August 23, 2003	Saturday	Jumadi-us-Sani 24, 1424

KARACHI, Aug 22: Cotton prices on Friday failed to extend the overnight run-up as some of the leading ginners indulged in hasty selling apparently in a bid to clear the long positions of unsold stocks.

Official reports of a bumper crop of 11.2m bales, well above the target of 9.6m bales, seem to have sent shock waves among the ginners who were holding on to their unsold stocks to maintain prices around Rs2,600 per maund at least for the next couple of weeks, sold in panic to balance their inventories, brokers said.

Steep decline in cottonseed oil and oilcakes prices was another bearish aiding factor, which brokers said, caused near-panic selling by the ginners fearing further decline in prices.

Reports of fresh rain in the Sindh cotton belt on Thursday, which will delay the picking operations of phutti for about a week failed to forestall selling stemming from the higher crop projections, dealers said.

An idea of panic prevailing among the ginners followed by two negative news, higher crop and fall in cakes prices, may well be had from the fact that some of them lowered their prices from the overnight high of Rs2,600 to Rs2,550 per maund.

Trading in the ready section resumed with a decline of Rs20 at Rs2,580 but as some of the ginners were inclined to get out of their long unsold positions and lowered their asking prices.

Although late fall in the selling offers checked further decline in prices but ginners seem to be worried over the developing situation and decided to play safe.

Dealers said buying offers from the spinners and mills were on the higher side and they lifted all the lots offered below Rs2.600, benefiting from the day’s highly erratic price movements.

Official spot rates, however, did not show any change and were firmly held at the last levels, although ready deals were done below them.

New York cotton futures, which had risen sharply during the last couple of sessions on the other hand attracted stray speculative selling and fell to close off 0.23 and 0.41 cents per lb at 55.97 and 57.29 cents per lb respectively.

Ready offtake was light as till late in the evening about 2,000 bales changed hands as under: 200 bales, Hyderabad at Rs2,550, 200 bales, Sultanabad also at the same rate, 200 bales, Sanghar at Rs2,570 and 200 bales at Rs2,580, 200 bales, Tando Adam at Rs2,575, 400 bales, Shahdadpur at Rs2,575 and 200 bales, at Rs2,600.