KARACHI: Further slowdown in phutti (seed cotton) arrivals and fear of quality owing to new spell of rains in many cotton-growing areas in Sindh and Punjab surged up cotton prices to a seasonal high on Monday.

The current spell of rains has also badly affected the working of ginning units which are not getting sufficient supply of phutti to process, brokers said.

Moreover, cotton grown in Kacha area of Sindh is reported to be confronted with quality issues; this has caused fear amongst buyers who have slowed down their buying activity, they said.

Due to rains, the arrivals of phutti in Punjab were feared to be further delayed because shortage of transport due to Eidul Azha was disrupting phutti haulage, they added.

Since there is a wide gap between demand and supply in the domestic cotton market, prices generally remained on higher side. However, world cotton markets remained under pressure. The Karachi Cotton Association left its spot rate unchanged.

Deals on the ready counter were: 300 bales from Hala (Rs6,750), 400 bales Sanghar (Rs6,750), 400 bales Shahdadpur (Rs6,750 to Rs6,850), 200 bales Tando Adam (Rs6,850), 200 bales Chichawatni (Rs6,950), 400 bales Khanewal (Rs7,000), 200 bales Gojra (Rs7,000) and 200 bales Pak Pattan (Rs7,000).

Published in Dawn, August 30th, 2016