KARACHI: The Spot Rate on Tuesday remained unchanged at Rs 17500 per maund amid improved trading activity. The Spot Rate remained unchanged at Rs 17500 per maund. The Polyester Fiber was available at Rs 250 per kg.
Cotton Analyst Naseem Usman told that market remained stable and the trading volume remained low. He also told that that rate of quality cotton rate reached at the highest level of Rs 18000 per maund while the rate of Phutti reached at Rs 8800 per 40 kg.
He said rate of cotton in Sindh remained between Rs 14500 to Rs 18000 per maund and the rate of cotton in Punjab was registered at Rs 16400 to Rs 18000 per maund. The rate of the new crop of Phutti in Sindh was remained between Rs 5500 to Rs 7,900 per 40 kg. While Phutti prices in Punjab were between Rs 5,800 to Rs 8400 per 40 kg.
Similarly, prices of cotton in Balochistan were remained at Rs 14500 to 16,500 per maund while Phutti prices were high as compared to other two provinces which were Rs 6,300 to 8800 per maund, said Naseem Usman. The rate of Banola in Sindh was in between Rs 1,350 to Rs 2200 per maund. While in Punjab rates of Banola were in between Rs 1,650 to Rs 2,200 per maund.
As many as 2000 bales of Dherki, 1400 bales of Rahim Yar Khan were sold at Rs 18000 per maundm 400 bales of Sarkand were sold at Rs 16000 per maund, 600 bales of Marrot were sold at Rs 16450 to Rs 16600 per maund, 1800 bales of Faqeer Wali were sold at Rs 196500 per maund, 2400 bales of Haroonabad were sold at Rs 16400 to Rs 16500 per maund and 2000 bales of Yazman Mandi were sold at Rs 16500 per maund, 1200 bales of Fort Abbas were sold at Rs 16470 per maund.
USDA’s November WASDE gave us very modest tightening in the 2021/22 crop balance sheet for world cotton. The new crop world numbers started off with roughly a million fewer bales in beginning stocks, mostly in India (-800,000) and Pakistan (-300,000). World production was raised 1.5 million bales, month-over-month, mostly in Brazil (+700,000), Australia (+600,000), Pakistan (+200,000) and the US (+200,000). The world trade categories were raised less than 200,000 bales each compared to October. World consumption was raised 700,000 bales, mostly in India (+300,000), Pakistan (+200,000), Bangladesh (+100,000) and Mexico (+100,000). The bottom line was that world ending stocks were a very modest 200,000 bales higher, month-over-month, which is fundamentally price neutral in the monthly adjustment.
The US new crop picture saw only a few, mostly expected adjustments. Forecasted US cotton production was raised 200,000 bales, owing to a nine-pound increase in harvested yield per acre (to 880 pounds per acre). The month-over-month increase in production was spread across seven states, with Texas accounting for half of it. As in September and October, the basis for the yield adjustment was NASS’s objective yield field sampling, which in Texas involved 595 samples of 40 feet of row, counting bolls of various maturity (excluding small bolls). There were no adjustments to U.S. domestic use or exports, so the increase in production went straight to the bottom line, reducing ending stocks to 3.4 million bales. Both the month-over-month and year-over-year implications of this outcome are price neutral.
The minimalist monthly adjustments in this report were anticipated in the normal pre-report surveys. So, there was no reason to expect a strongly bullish reaction in ICE cotton futures. But curiously, that is precisely what happened following the report’s release on November 9. Why the intraday price rally? The reasons offered in the farm media include speculative buying in response to expectations of generally rising prices (i.e., inflation), and speculative buying to squeeze the relatively large number of commercials holding short positions. These motivations to buy cotton futures may continue, although the additional speculative expectation of uncertain US production should be a fading influence.
There is also a historically large inversion in ICE cotton futures, with the ICE Dec’21 trading nine cents above the Jul’22 contract. The simple interpretation of this condition is that there is either excess near-term demand and/or tighter near-term supply compared to six months from now. In other words, the market signal is that these historically strong prices are temporary.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2021