectations of more decline in the rates.
There were some uncertainties in the market over the decision in the July 26 meeting, which may help the cotton traders in making the future plan, analysts said. Ginners were holding the commodity on expectations of increase in the prices after fresh rains, which may slow down the phutti arrivals, they said.
In fact, it was noticed that continued rains in the cotton-belt caused pest attack on the crop, which damaged the production, they said. On Thursday the NY cotton futures ended higher on investor buying as tight deliverable supplies gave nearby months a boost although players were still fretting over the fragile state of global economic recovery, brokers said.
The December cotton contract increased by 0.78 cent to end at 74.71 cents per lb, moving from 73.58 to 74.74 cents. The spot October cotton contract gained 0.80 cent to finish at 79.57 cents. Volume traded in the December contract stood at 12,651 lots at 2:30 pm EDT (1830 GMT).
The following deals were reported: 600 bales of cotton from Sultanabad sold at Rs 5600, 400 bales from same station at Rs 6700, 400 bales from Kotri at the same rate, 200 bales from same station at 5800, same figure from Shahdadpur at Rs 5700, 1000 bales from same station at Rs 5800, 200 bales from Tando Adam at Rs 5700, 400 bales from same station at Rs 5800, 600 bales from Hyderabad at Rs 5800, 200 bales from Matli at the same station, 400 bales from Sahiwal at Rs 5900, same figure from Burewala at Rs 5950, 400 bales from Haroonabad at Rs 6000, 200 bales from Bhawal Nagar at Rs 5960 and same figure from Khanewal at Rs 6090.
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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 5,850.00 100 5,950.00
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Equivalent
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40 Kgs 6,269.00 100 6,369.00
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