KARACHI, Sept 26: Trading on the cotton market on Monday resumed on a firm note as spinners and mills continued to build-up long positions both in Sindh and Punjab varieties at the current levels.

Some of the deals in Sindh type were finalized at par with its counterpart in the Punjab cotton belt, barring some which were traded higher by Rs25 per maund.

Steady mill demand reflects that quality of lint conforms to buyers’ specification and standards, which mean that despite reports of pest attack in some of the areas the fineness of the newly-spun lint and its staple standards are in line with the textile demand, floor brokers said.

“The sudden rise in mill demand reflects that it is out to grab the floating stock both from the central Sindh and Punjab cotton belts before the re-entry of the TCP in the cotton trade”, they added.

Although lint rates have almost stabilized around Rs2,200 from early season’s Rs2,300 per maund, which are in line with the export parity levels of both the spinners and the mills, some others said.

The interesting feature of the prevailing cotton trade was that both grower and ginner are not inclined to hold onto their stocks of phutti or lint in view of changing world cotton outlook, they said.

As a result, most of the deals reported were modest, reflecting that after having fixed phutti rates with the growers, ginners try to sell newly ginned lint at the prevailing prices on daily basis.

Official spot rates were, therefore, held unchanged at the weekend level of Rs2,125 per maund, although spinners were willing to pay more for the fine lots.

Ready off-take by mills was on the higher side totalling about 10,000 bales as under:

SINDH TYPE: 1,400 bales, Mirpurkhas at Rs2,160, 1,000 bales, Tando Muhammad at Rs2,175 to Rs2,185, 1,600 bales, Shahdadpur at Rs2,190 to Rs2,200, 700 and 200 bales, New Saeedabad and Bandhi at Rs2,200, 200 bales, Sarari at Rs2,190 and 200 bales at Rs2,175, 400 bales, Sanghar at Rs2,170, 400 bales, Shahpur Chakkar at Rs2,200.