KARACHI, Aug 29: Cotton prices on Monday maintained their downward drift on active ginner selling amid reports of higher crop ideas and a considerable decline in mill buying.
In physical trading, some of deals in the ready section were done as low as Rs2,150 per maund from the previous average rate of Rs2,250, although official spot rates were held unchanged.
Floor brokers said steady held-up arrivals of phutti into ginneries after the end of local body elections seemed to have changed the future price outlook at least for the near-term.
Owing to the local body polls in Sindh on Aug 18 and 25, picking operations of phutti were partly affected. They resumed after the first phase, but growers failed to send it to ginneries owing to transport and some other allied problems.
What seems to have aggravated the situation is a hasty selling of phutti by the growers below Rs1,000 per 40 kg for unspecified reasons amid talk of a higher production, followed by lower fixing by the ginners, they said.
“Growers appear to be in a bit haste to get out of the unsold stock, fearing a further decline in prices, and flooded the ginneries,” reports coming from interior of Sindh say.
But on the other hand growers from the central Punjab cotton belt did not follow their Sindh counterparts and held on to their positions amid hopes of selling their phutti at higher rates, market sources said.
As a result, the prices of Punjab lint remained stable around the previous levels and the ginners did not lower their selling prices, as the inflow of phutti into the ginneries remained slow, they said.
After having sharply lower during the last week, official spot rates were quoted unchanged at Rs2,250 per maund, although most of the deals were done well below them.
Ready offtake was modest at 4,500 bales, the following being some of the notable deals:
SINDH TYPE: 800 bales, Sultanabad at Rs2,150 to Rs2,175; 400 bales, Shahdadpur at Rs2,240 to Rs2,245; 800 bales, Sanghar at Rs2,225 to Rs2,235; 200 and 400 bales, Mirpurkhas and Tando Adam at Rs2,200; 400 bales, Tando Adam at Rs2,235; and 400 bales Khipro at Rs2,200 to Rs2,220.
PUNJAB VARIETY: 700 bales, Bahawalnagar at Rs2,300 to Rs2,310.
