24 January 2004	Saturday	01 Zilhaj 1424

KARACHI, Jan 23: Cotton market on Friday passed through another sluggish session as both ginners and spinners held on to their respective positions and did not indulge in physical activity.

"It appears to be a no-win situation for the mills and spinners at least for the near-term," says a leading broker. "Ginners have more than one reasons to hold on to their unsold positions, while spinners are at the receiving end owing to a short crop."

According to market sources ginners are offering to sell fine lots between Rs3,300 to Rs3,350 per maund excluding 15 per cent sales tax, while spinners, keeping in view their export parity levels, entertain competitive price ideas around Rs3,200.

The tussle on the rates continued to take its toll in the form of low ready turnover each day as barring spinners and mills holding short positions are the only buyers lifting a modest number of lots from the local godowns of some of the Sindh ginners.

Floor brokers said spinners had also curtailed their daily purchases because of delivery problems and higher fares being demanded by the cargo haulers from the upcountry markets.

"Normal trading is expected to resume after the Eid holidays as by that time a fair idea of the size of the total crop will be available from the official sources," they said.

The official arrival figures due to be released by the Pakistan Cotton Ginners Association (PCGA) for the fortnight ending Jan 31, may be delayed a bit owing to holidays but will be available by the end of the first week of the next month.

Both spinners and mills are awaiting the figures as they will give a fair idea if they have to opt for more import or have enough stocks to see the current season through, dealers said.

Meanwhile, reports coming from the southern Punjab cotton belt where bulk of the unsold are lying, indicate that ginners are not inclined to lower their asking prices from the current levels.

"After having purchased phutti at an average rate of Rs1,500 per 40kg, we are already operating at break-even level and could not sell below the prevailing prices," ginners said.

Official spot rates consolidated the previous gains and were quoted around the average quality lint sold to some spinners. Ready offtake remained at a low ebb in the absence of leading spinners. As a result, about 5,000 bales changed hands, mostly from the Punjab ginneries between Rs3,100 to Rs3,325 depending on quality .