KARACHI: Strong buying from spinners and some exporters pushed cotton prices higher on Thursday. Fresh depreciation in the rupee’s value against the dollar induced buying.

Floor brokers said that as temperature on political front is gradually subsiding, leading spinners and some exporters preferred to take advantage of new dollar-rupee parity as it will make them more competitive in world markets.

From the outset there was strong buying from millers who were keen to replenish their stocks from initial picking of phutti (seed cotton) to ensure quality lint.

Slow arrivals of phutti against high lint demand pushed prices higher by Rs50 to Rs100 a maund on ready deals.

The New York cotton market for second straight session moved higher where all the future contracts recorded handsome gains.

The Karachi Cotton Association (KCA) spot rates remained unchanged at overnight level.

The following major deals were reported to have changed hands on ready counter: 1,000 bales Hyderabad at Rs5,450 to Rs5,500; 1,600 bales Mirpurkhas at Rs5,450 to Rs5,500; 2,200 bales Sanghar at Rs5,450 to Rs5,500; 2,000 bales Shahdadpur at Rs5,450 to Rs5,500; 1,200 bales Tando Adam at Rs5,450 to Rs5,500; 1,000 bales Burewala at Rs5,550 to Rs5,600; 1,000 bales Haroonabad at Rs5,550 to Rs5,600; and 1,000 bales Khanewal at Rs5,550 to Rs5,600.

The following are Thursday’s new crop Karachi Cotton Association (KCA) official spot rates for local dealings in Pak rupees for base grade 3 staple length 1-1/32” micronair value between 3.8 to 4.9 NCL.

Published in Dawn, August 22nd, 2014