28 April 2004	Wednesday	07 Rabi-ul-Awwal 1425

KARACHI, April 27: Cotton market on Tuesday showed firm trend as spinners were not inclined to take even a technical pause and lifted all the lots offered by the ginners at the higher asking prices.

"The market is heating up as supply and demand factors appear to be now at work", says a broker adding "spinners and mills are out to grab the floating stock lying with the ginners irrespective of asking prices".

The market seems to be heading to its last year's mid-December price level of well over Rs3,000 per maund as the perception of expensive foreign lint has left mills with no option but to rely on the local stuff at least for the near-term, he adds.

Some of the deals for fine lots were finalized at the two-month peak level of Rs3,050 and some other ginners believe "now is their turn to set the future market direction". Having fair crop idea, spinners are not inclined to await decline in prices as ginners are now in a driving seat and are in a position to sell their unsold stock at their asking prices.

Although final crop figures up to May 1, are still about a week away, but spinners say the figure of 10m bales may not be touched and they have to bridge the supply gap through further imports.

According to official sources leading spinner groups have so far imported a million bales and more consignments are claimed to be on their way. "The lint import figure is expected to touch the high mark of 2m bales in the absence of a buffer stock", cotton analysts said adding that "it may add to the production cost of textiles and the allied export problems".

Because of a massive Rs55bn expansion and modernization programme carried out by the textile industry during the last couple of years, the mill intake of lint had soared to 12m bales plus as against the local production of average 10m bales, they said.

Official spot rates were held unchanged but may be upped on Wednesday in line with higher rates at which physical business was finalized. Ready offtake was moderately active as till late in the evening about 8,000 bales changed hands, the following being some of the notable deals:

SINDH TYPE: 1,000 bales, Bucheri at Rs2,850 and 1,000 bales, Nawabshah also at the same rate.

PUNJAB VARIETY: 2,000 bales, Burewala at Rs3,000 to Rs3,025, 200 bales, Kachha Khou at Rs3,025, 200 bales, Khanewal at Rs3,050, 500 bales, Ahmedpur East at Rs3,000 and 400 bales, inferior quality, Gojra at Rs2,100.