April 01, 2007	Sunday	Rabi-ul-Awwal 12, 1428

KARACHI, March 31: Cotton market finished the weekend session on a steady note but physical business remained thin in the absence of strong demand from mills.

Stray lots of inferior lint did change hands as spinners were in two minds about the future export outlook in the backdrop of falling demand for textiles the world over, floor brokers said.

They said the ready mill intake could pick up after the release of final crop figures by the Pakistan Cotton Ginners Association (PCGA) next week.

Spinners said the crop size was certainly short but the quantum of shortfall was still to be determined that would have a bearing on the prevailing prices in the coming weeks.

That was perhaps why ginners were sitting pretty comfortable on their unsold stocks as they knew that they might not be losers in the final analysis and could get higher prices irrespective of higher imports, said a leading broker.

He said that leading ginners from the upper Sindh and southern Punjab cotton belts may not have more than half a million bales in their godowns.

Stable local prices despite erratic movements on the international markets including New York Cotton Exchange reflected that ginners were least worried over the falling mill demand apparently on the perception that spinners had to resume local buying, of course, after having assessed the negative impact of higher imports, he added.

Meanwhile, reports reaching here from the lower Sindh cotton belt indicate that sowing of the new cotton crop has been completed and in those areas where sowing was completed earlier, the crop is progressing well.

Official spot rates were firmly held at the last close of Rs2,600 per maund but in the ready section deals were finalised on quality basis.

New York cotton futures on the other hand were quoted lower by 0.62 and 0.03 cents at 53.57 and 55.06 cents per lb for both the ruling May and the forward July contracts respectively.

Mill ready offtake was light totalling about 3,000 bales, the following being some of the notable deals: 1,000 and 750 bales from Tando Adam and Shahdadpur at Rs2,650 and 650 bales from Daharki at Rs2,700.