03 November 2004	Wednesday	19 Ramazan 1425

KARACHI, Nov 2: An active trading was witnessed on the cotton market on Tuesday as spinners and mills were not inclined to take even a technical breather fearing an increase in prices.

Arrivals of phutti into ginneries remained on the higher side of the daily average as growers are out to dump the commodity at the prevailing rates. In Sindh, phutti prices are ruling between Rs850 and Rs875.00, and in the Punjab cotton belt at Rs850 to Rs900 per 40 kg.

"The current weakness of the US dollar could have an adverse impact on the export of textiles," one broker fears, but some others said it could further "lower lint prices during the coming sessions and the chief beneficiary would be the spinners and mills.

Floor brokers said the chief beneficiary of the current turmoil in the cotton trade is the ginner who is now in a position to exploit the situation, that is, higher arrivals of phutti to his own advantage.

"Our hands are full with firm export orders for the next quarter ending Dec 31", says a leading spinner. "we have to remain alert all the time while covering forward positions against them."

But some local cotton analysts claim their daily intake is still below their normal monthly consumption needs, which is well-reflected in the unsold stocks lying with the ginners in their godowns.

Although daily trading is fairly brisk, it is pretty difficult at this stage to have a fair idea of the future price trend in the backdrop of erratic movements of New York cotton futures during the last couple of weeks, they added.

Meanwhile, all eyes are now focused on the arrival figure of the current fortnight ended Oct 31, which could further ease the ruling prices as unofficial reports put the figure at 5.3m bales, well above the market projections, they said.

Official spot rates did not show any change and were firmly held at the last levels but New York cotton futures suffered fresh fall of 1.00 and 0.37 cents per lb at 43.98 and 44.20 cents per lb for both the ruling December and the distant March settlements, respectively.

Ready offtake was fairly active totalling about 25,000 bales, the following being some of the notable deals:

SINDH TYPE: 1,000 bales, Dharki at Rs2,000; 400 bales, Tando Muhammad Khan at Rs1,875 to Rs1,900; 400 bales, Nawabshah at Rs1,975; 400 bales, Shahdadpur at Rs1,950; 600 bales, Mirpurkhas at Rs1,850 to Rs1,900 and 1,000 bales, Sanghar at Rs1,850 to Rs1,900.

PUNJAB VARIETY: 3,000 bales, Alipur at Rs2,000 to Rs2,025; 1,000 bales each Hasilpur, Chishtian and Kassowal, also at this rate; 1,000 bales, Mangi Banglow at Rs2,025; 1,000 bales, Gojra at Rs2,010 to Rs2,0025; 1,400 bales, Khanewal, 2,000 bales, Rajanpur at Rs2,025 to Rs2,050; 1,200 bales, Bhalwal at Rs2,000 to Rs2,040; 1,000 bales, Bahawalpur at Rs2,050; 1,000 bales, Rahimyar Khan at Rs2,025 to Rs2,050 and 1,000 bales, Sadiqabad at Rs2,025.