KARACHI, Aug 9: The cotton market on Thursday maintained its bullish trend as spinners literally followed the price line dictated by the ginners amid an actively traded session.The interesting feature was that both the Sindh and the Central Punjab types were traded at a uniform rate of Rs3,400 per maund, a phenomenon never witnessed on the local cotton market because of quality differentials, said a leading cotton broker.

It reflects that the immediate worry of the leading spinners and mills is to line up supplies rather than increase in prices as all the sale offers are readily accepted by them, he added.

Ginners said the general perception was that the price flare-up in the coming weeks could surpass all previous record based on supply and demand factors as growers were not inclined to sell phutti below their asking prices.

They said growers say the cost of inputs, notably fertilizer and pesticide has almost doubled during the current year, which was reflected in higher prices of phutti.

“The lint prices are heading to match the previous all-time peak level of Rs.3,600.00 established four years back on identical grounds as the crop is said to be short well above the official projections”, said a leading ginner.

Official spot rates were again revised upward by Rs50 per maund at Rs3,150 for average quality lint but fine varieties were traded at Rs3,400.

New York cotton futures also recovered from the recent lows and were quoted higher by 0.55 and 0.53 cents at 61.15 and 63.51 cents per lb for both the ruling October and forward December contracts respectively. Ready business was active totalling about 4,000 bales as under.

SINDH VARIETY: 200 bales each Mirpurkhas, Tando Jam, Shahdadpur and 400 bales, Tando Adam at Rs3,400 and 400 bales, Sanghar at Rs3,375 to Rs3,400.