KARACHI, April 1: Trading activity on the cotton market on Friday remained relatively slow partly because of the absence of leading spinners and partly to a short Friday session. However, some of the leading mills were not inclined to sit idle on the sidelines and booked a number fine variety lots, notably from upper Sindh ginneries at around Rs2,300.
But ginners on the other hand were a bit reluctant to go all-out for the disposal of unsold stocks before the arrival figures for the fortnight ended March 31, are released by the Pakistan Cotton ginners Association (PCGA).
Brokers said there might not be any big change in the arrivals figures as they have been falling from the previous higher levels for the last two months. The figures for the fortnight ended March 15 added only 55,000 bales to the total.
“I don’t think the latest arrival figures due possibly by the early next week could influence the basic market fundamentals as they may be too small to affect the prevailing rates,” says a leading broker. ”Much would depend on the policy guidelines to be announced by the ministry of commerce on the sale of stocks held by the TCP.”
A meeting of high-ups from the TCP and major textile trade bodies was held recently in Islamabad to chalk out a policy about the TCP holding, he said.
Rumours that the government has already committed to selling a certain number of bales to China was incorrect as the latest official meeting reflects.
The big question being debated is that whether to sell lint in part held by the TCP to the local textile industry or to export it through international tenders if the bid prices are higher than the prevailing one, market sources said.
The position about the TCP stocks is expected to be announced by the next week and that would set future direction of the market, brokers said.
As a result, official spot rates were again held unchanged, while on the other hand New York cotton futures suffered a modest fall of 0.35 and 0.01 cents per lb for both the ruling May and the distant July contracts at 53.03 and 54.48 cents, respectively.
Ready offtake was light as till late in the evening 7,000 bales of fine lint both from upper Sindh and southern Punjab ginneries changed hands on an average rate of Rs2,325 per maund.
