August 31, 2002	Saturday	Karachi, Jamadi-us-Saani 21, 1423

KARACHI, Aug 30: Cotton prices on Friday eased further as ginners were not inclined to hold on to their surplus stocks and indulged in renewed selling in a bid to keep their statistical positions in order.

Floor brokers said the recent pick up in arrivals of phutti into the ginneries and spot sales of phutti even at the lower levels by the farmers forced ginners to make ready as well forward sales of lint to cover their risks.

Hasty selling by both the ginners and the growers have caused the recent price decline and some brokers claim there could be further pruning in the coming sessions as the panic has already gripped the tillers of land.

“The market may remain unsettled followed by conflicting reports about the size of crop,” they say, adding “but the pace of arrivals of phutti into the ginneries reflects another bumper crop is around.”

What is more disturbing is that prices of fine type of lint from the central Punjab cotton belt are falling each session and are quoted at par with its Sindh counterpart.

In normal market conditions, the Punjab lint is sold at a premium of Rs50 to Rs100 per maund because of its medium long staple length as compared to lower and central Sindh lint.

Market sources said bearish trend on the international cotton markets, including the New York Cotton Exchange, was influencing the local market, which of late responded bullishly to reports of damage to crop in China during the early August rain and floods.

But higher local crop ideas seem to be working against the underlying sentiment, seldom allowing the consolidation market forces to play an effective to role in keeping the price trend orderly based on supply and demand factors, they added.

Proceedings on the export front remained fairly steady as the private sector exporter registered fresh export contracts for 1,176 bales, sold to Indonesia with the Export Promotion Bureau on Aug 28.

Official spot rates were quoted further lower by Rs50 per maund in line with the falling prices in physical trading.

New York cotton futures failed to hold on to their overnight gains and fell by 0.23 and 0.12 cents per lb at 45.00 and 46.78 cents for both the ruling October and the distant December settlements, respectively.

Ready offtake was modest as till late in the evening about 4,000 bales changed hands as under:

SINDH TYPE: 600 bales of Tando Adam at R2,050; 400 bales, Mirpurkhas at Rs2,050; 200 bales, Sultanabad at Rs2,000; and 200 bales of Sanghar also at Rs2,000.

PUNJAB VARIETY: 1,500 bales of Samundri at Rs2,050; 200 bales, Chishtian at Rs2,050; and 200 bales of Burewala also at the same rate.