September 09, 2006	Saturday	Sha'aban 15, 1427

KARACHI, Sept 8: Cotton prices on Friday were marked down by Rs25 to Rs50 per maund as leading ginners were not inclined to hold on to their unsold stocks to sell them at the inflated levels because of steady arrivals of phutti.

Most of the deals were finalised well below the early week highs of Rs2,750 per maund between Rs2,560 to Rs2,675 both in Sindh and the Punjab varieties depending on the quality, dealers said.

But they ruled out the possibility of fresh decline in prices as the late monsoon rain starting from Thursday in the entire Sindh cotton belt may have negative impact both per acre yield and quality of lint.

“Rain at flowering stage of the cotton crop in some areas of upper Sindh belt and picking stage in some other areas damages the quality of lint including staple length,” they added.

It is widely speculated that the current cloudburst is not beneficial for the cotton and some other crops notably vegetable and cereals, they said.

The next couple of weeks would show the extent of damage to the cotton crop and during the intervening period speculative forces could push prices of phutti again higher, they said.

However, reports reaching in the lower and central Sindh cotton belts indicate that picking operations of phutti have suspended and may be resumed after a week if there is no more rain, market sources said.

Official spot rates were again held unchanged at Rs2,575 per maund in line with the average lint rates in the ready business.

New York cotton futures on the other hand shed another 0.25 cents at 51.19 and 53.16 cents per lb for both the ruling October and the distant December contracts respectively.

Ready business was active but mostly comprised small lots. The following being some of the notable deals:

SINDH VARIETY: 600 bales, Mirpurkhas at Rs2,560 to Rs2,575, 400 bales, Sultanabad at Rs2,570 to s2,610, 200 bales, Tando Adam at Rs2,625, 600 bales, Shahdadpur at Rs2,625 to Rs2,650 and 200 bales, Sanghar at Rs2,560.

MNH-SAWGIN-93 PUNJAB: 400 bales, Bahawalnagar at Rs2,650, 400 bales, Pakpattan at Rs2,665 to Rs2,675, 400 bales, Arifwala at Rs2,665, 200 bales, Bahawalpur at Rs2,675, 200 bales, Khanewal at Rs2,660, 200 bales, Haroonabad at Rs2,650, 200 bales, Chishtian at Rs2,630, 200 bales, Mian Channu at Rs2,675, 400 bales, Sahiwal at Rs2,660 to Rs2,675, 200 bales each, Tandialwala and Al-Hakeem at Rs2,650 and 200 bales, Rehmay Shah at Rs2,665.