Mills indulged in fresh buying of lint on the cotton market on Wednesday in the process of improved trading activity, dealers said. The official spot rate was increased by Rs100 to Rs9150, they added. In the ready session, over 4000 bales of cotton changed hands between Rs8150-9300, they said. Rate of seed cotton per 40kg in Sindh low quality was at Rs2800, while the best quality was at Rs4200, and in the Punjab prices were at Rs3000 while the fine type was at Rs4600, they said.

In Sindh, Binola prices per maund were at Rs1400-1800, in Punjab rates were at Rs1650-1800, they said and the rate of polyester fibre was at Rs181 per kg, they added. Market sources said that upward trend in the international market propelled mills to make fresh deals to replenish their stock.

Cotton analyst, Naseem Usman said that liquidity crunch and poor cotton quality not encouraging buyers to finalise deal. So that a kind of uncertainty is prevailed on the market, other brokers observed. Adds Reuter: ICE cotton futures rose more than 1% on Tuesday following the recovery in the stock markets as concerns over major economic impact from China's corona virus outbreak eased.

Cotton contracts for March settled up 0.85 cent, or 1.2%, at 70.36 cents per lb.

Total futures market volume fell by 22,068 to 32,429 lots. Data showed total open interest gained 1,377 to 264,676 contracts in the previous session.

The following deals were reported: 400 bales from Mirpur Mathelo sold at Rs9225, 1000 bales from Fort Abbas at Rs9200-9300, 600 bales from Rahim Yar Khan at Rs9200, 200 bales from Chichawatni at Rs8150, 600 bales from Faqeerwali at Rs8700 and 1200 bales from Rajanpur at Rs8500-9300, 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  28-01-2020
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37.324 kg         9,150       160         9,310        9,210        + 100/-
Equivalent
40 kgs            9,806       171         9,977        9,870        + 107/-
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