KARACHI, Aug 30: The cotton market on Tuesday remained under pressure as ginners were not inclined to hold long positions in an uncertain price outlook and falling prices and remained active sellers.

“It is too early to think of higher crop-related ginner selling,” one broker said. “The current panic seems to have been created by hasty selling of phutti by growers.”

Steady arrivals of phutti into ginneries show growers are also in no mood to hold long positions and opt for ready sales after each picking operation, notably after the decline in prices below the Rs1,000 per 40 kg level.

Although phutti is still ruling well above the official procurement rate of Rs825 per 40 kg, growers were not sure whether or not this level could be sustained in the backdrop of panic selling by some of them.

The cotton market is currently in the grip of price uncertainty and growers of lower Sindh may be at a disadvantage at least for the near-term owing to their panic selling, brokers said.

The situation in central Punjab is quite different where picking also resumed, as both the growers and ginners are not in that haste like their counterparts in Sindh, they added.

The other destabilizing factor is said to be negative fallout of volatile New York cotton futures and its adverse impact on other markets, some others said.

Official spot rates were, therefore, further lowered by Rs25 per maund in line with those at which ready business is being transacted.

Ready offtake was brisk totalling about 7,000 bales both in Sindh and Punjab cotton belts, the following being some of the notable deals:

SINDH VARIETY: 800 bales, Mirpurkhas at Rs2,175 to Rs2,200; 400 bales, Khipro at Rs2,180 to Rs2,200; 200 bales, Tnado Adam at Rs2,145; 200 bales, Pithero at Rs2,200; 400 bales, Tando Adam at Rs2,235; and 1,000 bales, Shahdadpur at Rs2,210 to Rs2,235.