October 7, 2003	Tuesday	Sha’aban 10, 1424

KARACHI, Oct 6: Despite a substantial increase in arrivals of phutti during the last fortnight, spinners again indulged in panic buying amid reports of a short crop owing to late pest attack in the Punjab cotton belt.

An idea of the prevailing panic among the spinners and mills may well be had from the fact that some of the deals in the Punjab variety were finalized between Rs2,650 and Rs2,675 per maund, says a leading broker.

He said the renewed price flare-up was caused followed by reports that growers are not inclined to sell phutti below Rs1,225 per 40 kg in the Punjab cotton belt.

“The arrival of phutti into the ginneries may not have dried up but have significantly slowed down, signalling holding back of stocks by some leading growers,” market sources said.

“The cotton market is now virtually in the hand of the grower,” another claims. “His holding capacity may be limited but could immensely benefit during a short bullish trend.”

Some leading speculators are not ruling out the possibility of speculation about the size of the crop as if the arrivals of phutti up to Oct 1, taken into account, there is no basis of the current price flare-up.

Although cotton yarn prices have shown a sympathetic increase in line with the lint, it would be pretty difficult for the spinners and mills to remain competitive for their end products on the world markets, they fear.

Much of the scare about a short crop is reported from the Punjab belt while there is a relative calm in Sindh where prices are stable around the previous levels.

Dealers said how spinners will behave during the next couple of sessions will largely depend on price indicators from the Monday’s New York Cotton Exchange.

There was, however, no change in the official spot rates, while in the ready section most of the deals were done at seasonal highs.

Ready offtake was large owing to panic mill buying totalling about 20,000 bales. The following being some of the notable deals:

SINDH VARIETY: 400 bales, Mirpukhas at Rs2,500, 400 bales, Tando Allahyar at Rs2,500, 400 bales, Tando Adam at Rs2,600 and 200 bales, Sanghar also at this rate.

PUNJAB TYPE: 100 bales, each Sahiwal, Pakpattan and 200 bales, Mian Channu at Rs2,625, 100 bales, Burewala and 1,600 bales, Vehari also at Rs2,625, 600 bales, Rajanpur at Rs2,625, 1,000 bales, Haroonabad and 1,600 bales, Maddarsaha at Rs2,650 and 1,000 bales, DG Khan at Rs2,675.