January 8, 2003	Wednesday	Ziqa’ad 4, 1423

KARACHI, Jan 7: Active trading was witnessed on the cotton market on Tuesday after spinners and mills resumed their normal new year buying at the prevailing prices and ginners appear to be willing sellers.

Although in physical dealings most of the deals were finalized around the previous levels, with fine lots being traded as higher as Rs2,200 per maund, the official rate committee has, to the surprise of spinners, lowered the spot rates by Rs50, creating some problems for the mills relating to their deposits margins against the overdraft limits.

The rate committee may well have sound reasons to lower the average spot rates after having taken into consideration the quality-wise rates for both the inferior and the fine varieties, dealers said.

But in physical trading late on Monday evening most of the deal on an average were done around Rs2,125, with fine lots fetching the average price of Rs2,150.

Ginners said the recent increase in phutti prices had reduced “our profit margins as growers are not inclined to sell an average quality of phutti below Rs1,000 per 40 kg.” Inferior stuff is available between Rs800 and Rs900 per 40 kg.

Leading among them are still keeping bulk of their stocks in the ginneries on an unfixed basis apparently in anticipation of further increase in prices toward the fag-end of the picking season, they added.

According to reports reaching here, ginners are asking the leading growers to fix price of their unsold stocks as the quality of phutti gets damaged if it is not proper stored.

But in the ginneries heaps of phutti are kept under the open sky without any sheds as ginners have not made proper storing facilities, market sources said.

Official spot rates were lowered to Rs2,100 per maund, while New York cotton futures were marked down by 0.54 and 0.37 cents per lb at 51.08 and 54.73 cents per lb for both the ruling March and the distant May contracts, respectively.

Ready business was on the higher side totalling about 30,000 bales including some big deals of 3,000 to 6,000 bales, went to the credit of leading spinner groups.

SINDH VARIETY: 3,200, 3,500, 3,000, 2,000 and 1,800 bales, of K-68 Sawging, Dharki, Gothki, Mirpur Mathelo, Pano Akil, and Khairpur at Rs2,150; 300 and 100 bales, Sanghar at Rs1,900 and Rs1,950, respectively.

PUNJAB VARIETY: 6,000 bales of Rahimyar Khan at Rs2,150; 3,000 bales, Sadiqabad at Rs2,150; 1,000 bales, D.G. Khan at Rs2,075 to Rs2,100; 400 bales, Bahawalpur at Rs2,200 and 2,000 bales at Rs2,150; 500 bales, Haroonabad at Rs2,125; and 1,000 bales from Khanewal at Rs2,100.