KARACHI: The Spot Rate Committee of the Karachi Cotton Association on Wednesday increased the spot rate by Rs 200 per maund and closed it at Rs 14700 per maund.

The Spot Rate Committee of the Karachi Cotton Association on Wednesday increased the spot rate by Rs 200 per maund and closed it at Rs 14700 per maund. The rate of polyester fiber was increased by Rs 2 per kg and was available at Rs 242 per kg.

Cotton Analyst Naseem Usman told Business Recorder that the local cotton market remained bullish and trading volume remained satisfactory.

The rate of cotton in Sindh is in between Rs 12000 to Rs 14800 per maund and the rate of cotton in Punjab is in between Rs 14500 to Rs 15000 per maund.

The rate of the new crop of Phutti in Sindh was in between Rs 4500 to Rs 6200 per 40 Kg. The rate of Phutti in Punjab is in between Rs 5600 to Rs 6700 per 40 Kg. The rate of Banola in Sindh is in between Rs 14000 to Rs 2000 per maund. The rate of Banola in Punjab is in between Rs 2000 to Rs 2300 per maund. The rate of cotton in Balochistan is in between Rs 13800- 14800 per maund. The rate of Phutti in Balochistan is Rs 6000- 7500 per maund.

400 bales of Dherki, 600 bales of Sadiqabad, 3000 bales of Rahim Yar Khan, 600 bales of Khan Pur, 400 bales of Mir Pur Mathelo were sold at Rs 15000 per maund, 2000 bales of Khair Pur were sold at Rs 14000 to Rs 14400 per maund, 100 bales of Rohri were sold at Rs 14200 to Rs 14400 per maund and 1200 bales of Mian Wali were sold at Rs 14650 to Rs 14700 per maund.

ICE cotton futures rose on Tuesday as the dollar weakened, with stronger grains and oil markets further supporting the natural fiber.

The cotton contract for December was up 0.80 cents, or 0.8%, at 107.87 cents per lb by 12:55 EDT (1655 GMT). It traded within a range of 105.25 to 108.3 cents an lb. Total futures market volume fell by 7,509 to 18,308 lots. Data showed total open interest fell by 728 to 284,900 contracts in the previous session.

The Cotton Crop Assessment Committee (CCAC) in September 2021 had revised downward the cotton production target by 19.5 percent, ie, from 10.5 million bales set for 2021-22 to 8.46 million bales, after missing the sowing target by 13.4 percent.

However, later in October 2021, the CCAC revised upward, the crop production to 9.374 million bales for the crop season 2021-22.

The sowing target was set at 2.310 million hectares; however, cotton was sown on 1.871 million hectares i.e. 83.2 percent of the sowing target was achieved.

According to official documents, Punjab cultivated cotton on 1.279 million hectares against the target of 1.610 million hectares, i.e., missed by around 21 percent. Sindh was projected to cultivate cotton on 0.640 million hectares, but 93 percent target was achieved, ie, 0.592 million hectares were cultivated.

Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) and Balochistan were projected to cultivate cotton on 0.0022 million hectares and 0.070 million hectares, respectively. Federal Minister for National Food Security and Research, Syed Fakhar Imam, said that the total cotton arrivals as of October15, 2021 was 5.208 million bales, which are 94 percent higher than the arrivals on the same date last year.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2021