KARACHI: Listless trading was witnessed on the cotton market on Thursday as buyers continued their search for quality lint which was in short supply.

A very little quantity of quality lint is left with the ginners restricting trading activities. Lately spinners have started lifting even second and third grade cotton to meet their near-term demand, brokers said.

Also ginners asking high rates for their limited unsold stocks was discouraging spinners from entering into deals, they added.

Though major world cotton markets remained firm despite some correction witnessed overnight on the New York Cotton Exchange (NYCE) but domestic market lacked normal trading interest, brokers said. The NYCE recovered part of the overnight losses as all the futures contracts closed higher. The Indian cotton markets were also reported to be firm.

Cotton analysts think the market will remain devoid of activity in days to come as stocks with ginners are fast depleting and the next crop is still four-month away.

However, needy spinners are looking towards the state-owned Trading Corpor­ation of Pakistan (TCP), which has around 84,000 bales from the last crop, for meeting their demand. The Karachi Cotton Association (KCA) kept its spot rates at overnight level.

Meanwhile, the TCP sold 4,100 bales to a spinner at Rs5,860.

Published in Dawn, April 29th, 2016