KARACHI: Prices were steady on the cotton market on Wednesday as spinners and some exporters remained in the forefront to replenish their stocks with quality lint.

Though ginners’ body report on cotton production has been encouraging, higher consumption of cotton by the textile industry is resulting in shortage of quality lint which is causing frustration among spinners, brokers said.

Consequently, even falling prices in the world market including New York cotton and Chinese markets could not impact domestic market where prices re­­mained steady. Most deals on the ready counter were finalised above Rs5,000 per maund.

A weakening dollar in the world market and higher arrivals of phutti in both China and US put pressure on cotton prices but Indian cotton remained firm due to strong demand from textile industry.

The New York cotton closed lower for all the future contracts.

The Karachi Cotton Association’s (KCA) spot rates were unchanged.

Major deals made on ready counter included: 600 bales from Jhole done at Rs4,200 to Rs4,300, 400 bales Chichawatni at Rs4,875, 600 bale Faqirwali at Rs4,885, 400 bales Sahiwal at Rs4,900, 2,600 bales Hasilpur at Rs4,900 to Rs5,000, 600 bales Chani Goth at Rs5,100, 700 bales Alipur at Rs5,150, 800 bales Dera Ghazi Khan at Rs5,200, 600 bales Sadiqa­bad at Rs5,200, 1,000 bales Rahimyar Khan at Rs5,200 and 600 bales Mianwali at Rs5,200 to Rs5,250.

The following are Wednesday’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, March 5th, 2015

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