June 24, 2007	Sunday	Jamadi-us-Sani 08, 1428

KARACHI, June 23: Active trading was witnessed on the cotton market on Saturday as spinners and mills continued panic-buying to lift the local stuff irrespective of the ginner asking prices.

According to market sources about 4,000 bales from the central Sindh and the southern Punjab ginneries changed hands as the current heat-up of the world markets worried spinners.

For the first time in several years the spinners and mills are seeking incentives from the government, a broker noted, adding “a short crop and some problems on the export front seemed to have aggravated their problems”.

Sindh type, mostly low-mic lots were sold around Rs2,500 or slightly above but the Punjab ginners were not inclined to sell below Rs2,700 and Rs2,750 per maund depending on the quality of lint, they said.

The steep rise in the world prices has altogether changed the future market outlook, analysts said, adding “some of the ginners may have been repenting on having sold their stocks at much lower prices a couple of weeks earlier”.

However, spinners and mills are not inclined to take fresh risks and are trying to lift whole stocks lying with the ginners at their asking prices, they said.

Meanwhile, Central Punjab ginners have resumed buying of phutti from the lower Sindh markets and together with their local stuff they intend to resume ginning operations by the next couple of weeks, local ginners said.

New crop phutti from the lower Sindh was being sold around Rs1,140 to Rs1,150 per maund by the Punjab ginners and after adding freight of Rs100 per maund it cost them Rs1,250 per 40 kg, they said.

Official spot rates were again held unchanged at Rs2,600 per maund but most of the deals for fine lots were done well above them.