17 September 2004	Friday	01 Shaban 1425

KARACHI, Sept 16: Steady conditions were witnessed on the cotton market on Thursday as spinners were not inclined to take even a technical breather fearing further increase in prices.

Most of the deals in the ready section were done on an average rate of Rs2,275 and some fine lots around Rs2,300 per maund reflecting a modest increase of Rs25 as compared to overnight selling rates.

An idea of mill scramble for the floating stock may well be had from the fact that big-lot business remained the hallmark of the physical trading for the last couple of sessions, brokers said.

Spinners are out to cover their forward positions against foreign sales of both grey cloth and yarn amid reports of higher demand for the local stuff both in the traditional as well as new markets.

During the first two months of the current fiscal, textile exports had shown an increase of 16.5 per cent, which in way reflect the spinner mood and their active buying at the current rates, they said. "We are in no position to take risks against our export commitments irrespective of the prevailing prices", says a spinner "we will remain active buyers at the current levels as they conform to our export parity rates".

The initial reports suggest that the crop is expected to be well above the target of 10.7m bales, but unlike the previous season when the crop fell short of the target followed by a crisis of supply and demand, some others said.

The current spinner mood reflects that they hate to opt for imports if the local crop is adequate enough to meet their entire demand of about 13m bales, says a cotton analyst adding "in the final analysis they may import modest quantities from the foreign sources but they will await for the final crop figure".

It was satisfying to note, however, that prices are ruling within the export parity level of spinners and mills in the backdrop of reports of a higher crop, he added. Official spot rates were, therefore, again held at the previous level of Rs2,250 per maund, well below the ready rates. Ready off-take was active as till late in the evening about 15,000 bales, changed hands, following being some of the notable deals:

SINDH VARIETY: 1,000 bales, Mirpurkhas at Rs2,225, 2,000 bales, Shahdadpur and 1,000 bales, Nawabshah at Rs2,300, 1,000 bales, Sanghar at Rs2,250 to Rs2,275, and 3,000 bales, Tando Adam at Rs2,250.

PUNJAB TYPE: 400 bales, Rahimyar Khan at Rs2,275, 1,000 bales, Bahawalngar at Rs2,275, 1,000 bales, Sahiwal at Rs2,260 to Rs2,275, 1,000 bales, Burewala at Rs2,275 to Rs2,300, 1,000 bales, Gojra also at this rate and 1,000 bales, Haroonabad at Rs2,275 to Rs2,290.