April 17, 2008	Thursday	Rabi-us-Sani 10, 1429

KARACHI, April 16: Prices on the cotton market remained stable on Wednesday around the previous levels as spinners were willing buyers of any number of lots below Rs3,400 per maund.

A big deal of 9,000 bales, from a southern Punjab ginnery between Rs3,275 and Rs3,350 reflected that spinners and mills are said to be active buyers around this level, floor brokers said.

Unlike the previous week, no deal was reported at the seasonal peak level of Rs3,500 or Rs3,550, which reflected that ginners have realised by now that their anticipated rate, fuelled by a short crop beyond the current one, may not be around, they said.The Wednesday’s rebound staged by the New York cotton futures may not have a sympathetic bullish impact on local cotton prices as spinners were not inclined to go beyond their export parity levels after having imported a massive quantity of lint well over three million bales, they added.

New York cotton futures on Wednesday were quoted higher by 1.21 and 1.30 cents per lb at 75.23 and 78.83 cents for both the ruling May and the new crop July contracts on reports of higher demand from the consumer countries, ginners said.

According to unofficial sources, the unsold stocks with the ginners are below half million bales which if spinners want could be lifted within a couple of days.

“The highest mill intake in a session was over 0.150m bales during the peak season a couple of years back but during the current season it seldom exceeded 30,000 bales,” said a leading ginner.

Spinners and mills are going slow in an apparent effort not to fuel a price flare-up and that is why during some session not a single bale changed hands despite the fact that some of the ginners had lowered their asking prices, he added. Official spot rates were again held unchanged at Rs3,300 per maund, although some of the deals reported in the ready section were quality-based.

The following are some of the deals: 9,000 bales, D G Khan and Rajanpur at Rs3,275 to Rs3,350; 1,400 bales, Sadiqabad at Rs3,350 and 500 bales, mill to an exporter at Rs3,400.

Some of the spinners who hold more than annual demand are selling the surplus either to mills or exporters at higher rates, dealers said.