KARACHI, May 13: Trading activity on the cotton market on Friday remained insipid as price ideas of buyers and sellers were poles apart because of quality factors. After having purchased about 50,000 bales around Rs2,300 per maund in the May 7 TCP auction, spinners and local mills are busy to offer their bids for the May 14 tender for 60,000 bales, floor brokers said.

Their absence from the market was because of this fact which kept physical trading on the ready counter in a low key, they added. Spinners claim they may need the entire unsold stock of lint with the TCP to cover their forward sales for the final quarter ending June 30 owing to higher forward sales of cotton yarn and textiles.

“Their first priority to go all-out for the TCP stocks at the current world rates instead of going for imports”, they said “if we fail on the home front then we will think for imports”.

Market sources said there may be stray fine lots with some of the upper Sindh and southern Punjab ginners as bulk of the unsold stock of 0.326m bales as on April 15 has been exhausted.

Some odd and inferior unsold lots are still with the ginners but owing to higher asking prices by them has led to a standoff but weaker links among them are selling them between Rs1,925 to Rs2,000 per maund, they said. However, most of the deals are finalized on Karachi delivery basis, which means minus the fare and upcountry expenses totalling Rs50 per maund.

New York cotton futures failed to maintain their upward drive and fell by 1.72 and 0.90 cents per lb for both the maturing May and the ruling July settlements at 55.08 and 54.60 cents respectively.

There was, however, no change in the official spot rates, which remained pegged at the last close amid slow trading. On the ready counter, 200 bales from a central Sindh ginnery changed hands at Rs2,000 per maund, Karachi delivery.