May 19, 2006	Friday	Rabi-us-Sani 20, 1427

KARACHI, May 18: Trading on the cotton market on Thursday remained relatively dull as spinners and mills adhered to the sidelines apparently making arrangements for the delivery of lint stocks purchased from the TCP in Tuesday’s international auction of 30,000 bales.

Reports quoting official sources that there is no shortage of irrigation water and sowing of new crop will not be affected seems to have taken steam out of the market amid production losses, brokers said. Lint prices have risen by Rs50 per maund during the previous couple of sessions followed by reports of shortage of irrigation water and new crop sowing.

Some of the ginners lowered their selling prices by Rs25 per maund to clear their stock backlog but failed to attract spinners as the rates were still higher than their export parity levels.

The recent rain in some of the areas of the southern and central Punjab cotton belt is also expected to ease the problem of irrigation water for the time being.

But leading spinners and mills are now awaiting another tender by the TCP possibly by the end of the current month rather than opting for local buying hoping that ginners may further lower there prices to get out of the market.

According to TCP sources all the bids both from the local and foreign buyers were accepted at the highest rates and spinners temporary absence from the market was on account of this factor, brokers said.

Meanwhile, reports coming from the lower Sindh cotton belt where picking of the new crop is expected to be resumed by early next month, said that condition of the new crop is normal and growers hope per acre yield is expected to be on the higher side as compared to previous season.

Official spot rates were marked down by Rs25 per maund at Rs2,450 but in the ready section ginners were sellers above them.

New York cotton futures again came in for speculative selling and fell by 0.58 and 0.40 cents at 50.81 and 53.90 cents per lb for both the ruling July and the distant October settlements.

Ready off-take was light as till late in the evening about 3,000 bales, from the upper Sindh ginneries changed hands around Rs2,475 per maund, brokers said.