KARACHI, April 25: Trading activity on the cotton market on Thursday remained slow as spinners and mills kept to the sidelines apparently awaiting fresh developments on the referendum front.

Most leading floor brokers feel that physical trading may not pick up until the referendum deadline as spinners are in two minds whether or not to go all-out for the floating stock at the prevailing lower levels.

The general perception is that prices could ease further as the holding capacity of ginners is fading out in each selling amid falling mill demand and worries of bank dues.

Financially sound ginners are least worried over the absence of spinners for the last couple of sessions, notably those preceding the referendum and are firmly holding on to their positions on the perception that they have to be back in the market sooner or later.

But most worried are those whose holding capacity is not that strong and want to clear bank dues well time before the start of the new crop sowing.

However, they are certainly worried over the reports of higher new crop plantation owing to an improvement in the flow of irrigation water to the Sindh cotton belt.

New crop cotton sowing on about 8m acres is expected to resume by the middle of the next month as one month’s period between May 15 and June 15 is considered best for a healthy and pest-free crop.

Meanwhile, the emphasis is being laid on contamination-free cotton from the sowing to picking stage with a view to earn more foreign exchange through exports of lint and value-added textiles.

Official spot rates were again held unchanged at the previous levels but the New York cotton futures resisted fresh decline on revival of speculative demand followed by reports of lower US acreage under the new crop and rebounded to finish sharply higher by 1.40 and 0.91 cents per lb for both the ruling May and the forward July settlements at 35.75 and 37.17 cents per lb respectively.

Ready business was light as till late in the evening about 1,500 bales changed hands as reported by Naseem Usman, Secretary of Karachi Brokers Association.

TCP also reported that it has purchased another 1,200 bales from various stations on April 24 at Rs1,855 per maund.