KARACHI: The cotton market on Friday remained steady where spinners and exporters indulged in active buying to meet their near-future requirements.

Floor brokers said that as phutti (seed cotton) arrivals are gaining momentum, the growers are unable to hold back due to lack of storage capacity.

However, many growers are still trying to hold back their phutti stocks hoping to get better price once the Trading Corporation of Pakistan (TCP) starts cotton procurement.

Meanwhile, market reports indicate that the TCP is trying to take the services of Pakistan Cotton Standard Institute (PCSI) to verify cotton quality to be procured by the corporation.

The TCP is also finalising the names of cotton procuring agents by the end of this month as their applications are under process. However, brokers believe that the TCP would not be able to start procurement before middle of the next month.

The New York market moved lower except for the maturing December contract.

The Karachi Cotton Asso­ci­ation (KCA) spot rates were unchanged at previous level.

The following are major deals reported to have changed hands on ready counter: 1,000 bales upper Sindh at Rs5,200, 1,000 bales Jahania at Rs5,150, 1,000 bales Haroonabad at Rs5,200, 1,000 bales Khanewal at Rs5,200 to Rs5,250, 1,400 bales Kot Addu at Rs5,250, 1,000 bales Eas Khail at Rs5,250, 1,600 bales Alipur at Rs5,250 and 3,000 bales Rajanpur at Rs5,250 to Rs5,275.

The following are Friday’s new crop Karachi Cotton Association (KCA) official spot rates for local dealings in Pak rupees for base grade 3 staple length 1-1/16” micronair value between 3.8 to 4.9 NCL.

Published in Dawn, October 25th, 2014