May 25, 2008	Sunday	Jamadi-ul-Awwal 19, 1429

KARACHI, May 24: Quieter conditions prevailed on the cotton market on Saturday as spinners kept to the sidelines apparently because of delivery problems.

But some floor brokers said higher asking prices by ginners, irrespective of quality premiums, appear to be the chief factor behind the falling business in the ready section.

According to them, local prices had risen well above the world parity rates owing to recent buying by some of the leading spinners and mills at Rs4,000 per maund, which in turn encouraged ginners to make it (Rs4,000) a benchmark rate.

Some of the spinners have, therefore, opted for mill-to-mill buying, partly on cash and partly on kind basis, to return the same number of bales to the loanee from the new crop.

“If we have to pay the highest price so far at the rate of Rs4,000 per maund, why not to go for fine lots from those spinners and mills who hold surplus lots beyond their annual consumption needs,” said a leading spinner.

Market sources some of the leading spinners and mills who have enormous funds at their disposal and had protected foreign markets for textiles, purchase their year’s requirement of lint at much lower rates and sell it to others at a higher margin.

However, there is no pressure on ready supplies as some of the ginners still hold an unsold stock of about 0.250m bales, mostly of fine quality and holding it firmly to sell it at their price options, they said.

A mill-to-mill deal of 1,000 bales was finalised at Rs4,000 per maund for local delivery. The lots in trade are said to be of good quality meant for fine yarn or cloth, they added.

There was, however, no change in the official spot rates, which were firmly held at the overnight level of Rs3,500 per muand.