KARACHI: Trading activity remained sluggish on the cotton market on Monday amid slow arrivals of phutti (seed cotton) because of rains and heavy floods.

Though the standing cotton crop is largely safe, phutti supply has been badly disturbed from cotton fields into ginneries.

However, cotton analysts believe that current spell of heavy rains and floods are likely to affect the quality of phutti and the cotton as wet and humid weather has adverse impact on the cotton flowers which otherwise need dry and hot climate.

By contrast, floor brokers believe that rains could prove to be a boon because the overall size of the cotton could increase and the country may even harvest a bumper cotton crop this season (2015-16).

However, they expressed concern over Trading Corporation of Pakistan’s (TCP) decision to open tender for the sale of 95,000 cotton bales in Islamabad on July 29, whereas the head office and cotton stocks are in Karachi.

The KCA spot rates were steady at previous level.

The following deals were reported on ready counter: 400 bales from Sanghar done at Rs4700, 200 bales Matli at Rs4700, 600 bales Tando Adam at Rs4700 to Rs4725, and 600 bales Shahdadpur at Rs4700 to Rs4725.

Published in Dawn, July 28th, 2015

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