Official spot rate recovered more ground on the cotton market on Saturday in the process of tight supply of quality lint, dealers said. The official spot rate was higher by Rs 50 to Rs 5,550 dealers said. In the Punjab, seed-cotton prices were at Rs 3000 and Rs 3200, they said. In the ready business, around 2000 bales of cotton changed hands between Rs 5350 and Rs 5800, they said.
According to the market sources not a single dealers was ready to sell at the present levels in expectations of rise in prices. Cotton analyst, Naseem Usman said that sudden rise in the global market caused panic buying of cotton in the domestic market. It seems prices may go up further in the coming days, he added.
Reuters adds: Cotton futures settled lower on Friday for the second straight session, as the dollar strengthened and investors took profits, but cotton still registered the highest weekly gain in about eight months.
China will start annual cotton sales set to occur from May to August, in order to reduce its massive state reserves down to a "reasonable level," the country's state planner said last week. The July cotton contract on ICE Futures US settled down 0.32 cent, or 0.50 percent, at 63.69 cents per lb. The contract traded within a range of 62.88 and 64.02 cents a lb. The contract ended the week up 6.1 pct, the biggest weekly gain since the week of August 14.
Total futures market volume fell by 13,847 to 30,209 lots. Data showed total open interest fell 295 to 189,644 contracts in the previous session. The dollar index was up 0.55 percent. The Thomson Reuters CoreCommodity CRB Index, which tracks 19 commodities, was down 0.12 percent. Speculators switched to their first net long position in cotton contracts on ICE Futures US since early February, US government data showed on Friday.
The following deals reported: 400 bales from Layyah at Rs 5350, same number from Rahim Yar Khan at Rs 5700, same number from Jalalpur at the same level, 600 bales from Dera Gazi Khan at Rs 5750 and 200 bales from Rajanpur at Rs 5800, they said.
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The KCA Official Spot Rate for Local Dealings in Pakistan 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 22-04-2016
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37.324 kg 5,550 135 5,685 5,635 +50
Equivalent
40 kgs 5,948 145 6,093 6,039 +54
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