KARACHI, Jan 4: Trading activity on the cotton market on Thursday failed to pick up as spinners kept to the sidelines most of the time for no apparent negative reasons.

Floor brokers who have been predicting strong mill demand during the post-eid sessions could not give specific reasons for the continued absence of spinners and mills from the market.

Leading ginners said price ideas seemed to be one of the chief reasons behind the prevailing sluggishness but hoped normal trading was expected to be resumed during the next couple of days.

“Spinners and mills are still far behind their annual consumption requirements and could hardly afford to keep to the sidelines for another couple of sessions,” says a leading ginner.

Analysts said spinners had made large forward deals with the foreign suppliers of lint including India fearing a local crop shortage and awaiting physical shipments from various sources including overland route from India.

However, ginners were not worried over the developing situation on the cotton front and were expected to chalk out their market strategy after the arrival figures of phutti for the fortnight ended Dec 31, 2006 were released by the Pakistan Cotton Ginners Association (PCGA).

A section of leading spinners was also watching the recent fall in New York cotton futures and hoped world cotton may be cheaper during the next couple of week followed by predictions of further decline in world prices.

Lower new year opening by the New York cotton futures, which fell by 1.30 and 1.10 cents at 54.89 and 55.89 cents per lb for both the ruling March and the distant May settlements respectively seems to have changed spinner perceptions about the future price outlook, analysts said.There was, however, no change in the local official spot rates and were firmly held at the previous level of Rs2,500 per maund.

Ready business remained low, although some of the brokers reported stray deals in some of the central Sindh and southern Punjab lint.