July 07, 2006	Friday	Jumadi-ul-Sani 10, 1427

KARACHI, July 6: Trading was resumed in new crop from the lower Sindh cotton belt on Thursday as a leading ginner sold 200 bales to a local spinner for nearby delivery.

The interesting feature of the deal was that it was finalised at much lower rate at Rs2,550 per maund as compared to the prevailing current crop rate of Rs2,600 or slightly above it.

However, the comparative decline in the selling price did not reflect any change in the quality of lint from the central Sindh cotton belt but ginners’ planning not to hold on o the new crop stocks fearing decline in prices after arrivals of phutti gather momentum, they added.

Unlike the previous seasons, some of the Punjab ginners who had been active buyers of lower Sindh phutti and resume operations a bit earlier, remained conspicuous by their absence during the current year.

As a result, local ginners did not see major change in prices of phutti which in turn allowed them to lower lint prices.

The stipulated date for the delivery is between July 10 and 12 and by that time some more bales could be added to the total as the ginning process would continue, brokers said.

A couple of weeks earlier, some forward deals were also signed at Rs2,800 on two-month credit. But the current deal is close to spot as delivery will be made within four to six days, they added.

Floor brokers, however, ruled out the possibility of further decline in new crop prices as spinners will remain active buyers in the coming weeks also owing to pressure on near-term supplies.

Official spot rates were, however, held unchanged as some of the deals in low-mic lots were done in line with them.

New York cotton futures on the other hand showed fresh modest rise of 0.20 and 0.25 cents per lb at 49.20 and 51.25 cents respectively in both the matured July and the new crop October settlements.

In the ready section, about 1,500 bales of the current crop changed hands below Rs2,600 per maund.