Steady trend was seen on the cotton market on Thursday in the process of improved trading activity, dealers said. The official spot rate was unchanged at Rs 8300, they added. In ready session, around 8,000 bales of cotton changed hands between Rs 8400-8575, they said. Rates of seed cotton per 40 kg from Lower Sindh were at Rs 3700-4100 and in Punjab prices were at Rs 3700-4200, they said.
In Sindh, Binola per maund prices were at Rs 1450-1500 and in Punjab rates were at Rs 1500-1600, they said and adding that polyester fibre per kg rates were at Rs 205 amid better demand, they said. According to the market sources, ginners were showing some hesitance in selling of fine quality at the present rate. Slight decline in arrivals of seed cotton, propelling them to take a sideline and wait for further increase in prices, they added.
The cotton analyst, Naseem Usman said that monsoon rains are beneficial in the Punjab, but if rains continue for a long time, this factor may damage the standing crop. Adds Reuters: ICE cotton futures slumped to fresh three-year lows on Wednesday, pressured by speculative selling on the back of projections for higher output amid weaker demand for the natural fibre.
The most-active cotton contract on ICE Futures US, the second-month December contract settled down 0.57 cent, or 0.90 %, at 62.49 cents per lb. Earlier in the session, the second month contract touched 62.32 cents, its lowest since May 2016. Total futures market volume fell by 1,328 to 15,816 lots. Data showed total open interest gained 799 to 191,112 contracts in the previous session.
The following deals reported: 2400 bales of cotton from Tando Adam at Rs 8450, 200 bales from Shahdadpur at Rs 8400, 1400 bales from Sanghar at Rs 8400/8450, 400 bales from Noabad at Rs 8400, 400 bales from Hyderabad at Rs 8450, 600 bales from Kotri at Rs 8400/8450, 200 bales from Jhole at Rs 8400, 1300 bales from Chichawatni at Rs 8530/8575 and 200 bales from Haroonabad at Rs 8550, 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"
                                    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 17.07.2019
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37.324 kg         8,300       160        8,460         8,460            NIL
Equivalent
40 kgs            8,895       171        9,066         9,066            NIL
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