May 1, 2003	Thursday	Safar 28, 1424

KARACHI, April 30: Cotton market on Wednesday showed quiet trend as both buyers and sellers keenly watched the SARS-related panic selling on major world trading centres but held on to their positions.

The echoes of the crash of the New York cotton future market sent shock waves among the ginners here though they did not react in a haste, brokers said.

But there was a wave of optimism among the spinners as cheaper world lint could enhance their competitiveness on the world markets for their value-added textiles.

Over the last two sessions, New York cotton futures have declined by about four cents per lb for both the May and the July settlements on panic selling caused by lower demand from two of the major importers of cotton, China and Hong Kong because of SARS.

However, there is no negative fallout of the recent panic on the world markets on the local market because of a short crop, although mill demand has fallen to a modest proportions amid hopes of cheaper imports, dealers said.

If the ginners had a larger unsold stock of lint with them there has been an identical panic and prices would have fallen from the current higher levels, said brokers.

They said the current developments on the world markets has intensified export demand of the commodity in the Far Eastern trading centres and local private sector exporters claim a flood of enquiries from them.

On the export front, private sector exporters have sold 2,975 bales more to Bangladesh and Indonesia, the total export upto April 29 being 0.182m bales including 54,148 bales of the old crop.

Physical shipments of the new crop amounted to 95,646 bales upto April 23 against the forward sales of 0.128m bales for the same period.

Official spot rates remained basically unchanged from the overnight level at Rs2,535.00 per maund but in the ready section a stray deal was reported well above this rate.

New York cotton futures remained under pressure and suffered fresh sharp fall of 1.45 and 1.37 cents per lb at 54.30 and 56.01 for both the ruling May and the distant July contracts respectively.

Ready offtake was slow as till late in the evening a sole deal of 500 bales was reported at Rs2,550.00 per maund, without 15 per cent sales tax.