KARACHI, Sept 17: Trading activity on the cotton market on Monday was maintained on the higher side as spinners and mills covered positions at the falling prices and about 20,000 bales changed hands below Rs2,900 per maund.

Active buying at the prevailing prices reflects that these are in line with mills export parity levels and slightly below the international prices, which have made import expensive, spinners said.

That is perhaps why there is a relative quiet on the demand of import of lint from India, which is claimed to be expensive as compared to prevailing local prices, they said.

Although official spot rates were quoted unchanged at the last level of Rs2,800, most of the deals in the ready section were finalised Rs25 to 50.00 up of the base rate.

Floor brokers said higher crop ideas above 14m bales plus seems to have un-nerved leading ginners who preferred to hold manageable unsold positions rather than long ones to sell them at the higher levels.

The ginners were not in panic but indulged in hasty selling which brought prices of both the Sindh and the Punjab varieties at the same level despite quality differentials.

As a result, lint both from the Sindh and the Punjab belts was sold at Rs2,825 to Rs2,850 per maund.

Ginners said prices may not fall further as the negative fallout of upward revision of local crop estimates by the US Agriculture Department had already been absorbed by the market.

They said growers had already stopped dumping phutti into the ginneries in an attempt to check further fall in prices which was well reflected in the selling strategy of ginners.

The following were some of the deals reported in the ready section on Monday:

SINDH VARIETY: 1,400 bales, Nawabshah and 600 bales, Sarhari at Rs2,850, 1,000 bales, Hyderabad at Rs2,850 to Rs2,860, 1,200 bales, Mirpurkhas at Rs2,800 to Rs2,825, 3,000 bales, 2,000, 1,000 and 600 bales, Shahdadpur, Tando Adam, Sanghar and Shahpur Chakar at Rs2.825 to Rs2,850.

PUNJAB TYPE: 400 bales, Vehari at Rs2,825, 600 bales, Burewala at Rs2,850, 600 bales, Khanewal at Rs2,850 to Rs2,875, 400 bales, each Arifwala and Bahawalnagar and 600 bales each, Pakpattan, Khnewal and Jahania at Rs2,825 to Rs2,850.