MULTAN: Sustained buying interest kept cotton prices steady on Wednesday amid reports that the major textile groups are also active and conducting inquiries for the purchase.

Cotton brokers said that although spinning mill owners were doing panic buying, ginners were not interested in selling their product at the prevailing prices.

They said that ginners were holding their stock to see the position of the market after Eidul Fitr.

Although the bookies have become active for future deals and low prices with the claim that the prices will fall after Eid, they have failed to impress the cotton ginners or the dealers involved in phutti (seed cotton) trade.

Four more cotton-ginning factories in Punjab have become functional — one each in Gojra and Chichawatni and two in Burewala — in addition to five factories already operating.

Factories from Punjab are getting about 60 per cent phutti from Sindh, they added.

The Karachi Cotton Association increased its spot rate by Rs50 to Rs5,750 a maund (37 kilograms).

Prices of phutti in in Tando Adam were Rs3,300, Badin Rs3,250, Thatta Rs3,325, Hyderabad Rs3,275, Sahiwal Rs3,280, Hasilpur Rs3,350, Mian Channu Rs3,375, Pakpattan Rs3,350 and Burewala Rs3,350.

Major deals on the ready counter were: 600 bales from Sanghar at Rs6,225-6,250, 200 bales Gojra Rs6,300, 200 bales Chichawatni at Rs6,300, 400 bales Shahdadpur at Rs6,225, 300 bales Burewala Rs6,300, 200 bales and Tando Adam at Rs6,275. Deals of old stock included: 400 bales Rahim Yar Khan at Rs5,925, 200 bales Bahawalpur at Rs5,800, 450 bales, Mirpur Khas at Rs5,500, 600 bales Sarhari at Rs5,000, 1,400 bales Kabirwala at Rs5,600, 1,200 bales Haroonabad at Rs5,925 and 800 bales Fort Abbas at Rs5,975.

Published in Dawn, June 30th, 2016