07 January 2004	Wednesday	14 Ziqa'ad 1424

KARACHI, Jan 6: The cotton market on Tuesday finished on a steady note followed by active mill buying at the falling prices late on Monday evening and lifted all the lots offered for sale by the ginners.

In overnight dealings most of the deals were finalized between Rs3,000 and Rs3,350 depending on quality of lint, but late on Tuesday evening prices rose from the previous lower levels and most of the deals were done at around Rs3,200 to Rs3,350 per maund.

The decline in prices was attributed to reports of larger imports by the spinners and mills from various sources, including India, says a leading broker, adding "after having purchased about 0.150m bales, some of the spinners are still in India probing supply sources at a competitive prices."

Local prices should have fallen further on ginner selling caused by above market arrivals of phutti into the ginneries for the fortnight ended on Dec 31, but higher New York opening changed the entire price outlook.

The ginners held on to their positions rather than indulging in fresh selling on the perception that higher world prices will make import more expensive and the spinners and mills will prefer to buy from the local market rather than opting for the foreign lint, brokers said.

However, one thing is clear that the cotton situation remains uncertain amid conflicting reports about the possible supply gap and import commitments by the spinners and mills, they said.

According to market sources, the spinners had made forward buying of about 0.7m bales from various countries, shipments against which were already arriving in line with the shipment schedules.

But as far as the local prices are concerned they are not influenced adversely by the import figures and are generally guided by the supply and demand figures. They may rise from the current level but may fall as reports of a short crop will continue to keep the ginners in a positive mood sans panic selling, they added.

Official spot rates were marked down by Rs75 per maund in line with overnight decline in prices in the ready section but are expected to be increased on Wednesday.

New York cotton futures on the other hand ruled higher as both the ruling March and the forward May contracts were quoted higher by 0l73 and 0.74 cents per lb at 75.80 and 76.87 cents per lb, respectively.

Ready offtake was active as till late in the evening about 25,000 bales changed hands late on Monday evening, the following being some of the notable deals:

SINDH VARIETY: 1,000 bales, Sanghar at Rs2,950 to Rs3,000; 1,000 bales, Shadadpur at Rs3,050; 400 bales of Daur, 200 bales of Bucheri, and 800 bales of Sarhari at Rs3,100; 200 bales, Shahpur Chakkar at Rs3,150; 6,000 bales, upper Sindh at Rs3,350.

PUNJAB TYPE: 1,400 bales, Khanpur at Rs3.350; 1,800 bales, Rahimyar Khan at Rs3,100 to Rs3,350; 1,000 bales, Sadiqabad at Rs3,200 to Rs3,250; 1,000 bales, each from Chistian and Alipur at Rs3,100; and 1,000 bales, Mian Channu at Rs3,030 to Rs3,100.