KARACHI, Jan 25: Cotton market on Tuesday maintained a firm outlook as ginners were not inclined to lower their asking prices amid reports of pressure on ready supplies.

The arrivals of phutti into the ginneries are said to be at a standstill owing to current spell of rain throughout the cotton belt and as a result, ginners have raised their asking prices, brokers said.

Although bulk of the phutti has already transported into the ginneries by the growers, modest quantities still lying with some leading growers are being despatched to the ginneries depending on the price offered by the ginners, market sources said.

The interruption is caused by the refusal of ginners to accept wet consignments of the phutti from the growers as rain water damages its quality turning it yellow, they added.

Ginners have raised their asking prices for fine lots, both from upper Sindh and southern Punjab cotton belt, the two main producers of fine lint but spinners were reluctant to bid at that levels, they said.However, some of the spinners who have to meet their shipment deadlines for the higher counts of cotton yarn purchased at around Rs2,150 per maund and stray lots did change hands at this level, they said.

Physical activity, therefore, remained below normal as both sellers and buyers are awaiting the post-rain price situation in the light of their export parity levels. As a result, there was no change in the official spot rates, although some of the deals of fine lots were done well above them.

New York cotton futures on the other hand suffered modest fall of 0.53 and 0.35 cents per lb for both the ruling March and the distant May at 46.44 and 47.42 cents per lb respectively.

Ready off take was light totalling about 3,000 bales. The following being some of the notable deals: 400 bales, Sanghar at Rs2,000, 400 bales, Bahawalpur at 2,050 and 1,000 bales, Khanpur at 2,150.