07 July 2004	Wednesday	18 Jamadi-ul-Awwal 1425

KARACHI, July 6: Cotton market on Tuesday lacked normal trading interest as ginners and spinners were locked in a price war, but it appears to be a no-win situation for the former.

Spinners did enter the market at will and lift only those lots, which fall in line with their export parity levels. However, some of them who are chiefly catering to the needs of the local ancillary are making modest covering purchase mostly of inferior lots to spin lower counts of cotton yarn, brokers said.

They said although unsold stock of fine lots are dwindling as some of the leading spinner groups had already cornered bulk of it but those who still hold stray lots are worried over the standoff.

Some of the leading spinners, which needed fresh supplies to see the current season, ending on Aug 31, through are awaiting the arrival of the new crop as they need fine lots to cover their forward sales of fine counts of cotton yarn, they said.

The price of new crop both from the lower Sindh and the central Punjab cotton where some of the ginners have reportedly resumed their new season operations on a modest scale are quoting it around Rs2,850 per maund for ready delivery, market sources said.

Although picking operations in some of the areas of the lower Sindh cotton belt have been suspended because of recent rain, in other areas where the cotton fields have dried up the operation has resumed.

New crop phutti is trickling into the ginneries but lower Sindh ginners have not resumed their ginning operations under the directive of the Pakistan Cotton Ginners Association.

The Sindh ginners are expected to resume operations from Aug 15, in an effort to give a breathing space to those who still hold unsold stocks of the current crop, ginners said.

Official spot rates for the second session in a row did not show any change in the absence of ready deals. Ready offtake was modest as only 200 bales of low-mic from Dadu changed hands at Rs2,400 per maund.