KARACHI: Selling pressure persisted on the cotton market on Friday amid higher arrivals of phutti (seed cotton) and a dip in off-take of lint by spinners and exporters.

Trading started on overnight falling trend which was triggered by higher arrivals of phutti in the light of assessments that standing crop in Punjab suffered no major loss.

As a result, earlier apprehensions about heavy losses to standing crop eased which brought sudden change in the market posture and turned it into a ‘buyers market’.

However, experts fear that excessive moisture in the wake of floods may result in pest attack. The agriculture department had been advising cotton growers to remove stagnant water in cotton fields and also use pesticides by carrying out regular scouting of the standing crop.

Spinners, particularly in Punjab where power crisis is deepening with each passing day, have adopted cautious posture. Yarn market is also sluggish as many dealers are reported to have defaulted on account of rapid price variation and slow off-take of cotton yarn by value-added textile sector.

The New York cotton market once again reeled back after witnessing mild recovery a day earlier.

The Karachi Cotton Association (KCA) left its spot rates unchanged.

The following are some of the major deals which transpired on ready counter: 2,000 bales Shahdadpur at Rs5,575 to Rs5,600, 1,600 bales Tando Adam at Rs5,575 to Rs5,600, 1,000 bales Mirpurkhas at Rs5,575 to Rs5600, 2400 bales Sanghar at Rs5550 to Rs5600, 1000 bales Hyderabad at Rs5,575 to Rs5,600, 1,000 bales Khanewal at Rs5,625 to Rs5,680, 1,200 bales Mian Channu at Rs5,700, 1,200 bales Mianwali at Rs5,700, 600 bales Chichawatni at Rs5,600 to Rs5,700 and 400 bales Haroonabad at Rs5,650.

The following are Friday’s new crop Karachi Cotton Association (KCA) official spot rates for local dealings in Pak rupees for base grade 3 staple length 1-1/16” micronair value between 3.8 to 4.9 NCL.

Published in Dawn, September 20th, 2014