KARACHI, Sept 20: Cotton prices on Friday showed highly erratic movements as quality-conscious spinners were inclined to pay more for the premium lots and neglected the inferior stuff.

The Sindh type fetched the highest price at Rs2,000 for fine lots, while inferior stuff was sold as low as Rs1,925 per maund without 15 per cent sales tax, dealers said.

However, Sindh ginners appear to be in no hurry to sell inferior lots and held them as unsold stock until exporters re-enter the market and lift them.

Spinners attributed the difference of Rs75 per maund in the selling prices to low micronaire of those lots which have low mic and higher rates for those which conform to their export quality standards.

“The start of the quality war is too early as the peak season is yet to come,” one ginner said, adding “there are more than one reasons for the current low mic, including early and immature picking of phutti to get higher prices, but it will certainly improve during the next couple of weeks.”

They fear there could be standoff at the factory-level if the current mic war continues. As far as general quality of the lint in trade is concerned it could be claimed as average.

The worst-hit is lint from the central Punjab, which is being sold below its Sindh counterpart for the same reasons. Some of the deals in it were done slightly above the previous lows.

Reports of virus attack in some of the central Punjab cotton belt also reported to have damaged the quality of phutti as well as lint.

Ginners are awaiting the arrival of lint from the southern Punjab cotton belt known for quality and contamination-free lint as it will set the future price outlook for the entire cotton belt.

Although in physical trading most of the deals were done at the higher rates, official committee lowered spot rates by Rs10 per maund apparently in line with the Thursday prices.

New York cotton futures fell by 0.10 cents per lb for the ruling October delivery at 41.85, while the forward December ended with a fresh rise of 0.8 cents per lb at 43.98 cents.

Ready offtake was light as till late in the evening 3,000 bales changed hands, the following being some of the important deals:

SINDH VARIETY: 100 bales of Mirpurkhas at Rs1,925 and 200 bales at Rs1,950; 200 bales, Sultanabad at Rs1,925; 100 bales, Tando Adam at Rs1,980; 200 bales, Sakrand at Rs2,000; 200 bales, Shahdadpur at Rs2,000; 200 bales, Daur at Rs1,980; and 200 bales of Nawabshah at Rs2,000.