KARACHI, Sept 19: Cotton prices on Friday resisted fresh decline caused by larger phutti arrivals as ginners held onto their unsold positions after the official release of figures.

The arrivals of phutti into the ginneries for the fortnight ended Sept 15 totalled 1.430m bales as compared to previous season’s comparable figure of 1.217m bales, showing an increase of over 0.4m bales, official data showed.

Cotton analyst Naseem Usman said the increase in phutti arrivals did not in any way reflected the higher crop ideas as it may not touch the revised target of below 12m bales.

Much of the increase in phutti arrivals was recorded in the central Sindh cotton belt where the lint was of fine variety and finding ready buyers at the much higher rates, he said.

Unlike the central Punjab, where the crop was hit by a massive pest attack and reported to have caused 15 to 20 per cent damage, the Sindh cotton crop mostly remained pest-free, another leading broker said.

Out of the total processed lint, spinners and mills purchased 1.140m bales so far, private sector 0.82m bales, leaving an unsold stock of 0.217m bales with the ginners.

According to unofficial crop projections, the total production figure could be around 12m bales plus but well below the official target of 14m bales as the crop was damaged in the Punjab cotton belt, particularly in D.G. Khan, owing to early rain and floods.

Meanwhile, physical activity in the ready section was maintained on the higher side as spinners and mills lifted all the lots offered below Rs4,000 per maund and at average selling rate being Rs3,950.

Official spot rates were firmly held unchanged at the overnight level of Rs3,950 per maund, but most of the deals were done well above this rate in the ready section.

New York cotton futures on the other hand again fell by 0.61 and 0.66 cents per lb both for the ruling October and the distant December settlements at 58.75 and 60.76 cents respectively.

The following notable deals were reported late Friday evening.

SINDH TYPE: 2,000 and 1,000 bales, Shahdadpur and Tando Adam at Rs3,975 to Rs4,000, 400, 800 and 200 bales, Nawabshah, Hala and New Saeedabad at Rs3,975, 800 bales, Mirpurkhas at Rs3,950.

PUNJAB VARIETY: 600 bales, Burewala at Rs3,975 to Rs4,000, 400 bales, Bahawalnagar at Rs3,950, 400 bales, Bahawalpur at Rs4,000, 400 bales, Khanewal at Rs3,990, 200 bales, each Vehari, Arifwala, Mian Channu and Gojra at Rs3,950, 200 bales, each Yazman, Jahania and Bahawalnagar at Rs3,935.