February 8, 2002	Friday	Ziqa’ad 24, 1422

KARACHI, Feb 7: Spinners on Thursday were back in the market in a big way after ginners further lowered their asking prices to get out of the impasse of larger unsold stocks.

Most of the deals including some big lots were finalized below the recently established chart point of Rs1,600 per maund and spinners and mills lifted all the lots offered around these levels.

Some of the leading exporters were also active buyers after prices fell below the Rs1,600 levels and purchased about 2,000 bales of fine type of lint from the southern Punjab ginneries.

The interesting feature was that most of the deals were done at a uniform rate indicating buyers have decided not to violate apparently the pre-determined upper limits depending on the quality of the lint in trade.

“If the exporters have a margin after buying lint at Rs1,550, spinners may have much bigger advantage after adding value to it”, brokers say adding “exporters’ presence may have demonstrated that curtailed buying by the spinners was more tactical rather than genuine and precisely not backed by the market talk of falling yarn prices”.

However, it is a good omen for the market as resumption of buying by the mills and spinners could bail out ginners from the long unsold positions irrespective of the losses, which they may suffer in between, they add.

Ginners or growers may not be happy over the falling prices but they have no other option as the TCP failed to ensure a fair price for them at least around the officially fixed minimum rates.

One thing appear certain that hopes of a big turnaround in prices are fading each day and disappointed by the developing cotton situation in the backdrop of larger unsold stocks, ginners have decided to sell their long positions before their holding capacity further weakens.

Ready offtake was active as till late in the evening about 10,000 bales changed hands, the following being some of the notable deals:

SINDH TYPE: 400 bales, Bucheri at Rs1,600,400 bales, Bhiria at Rs1,600, 400 bales, Bhiria City at Rs1,600, 800 bales, Moro at Rs1,600, 300 bales, Kot Ghulam Muhammad at Rs1,500, and 1,600 bales, Shahdadpur at Rs1,500.

PUNJAB VARIETY: 1,200 bales, Ahmedpur East at Rs1,500, 300 bales, Bahawalpur at Rs1,525, 500 bales, at Rs1,500, 500 bales, Rahimyar Khan at Rs1,550, 1,500 bales, Sadiqabad at Rs1,550, both lots purchased by exporters and 1,300 bales, Kot Adu at Rs1,600.