KARACHI: The cotton market remained steady on Tuesday where activity could not pick up due to slow arrivals of phutti (seed cotton).

The current wave of rains in cotton growing belts of Punjab and Sindh has restricted phutti movement from fields into ginneries, disturbing demand and supply position of cotton.

The agriculture ministry has warned cotton growers of pest attack and also advised them against rain water stagnation in the cotton fields as it would hurt the crop.

Cotton analyst Naseem Usman said more rains would damage standing cotton crop. He also feared that the current slow spell of rain may affect the quality of cotton.

Consequently, cotton prices on ready deals remained on higher side and trading activity could not increase due to short supply of phutti. The Karachi Cotton Association (KCA) spot rates remained unchanged.

The following deals were reported to have changed hands on ready counter: 1,200 bales Sanghar at Rs5,600 to Rs5,650, 1,400 bales Mirpurkhas at Rs5,600 to Rs5,650, 1,000 bales Hyderabad at Rs5,600 to Rs5,650, 1,200 bales Shahdadpur at Rs5,650, 1,000 bales Haroonabad at Rs5,700 to Rs5,800, 1,200 bales Chichawatni at Rs5,750 to Rs5,800, 1,000 bales Burewala at Rs5,750 and 800 bales Khanewal at Rs5,750 to Rs5,800.

The following are Tuesday’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, September 3rd, 2014