November 11, 2007	Sunday	Shawwal 29, 1428

KARACHI, Nov 10: Cotton prices on Saturday eased by Rs100 per maund from the recent seasonal high on selling by ginners followed by steady arrivals of phutti into the ginneries.

The other contributory bearish factor was said to be reluctance of textile importers from the European Union owing to the imposition of emergency and fears of interruption in future supplies, cotton analyst Naseem Usman said.

He said EU was one of the largest textile importers from Pakistan and its annual intake is said to well over $3.5 billion, notably made ups.

On Thursday bulk of the business, notably in the Punjab variety was done at Rs3,450 per maund but the ginners from the same area lowered their asking price by Rs100 at Rs3,250 per maund amid rumours based on arrivals of phutti that the crop may be short but not to the extent as being speculated.

However, it is pretty difficult at this stage to say some thing about the total crop loss but indications are that it is certainly short of the revised target of 12.5m bales, floor brokers said.

They said the phutti arrivals, which is said to be on the higher side are expected to be slow down by the end of next month that will give the clear idea of the crop size.

But market sources said the cotton trade appears to be in the tight grip of speculative forces and the chief victims are the spinners and mills, who are paying more for the lint, which is well above their export parity levels.There was no change, however, in the official spot rates, which were quoted at Rs3,175 per maund.

Mills ready off-take was active totaling 30,000 bales, the following being some of the notable deals:

SINDH TYPE: 400 bales, Shahdadpur; 600 bales, Dadu; 200 bales, Khipro; and 400 bales, Sanghar at Rs3,200, 400 bales, Sarari; 600 bales, Shahpur Chakar; and 200 bales, Buchari at 3,300.

PUNJAB VARIETY: 3,000 bales, Lodharan; 1,000 bales, each Mubarakpur, Fazaalpur, Haroonabad; 2,000 bales Bahawalpur; 800 bales, Burewala; 400 bales, Samandri; 400 bales, each Arifwala, Faqirwali, Qureshi Mor, and Alipur at Rs3,300; 1,000 bales, each Ahmedpur and Mubarakpur; 200 bales, each Gojra, Pak Pattan, and 400 bales, Shah Jamal at Rs3,325.