KARACHI, Aug 10: Cotton market on Wednesday showed steady trend where prices of new crop lint were quoted higher by Rs25 per maund as mill demand gathered momentum, brokers said.

Since the beginning of the trading in the new crop, prices were stable around Rs2,350 per maund despite suspension in picking operations of phutti owing to rain and pressure on ready supplies, they said.

On Wednesday, some of the deals were done at the highest rate of Rs2,375, reflecting that both the spinners and the ginners are out to outwit each other on the price front, they added.

In the absence of fresh auction date by the TCP, spinners think it has already met its sales target for the current cropping season and balance lying in its godowns is rumoured to be act as a buffer stock to support prices if the new crop falls short of the target figure of 15m bales.

Ginners said growers may not be holding onto their recently picked up phutti but they have raised their asking prices for the new crop by Rs25 per maund and their viable target could be around Rs2,400 until picking operations in the upper Sindh and southern Punjab cotton belts resume.

“Lint prices may move both ways during the next couple of weeks as under the cross-current of supply and demand factors,” market sources said adding “ultimate future price outlook will be guided by the size of the crop”.

Meanwhile, ginners claimed that arrivals of phutti from the lower Sindh cotton fields were steadily rising and there would be more supplies of new crop lint by the middle of the next month.

However, it was satisfying to note that there are no serious reports of pest attack from the major growing areas and the growth of the crop is said to be normal.

Official spot rates were again firmly held at the last levels for the old crop but new crop was traded modestly higher as compared to it.

New York cotton futures on the other hand suffered fresh fall of 0.27 and 0.11 cents per lb for both the ruling October and the distant December contracts at 49.15 and 51.14 cents respectively.

Ready off-take in the new crop was modest totalling 600 bales as under: 200 bales, Sanghar at Rs2,350, 200 bales, Mirpurkhas at Rs2,365 and 200 bales, Shahdadpur at Rs2,375.