A kind of firmness prevailed on the cotton market on Thursday as mills showed interest in fresh buying of lint, dealers said. The official spot rate was unchanged at Rs 8750, they added. In ready session, over 11,000 bales of cotton changed hands between Rs 7900-9000, they said.

Rates of seed cotton per 40kg in Sindh were at Rs 3300-4200 and in the Punjab prices were at Rs 3600-4200, they said. In Balochistan, seed cotton prices were up by Rs 100 at Rs 4100-4600 and cotton prices were at Rs 8700-8900, they said.

In Sindh, Binola prices per maund were at Rs 1550-1650 and in Punjab rates were at Rs 1450-1550, they said and adding that polyester fibre was at Rs 187.

Market sources said that mills were ready to purchase cotton at both the lower and higher rates. Cotton analyst, Naseem Usman said that it looks that prices may maintain present levels or go up slightly in days to come. Short supply of fine cotton, propelling mills to cover forward buying, he added.

Adds Reuters: Cotton prices climbed as much as 1.7% on Wednesday as market sentiment improved after a report said top consumer China might agree to a partial deal with the United States to end the prolonged trade conflict between the two countries.

The most active cotton contract on ICE Futures US, the second-month December futures, was up 0.49 cent, or 0.8%, at 61.81 cents per lb as of 1:13 p.m. EDT (1713 GMT). Total futures market volume fell by 7,400 to 15,742 lots. Data showed total open interest gained 364 to 236,328 contracts in the previous session.

The following deals reported: 1000 bales of cotton from Tando Adam at Rs 7900, 400 bales from Sakrand at Rs 8560, 400 bales from Rohri at Rs 8700, 800 bales from Mirpur Mathelo at Rs 8900, 1000 bales from Khairpur at Rs 8700, 1200 bales from Mianwali at Rs 8950/9000, 1400 bales from Rahim Yar Khan at Rs 8900/8950, 400 bales from Lodhran at Rs 9000, 400 bales from Rajanpur at Rs 8900, 200 bales from Taunsa Shareef at Rs 8900, 400 bales from Danga Bonga at Rs 8900, 200 bales from Fort Abbas at Rs 8875, 400 bales from Layyah at Rs 8650/8850, 200 bales from Burewala at Rs 8725, 400 bales from Vehari at Rs 8725, 400 bales from Kot Addu at Rs 8900 and 400 bales from Khanewal at Rs 8850, 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 09-10-2019
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37.324 kg         8,750       160        8,910         8,910            NIL
Equivalent
40 kgs            9,377       171        9,548         9,548            NIL
===========================================================================

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