16 December 2004	Thursday	03 Ziqa'ad 1425

KARACHI, Dec 15: An active trading was witnessed on the cotton market on Wednesday as spinners and mills continued to cover their forward positions against foreign sales of cloth and yarn.

Floor brokers said strong presence of the TCP on the market continued to inspire ginners not to get panicky followed by some negative news about the supply and demand and that factor seems to have forestalled further fall in prices.

According to the latest figures released by the TCP, the corporation is heading to hit the 2m-bale mark during the next couple of sessions. It has already signed contracts for 1.917m bales with the ginners of Sindh and Punjab, out of which 0.902m bales have already reached their godowns.

"Predictions of larger arrivals for the fortnight ended Dec 15 did panicked some of the ginners but they decided to hold on to their unsold positions until the official figures are released by the Pakistan Cotton Ginners Association (PCGA) during the next couple of sessions," brokers said. But they ruled out the possibility of further fall in prices irrespective of the size of arrivals and the ginners have at their disposal the TCP as a second buyer. A section of leading ginners also hoped that the current visit of the prime minister to China and reports of fresh deals might include export of lint to that country by the TCP on government-to-government basis.

Although about 20,000 bales changed hands, most of the deals appear to be quality-based as central lint was traded around Rs1,650, while fine variety from upper Sindh ginneries were sold at around Rs1,925 because of staple length.

Bulk of the business again remained confined to the Punjab variety as it offers a wide choice to the buyers because of quality differential, but average rate remained unchanged between Rs1,850 to Rs1,900 per maund, dealers said.

Reports from the New York cotton market were bearish as both the futures contracts fell by 0.59 and 0.38.00 cents per lb for March and May settlements, respectively, on speculative selling.

Official spot rates were also lowered by Rs40 in line with Tuesday's fall but ruled steady on Wednesday as fresh decline was resisted. Ready off take was active totalling about 20,000 bales, the following being some of the notable deals:

SINDH VARIETY: 2,000 bales, upper Sindh, at Rs1,925; 200 bales, each Mirpurkhas and Sanghar, at Rs1,650.

PUNJAB TYPE: 2,000 bales, Bahawalpur at Rs1,875 to Rs1,900; 1,200 bales, Bahawalnagar at Rs1,850; 1,000 bales, Uch Sharif at Rs1,900; 1,000 bales each, Ahmedpur East and Sadiqabad, at Rs1,875 to Rs1,900; 2,000 bales, Rahimyar Khan at Rs1,900; 2,000 bales and 1,000 bales, Rajanpur and DG Khan at Rs1,875; 1,000 bales, Gojra at Rs1,850 to Rs1,860; 400 bales, Mamu Kajan at Rs1,850; and 800 bales, Tandilwala (inferior quality) at Rs1,700.