Trading activity coming back to normal on the cotton market on Friday as traders showed interest in fresh buying, dealers said. The Karachi Cotton Association (KCA) official spot rate was unchanged at Rs 5,450, they said. Prices of seed-cotton of low type in Sindh were unchanged at Rs 1800 and rate of fine quality also held the overnight level at Rs 2400 and rates in Punjab were inert at Rs 2200 while rate of good type was at Rs 2500, they said.
In ready dealings about 5,500 bales of cotton changed hands at Rs 3,700-5,600, they added. Some brokers said that they observed cautious buying by traders as mills and spinners managed to purchase cotton at certain prices to meet the exports obligation. Prices also resisted fresh fall on the back of rising trend in the NY cotton futures and it appeared that the rates may not depict sharp fluctuation in the near future, some analysts said.
According to a report, China's cotton imports in October surged 163 percent from the same period last year to 252,300 tonnes, an industry website reported on Friday, citing customs data. Cotton imports in the first 10 months of this year totalled 2.20 million tonnes, down 2.4 percent on the year, according to the report published on www.cncotton.com, a website operated by the China National Cotton Reserves Corp.
Market participants said China's rising imports in recent months are attracted by lower global prices of the high-quality cotton, most of which goes into state reserves, causing shortages in local market. On Thursday the NY cotton futures settled higher on investor buying sparked mainly by news that China bought a large amount of cotton to replenish official stocks, analysts said.
The key December cotton contract on ICE Futures US increased 2.32 cents or by 2.4 percent to finish at 99.50 cents per lb, moving from 96.81 to $1.0078. Total volume traded on Thursday hit around 38,400 lots, which would be the highest since early June and more than double the 30-day norm, preliminary Thomson Reuters data and ICE Futures US data showed.
The following deals were reported: 200 bales of cotton from Sultanabad at Rs 3700, 800 bales of cotton from Khan Pur at Rs 4850-5000, 600 bales from Jahanian at Rs 5500, 400 bales from Faqir Wali at Rs 5300, 400 bales from Layyah at Rs 5500-5600, 800 bales from Rajan Pur at Rs 5500-5600, 600 bales of cotton from Jalal Pur at Rs 5400-5500, 500 bales from Sahiwal at Rs 5300-5500, 400 bales of cotton from Shujabad at Rs 5400-5500 and 600 bales of cotton from Bahawal Nagar at Rs 5200-5300.
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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"
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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 10.11.2011
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37.324 kg 5,450 130 5,580 5,580 NIL
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Equivalent
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40 kgs 5,841 130 5,971 5,971 NIL
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