KARACHI, July 30: Cotton prices rose further by Rs50 to 100 per maund on Wednesday as spinners and mills virtually tried to grab the floating stock irrespective of the asking prices.

Bulk of the ready business was transacted at a uniform rate of Rs4,200 per maund irrespective of the quality in trade. This has assumed the role of a base rate at which future business will be done, some cotton analysts fear.

“The lint rates could rise to any high from now onward as haunted by persistent reports pouring in from the entire cotton belt, spinners and mills are not inclined to have second thought about the future supplies and demand factors,” they said.

No one could deny the fact that mealy bug has attacked the crop in most of the areas and corrective steps are being taken by both the officials and the growers, but it is too early to guess about the crop size at this stage, they added.

This is in the interest of growers themselves to take corrective steps to save the crop from a major damage by the pest attacks as they have a big stake in a normal crop, said a leading ginner.

The fall in phutti arrivals is due to some other reasons including the fortnightly gap between the routine picking periods, he added.

The extent of the damage, if any, will be known by the end of next month when the picking operations of phutti will be resumed in the major cotton growing areas, market sources said.

Meanwhile, reports coming in from the major cotton growing areas, notably upper Sindh and the southern Punjab indicate that instances of pest attack here and there are not wanting but the situation is well under control.

It was because of the prevailing panic among the spinners and mills that official spot

rates were upped by Rs75 per maund in line with the ready prices to Rs3,975.

New York cotton future also rose further by 0.58 and 0.63 cents per lb at 71.66 and 74.48 cents for both the ruling October and the distant December settlements, respectively.

The following deals were finalised in the ready section on Wednesday:

SINDH VARIETY: 600 bales, Shahdadpur at Rs4,190 to Rs4,200, 300 and 200 bales, Hyderabad and Sanghar at Rs4,200.

PUNJAB TYPE: 400, 1,000, 200, each Hasilpur, Gojra, Arifwala, Pir Mahal, Bahawalnagar and Kassowal at Rs4,200, 400 bales, Pak Pattan also at Rs4,200 and 1,000 bales, Burewala at Rs175 to Rs200.