September 10, 2002	Tuesday	Rajab 2, 1423

KARACHI, Sept 9: Active trading was witnessed on the cotton market on Monday as spinners and mills lifted all the lots offered below Rs2,000 per maund by the lower and central Sindh ginners.

Price movements were highly erratic as after falling to Rs1,925 per maund at one stage, they fluctuated between Rs1,950 to Rs1,990 later.

Bulk of the physical business again remained confined to the Sindh variety apparently for quality reasons and competitive prices, while spinners appear to be not that keen for the Punjab despite the fact that it is available at the same rates.

However, a leading broker claim that a big deal of 10,000 bales from a central Punjab ginnery is in the final stage, breaking the current lull on the Punjab lint front.

“The market appears to be a range-bound”, he says adding “spinners withdrew to the sidelines after prices rose above the Rs2,000 level and re-enter the market when they fall below this level”.

Most of the deals in the Sindh NIAB variety were finalized between Rs1,925 on the lower side and Rs1,990 on the higher side depending the quality in trade.

Floor brokers said the interesting feature was that unlike previous sessions, most of the ginners are not inclined to hold on to their positions and try to get out of them mostly around their parity levels.

“There are fears among the ginners that prices could fall from the current average rates if any of the weaker links among them indulge in hasty selling in the coming sessions”, they added.

Meanwhile, arrivals of phutti into the lower and Sindh ginneries as well as in the central Punjab cotton belt remained fairly steady as growers too are not inclined to hold on to their positions and selling phutti at the spot rates claimed to be well above the official support prices.

Official spot rates were upped by Rs50 per maund in line with Saturday’s ready prices but in Monday’s dealing they were a bit lower.

Ready business was active as till late in the evening about 7,000 bales changed hands as under:

SINDH VARIETY: 1,000 bales, Mirpurkhas at Rs1,950, 1,400 bales, Shahdadpur at Rs1,975, 400 bales, at Rs1,990, 800 bales, Tando Adam at Rs1,975, 200 bales, Sarari at Rs1,950, 200 bales, Sultanabad at Rs1,925, 200 bales, Tando Allayar at Rs1,940, 400 bales, Jhole at Rs1,975, 200 bales, Kotri at Rs1,975, 200 bales, Hyderabad at Rs1,950, 500 bales, Sanghar at Rs1,975 and 600 bales, Khipro at Rs1,965.

PUNJAB TYPE: 200 bales, Mungi Banglow at Rs2,000 and 200 bales, Burewala at Rs2,025.