January 29, 2003	Wednesday	Ziqa’ad 25,1423

KARACHI, Jan 28: Cotton prices on Tuesday remained stable as ginners indulged in selective selling amid predictions of pressure on supplies in the coming weeks. Ready offtake was, therefore, only a couple of thousands bales for the second session in a row.

“We are eyeing future price outlook on the world markets”, ginners say commenting on their selective selling despite strong mill demand at the current levels “prices are expected to rise owing to global shortage of the commodity”.

Spinners are also not sitting idle, they said “they also have a fair idea of world supplies and demand and are acting accordingly”.

A big deal of 1,200 bales at Rs2,350 per maund on one-month credit is reflective of spinner perceptions about the future price outlook but “it appears a bit difficult to rope in all the ginners”, they said.

A considerable slowdown in the ready business over the last couple of sessions indicates that ginners are also fully aware of the developing situation on the cotton front and have curtailed their daily selling.

Floor brokers said the future market trend will be largely guided by phutti arrival figures for the fortnight ending Jan 31, as they will gave a fair idea of the total crop and its likely impact on the ready prices.

But for the time being the ginners and the spinners are maintaining a status quo and most of the deals are being finalized in line with the quality premiums.

Meanwhile, reports coming from the central Punjab cotton belt show that some of the ginning factories have closed down as there is no phutti to be processed. However, in the southern Punjab and upper Sindh most of the factories are operating in full capacity.

On the export front, private sector exporters remained active and made forward deals for another 5,853 bales sold to Indonesia and Bangladesh, according to official figures. The total also included 2,500 bales of Afzal type of lint cotton.

Official spot rates were again firmly held at the last levels but on the other hand New York cotton futures posted fresh modest gains of 0.27 cents each at 50.58 and 54.60 cents per lb for both the ruling March and the distant May settlements respectively.

Ready business was light as till late in the evening about 8,000 bales changed hands, the following being some of the notable deals:

SINDH VARIETY: 200 bales, each Dadu and Chundko at Rs2,175, 400 bales, Kumb at Rs2,165, 600 bales, Saleh Pat at Rs2,275, 200 bales each Gambat and Khanpur Mehar at Rs2,250 and 1,200 bales, upper Sindh at Rs2,350 on one-month credit.

PUNJAB TYPE: 400 bales, Rahimyar Khan at Rs2,250, 1,000 bales, each Lodhran and D.G.Khan at Rs2,225 to Rs2,250.