KARACHI, April 28: Quieter conditions prevailed on the cotton market on Thursday as both buyers and sellers held on to their respective positions, waiting apparently blinking by those who are at the receiving end. Floor brokers said there was no fresh news from the TCP including total mill offtake after revising their bids, but some others said spinners’ absence from the market reflects they are hoping some positive developments on the local sale front.
The TCP has offered to sell 60,000 bales of lint of various grades to both local and foreign buyers in its April 23 tender but details about the total sales are not immediately known, they said.
The TCP high-ups still seem to be assessing the actual bale-loss in the recent fire in a southern Punjab godown, which reportedly damaged about 20,000 bales of fine type of lint.
“The absence of leading spinners and mills from the market is understandable as they are eyeing the TCP stuff of higher quality and are claimed to be willing to pay more for it,” market sources said.
The spinners and mills have already purchased about 12m bales of lint but according to them, their hands are full with export orders for the last quarter ending June 30, against which they need more supplies, they added.
According to them, mill offtake touched an all-time peak level of 14m bales as did the total crop figure and that was perhaps why mills would like to lift all the lint from the TCP rather than opting for imports.
On the foreign front as was speculated the New York cotton futures did not hit the 15-year high mark of 60 cents per lb and reacted from the recent highs on active selling by a leading US speculator.
Both the ruling May and distant July settlements were marked down by 0.80 and 1.06 cents per lb at 57.70 and 56.41 cents, respectively.
But local official spot rates were firmly held at the last level of Rs2,225 in the absence of adequate ready offtake, although unconfirmed reports say the ginners are selling inferior stuff to some of the mills who produced low-count yarn for the local consumption.
While there were no reports of any deal from the southern Punjab cotton belt, a deal of 1,200 bales from Nawabshah was reported at Rs2,175 to Rs2,200 per maund.
