May 30, 2006	Tuesday	Jumadi-ul-Awwal 2, 1427

KARACHI, May 29: Trading on the cotton market resumed on a steady note but physical business remained at low ebb as price idea of ginners and spinners failed to find a meeting ground.

According to official sources no deal was finalised till late in the evening but some brokers claimed stray fine lots did change hands both from the upper Sindh and southern Punjab cotton belts around Rs2,500 or slightly above depending on the quality.

Floor brokers said some of the ginners, who hold unsold fine lots of about 0.4m bales, were asking higher prices around Rs2,550 per maund but spinners were not inclined to pay more than Rs2,255.

“The standoff on the prices is expected to continue during the coming weeks as spinners and mills are in no mood to go beyond their export parity levels,” they said.

However, no one could deny the fact that the ginners appear to be in a commanding position as no one among them is worried over the unsold stocks, which are manageable in financial terms despite the annual closing on June 30.

“Unsold stocks of lint involve around Rs2 billion that could be disposed of in a week,” says a leading ginner “but we will try to get an improved price”.

Meanwhile, reports coming from the major cotton growing areas indicate that the new crop sowing is almost completed and where early sowing was made the growth is satisfactory.

Official spot rates were firmly held around the weekend level of Rs2,450 per maund, although some of the deals were done above them in the ready section.

Mill ready off-take was light totalling about 2,500 bales, but details were not immediately available from the brokerage houses.