KARACHI, Oct 12: After having risen by about Rs200 per maund during the last couple of sessions, the cotton prices on Wednesday eased modestly from their recent highs on ginner selling after the arrivals of phutti into the ginneries showed a substantial improvement.

However, the future direction of the market will largely be guided by the current fortnight’s arrival figures of phutti and their size, which will in part give a fair idea of the total crop, analysts said.

The Pakistan Cotton Ginners Association (PCGA) is expected to release the official figures for the fortnight ending Oct 12, by the middle of the next week.

Floor brokers said that the interruption appeared to be temporary as some of the ginners tried to clear their backlog at the current higher levels and the consequent decline.

In physical trading most of the deals were done lower by Rs25 to Rs50 per maund as compared to previous rates but they ruled out the possibility of any major change in the price outlook for the near-term. But unlike Tuesday, no deal was done at Rs2,500 per maund.

The ginner selling at the lower rates was attributed to steady arrivals of phutti from the growers as leading among them seemed to have decided to sell in part their unsold around Rs1,100 per 40 kg, they said.

Apart from lower New York cotton futures, the other adverse factor was next week’s TCP tender for the sale of 50,000 bales and spinners were inclined to test the selling price at the auction before again opting for the local stuff.

New York cotton futures were marked down by 0.49 and 0.39 cents per lb for both the ruling December and the forward March contracts at 55.17 and 56.71 cents per lb respectively.

Local official spot rates were quoted lower by Rs25 at Rs2,400 per maund in line with the ready rates at which physical business is being transacted.

Ready business was active totalling about 8,000 bales as under:

SINDH VARIETY: 2,000 bales, Nawabshah at Rs2,400 to Rs2,450, 200 bales, Hyderabad at Rs2,425, 400 bales, each Bandhi New Saeedabab and Maitari at Rs2,450, 200 bales, Sanghar at Rs2,380, 400 bales, Mirpurkhas at Rs2,375, 400 bales, Shahdadpur and 200 bales, Moro at Rs2,400.