April 25, 2008	Friday	Rabi-us-Sani 18, 1429

KARACHI, April 24: Cotton market on Thursday lacked normal trading interest as price ideas of sellers and buyers failed to find a meeting ground.

Stray lots did, however, change hands based on the quality of lint but there was relative quiet on the ready counter as ginners were not inclined to lower their asking prices.

“We are not in a hurry as we have now a manageable unsold stock,” ginners say, adding, “let spinners and mills take their own time to be back in the trading arena”.According to market sources, the unsold stocks with the ginners are about 0.4m bales, mostly of fine quality, which means the financial burden on them is not that alarming.

Moreover, the June 30 deadline of adjusting overdraft limits is still far away and they are in a mood to take risk until the new crop arrives on the market sometimes in August.

As a result, both the ginners and the spinners are playing cool, very unusual for the cotton trade at this time of the seasons, floor brokers said.

Although spinners had imported more than three million bales of lint from various sources to make up the local crop shortage, they still need more supplies and the local crop is well-suited to their export needs, they said.

Official spot rates were again firmly held at the last level of Rs3,300 per muand but in the ready section, some of the deals were quality-based.

New York cotton futures on the other hand shed in part the overnight gains and were quoted fractionally lower by 0.01 cents per lb at 71.10 for the ruling May contract and 0.67 cent for the new crop July at 74.60 per lb.

The following are some of the deals finalised in the ready section: 500 bales, Khanpur at Rs3,500 and 600 bales, Sadiqabad at Rs3,000.