January 16, 2008	Wednesday	Muharram 06, 1429

KARACHI, Jan 15: Trading activity on the cotton market was relatively slow on Tuesday as spinners apparently took a technical breather awaiting the arrival figures of phutti for the fortnight ended on Jan 15, floor brokers said.

“It appears to be an apparent effort by the spinners and mills to go slow to keep prices within the current levels taking out speculative element from the trading, which, in future, could cause a price flare-up based on a short crop,” said a cotton analyst.

However, ginners, too, are in no worry as they fully knew what a short crop could mean to them and how to behave in similar situations as the prevailing ones, he added.

As a result, for the fourth session in a row, most of the deals being finalised are quality-based, between Rs3,250 and Rs4,000 respectively.

The future price outlook will be guided by latest arrival figures which will give a fair idea of the total crop and its impact capacity of the textile sector to maintain pace of exports, said a leading broker.

The figures are expected to be released by the Pakistan Cotton Ginners Association (PCGA), by the next couple of days, possibly on Friday, which in turn would heat up the market, he added.

Already, spinners and mills are on a big shopping list to cover the supply gaps, the latest figures will allow them to make an accurate assessment of the total import to see the current year through, they added.

Official spot rates were, therefore, held unchanged at the overnight levels, while in the ready section, most of the deals were quality price-based.

The following are the details of some of the notable deals on Tuesday evening:

SINDH TYPE: 1,000 bales, Khipro at Rs3,300 and 1,000 bales, Sanghar at Rs3,250 to Rs3,300.

PUNJAB VARIETY: 1,400 bales, Rahimyar Khan and 2,000 bales, Sadiqabad at Rs3,250 to Rs3,400, 1,000 bales, Kabriwala at Rs3,400, 947 bales, Sahiwal at Rs3,350, 400 bales, Jalalpur at Rs3,375, 800 bales, Khanewal at Rs3,400, 400 bales, D G Khan Rs3,250, 600 bales, Ahmedpur East Rs3,350, 400 bales, Bahawalpur at Rs3,250, 400 bales, Bahawalnagar at Rs3,215 and 600 bales, Hasilpur at Rs3,250.