Lean business was again witnessed on the cotton market on Saturday as most of the leading buyers kept on the sidelines due to quality factor, dealers said. The official spot rate was unchanged at Rs 7300, they added. In both Sindh and Punjab, seed cotton prices were at Rs 2800-3100, they said. In the ready session, over 1000 bales of cotton changed hands between Rs 6250-7600, they said.
Cotton analyst, Naseem Usman commenting on slow business said that the buyers have almost completed their local purchasing because the ginners have no enough quality cotton to sell. The local cotton growers were facing less cotton production, besides, low quality despite high cost of production. Both Punjab and Sindh governments were not serious about the growers' interest because, the concerned department has failed in providing the fine quality cotton seeds, they added.
Because of non-availability of basic facilities, particularly good quality cotton seeds and shortage of irrigation water creating problems for growers and farmer, other experts said. Furthermore, the US-China trade war also keeping mills and spinners under pressure, they added. According to the market sources, traders and analysts were of view that the escalating US-China trade dispute is unlikely to derail the stellar run for US cotton exports this year due to robust demand, crop issues in India and lower synthetic fibre output from China.
In the international markets cotton prices showed improvement during the session, they said. The following deals were reported: 418 bales from Sadiqabad sold at Rs 7600 and 600 bales from Khanewal at Rs 6250, 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 1-1/16"
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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 06-04-2018
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37.324 kg         7,300       145         7,445        7,445            NIL
Equivalent
40 kgs            7,823       155         7,978        7,978            NIL
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