KARACHI, July 17: Physical activity on the cotton market on Thursday slightly slowed down as ginners raised their asking prices by about Rs100 per maund.In the ready section, some of the deals were finalised as higher as Rs3,925 as compared to Rs3,800 a day earlier and spinners and mills curtailed their daily intake to have an idea behind the ginners’ move to raise prices higher, floor brokers said.

The last couple of sessions’ hectic mill buying seems to have encouraged ginners to raise their asking prices, apparently based on some other factors, market sources said.

“The reasons behind the snap price flare-up and heating of the market could be more than one,” said a leading cotton analyst, adding but most immediate among them are “higher asking prices of phutti by the growers, a considerable decline in the arrivals of phutti and reports of pest attacks in some areas of the Punjab cotton belt.”

He said growers seem to be now again eyeing beyond the Rs4,000 per maund level and they may have some good reasons to think as they have a fair idea of the condition of the crop at least in the Punjab cotton belt.

However, it is too early to say something about the size of the crop as in the major growing areas, the new crop is still to attain the flowering stage, which generally determines the production potential if the incident of pest attack is beyond the economic injury level, he said.

The current rebound staged by the New York cotton futures was said to be contributory positive factor behind the snap rise in prices, he added.

However, a considerable decline in mill ready off-take reflects that they are not inclined to go beyond their export parity levels and may wait for the next couple of days before resuming normal covering operations, some others said.

Official spot rates were revised upward by Rs25 per maund at Rs3,675, in line with those at which physical business is being transacted.

New York cotton futures on the other hand showed fractional rise of 0.03 and 0.12 cents per lb for both the ruling October and the forward December contracts at 70.91 and 73.83 cents, respectively.

The following are some of the deals reported in the ready section:

SINDH TYPE: 100 bales, Mirpur, at Rs3,900; 200 bales each Shahdadpur and Sanghar at 3,875.

PUNJAB VARIETY: 200 bales, each Pir Mahal, Burewala, Gojra, Pak Pattan and Arifwala at Rs3,900.