Prices moved cautiously on the cotton market on Saturday amid post-holiday session, dealers said. "The official spot rate was unchanged at Rs 6900. Prices of seed cotton in Sindh per 40 kg (low type) fell by Rs 300 to Rs 2200 while the best quality gained Rs 50 to Rs 3000. In Punjab rates were at Rs 2800-3000. In the ready session, around 6,000 bales of cotton changed hands between at Rs 7000-7050," they said.
Some millers and spinners did buying for urgent needs but were waiting for Phutti arrival figures by the Pakistan Cotton Ginners Association (PCGA), they said. According to the market sources, a yarn exhibition will be held in China within a couple of days and a number of Pak millers along with other countries would participate in the event. It is also expected that Pakistan will manage to achieve the desired purpose.
Pakistan is facing some tough time due to high rates of products in the competitive global market because the cost of doing business in Pakistan is so high and risky in the absence of basic needs. After devaluation of the Pak rupee, exports should go up, but it looked not possible due to said reason, said cotton analyst Naseem Usman.
Chinese and Indian items were more attractive in the international market against Pak products, therefore it was high time for local exporters to improve the quality of export items, which would help country to fetch foreign exchange reserves, he added.
Sharing the same views, other experts said Pakistan needed approximately 76.19 billion dollars to pay off debt to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) therefore the government must help exporters particularly in textile sector to get the desired target for the current year. "We have to be serious about the surging of import bills, which is wiping out the aim of achieving debt and loan for the country. Usually, loans are being spent on the uneconomic projects or non-development works in the country. In this regard, the less production of electricity is the best example, but still we could not create alternative way to meet the power demand," they said.
"We are losing world competitive market just because of rulers' failure in overcoming the economic and political crises despite having a lot of natural resources and showering of aid from friendly countries," they said. According to the Reuters, the New York cotton futures suffered their largest losses in nine sessions on Friday, as harvest pressures powered speculator selling.
The most-active December cotton contract on ICE Futures US closed down 0.71 cent or 0.8 percent, at 83.11 cents a lb, after hitting an intraday high of 84.40 cents. The December contract's discount to March prices widened to 1.21 cent a lb from 1.13 cent previously, as certified stock levels have climbed. The following deals were reported as 2,000 bales of cotton from Khair Pur sold at Rs 7000, 1,200 bales from Khair Pur (BCI) at Rs 7050, 600 bales from Upper Sindh at Rs 7000, 1,000 bales from Burewala at Rs 7000 and 600 bales from Haroonabad at Rs 7000-7050, they added.
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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 14.10.2013
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37.324 Kgs 6,900 155 7,055 7,055 NIL
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Equivalent
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40 Kgs 7,395 155 7,550 7,550 NIL
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