04 September 2004	Saturday	18 Rajab 1425

KARACHI, Sept 3: Cotton market on Friday shrugged off the overnight easiness as leading ginners held onto their positions and did not sell at the lower rates.

Trading was light as spinners curtailed their daily intake owing to higher asking prices. There was, therefore, no trace of the overnight panic as the ginners who upset the stable price trend after indulging in hasty selling on Thursday toed the line of their counterparts, brokers said.

Most of the deals were, therefore, finalized higher by Rs50 to Rs100 per maund depending on the quality of lint, and some of the ginners were expecting further increase in prices, they added.

"Price war between the ginners and the spinners has just started", says a leading broker adding "it may not be a no-win situation but much will depend on the holding capacity of the former".

Next couple of weeks could be very crucial for the cotton trade as by that picking operations of phutti will resume in the major growing areas, notably Upper Sindh and Southern Punjab cotton belts, they said.

The size of the phutti arrivals into the ginneries and rates will set the trend for the future price outlook, they added. Initial crop surveys carried out by the private and agencies indicate the condition of the crop is good and total production could be in line with the original estimates.

"The satisfying feature is that there are no reports of pest attacks on the standing crop in any of the areas so far owing to warm weather in the entire cotton belt", they said.

Spinners were, however, not inclined to take even a calculated risk and were remain active buyers irrespective of the asking prices as no one among them was inclined to repeat the tragic story of the last season.

Spinners had to import about 2.3m bales during the last season to make up the local crop shortfall as much higher rates, which eroded their competitive edge on the world textile markets, dealers said.

Official spot rates were quoted lower by Rs25 in line with the overnight fall and may be revised upward on Saturday. New York cotton futures on the other hand showed modest rise of 0.60 and 0.67 cents at 54.00 and 54.58 cents per lb respectively.

Ready off-take was light as till late in the evening about 5,000 bales, changed hands, the following being some of the notable deals: 1,6000 bales, Tando Adam at Rs2,400 to Rs2,425, 200 bales, Shahdadpur at Rs2,425, 200 bales, Tnado Allahyar at Rs2,375, 200 bales at Rs2,350 and 200 bales, Khdro at Rs2,400. Prices of Punjab lint were quoted around Rs2,325 to Rs2,350 amid light trading.