KARACHI, Sept 23: Active trading was witnessed on the cotton market on Tuesday as mills and spinners continued to make fresh commitments at the current levels amid brisk activity.

Arrivals of phutti into the ginneries remained fairly steady as growers were in no mood to hold on to their stocks as the prevailing prices are attractive enough to unload stocks. Phutti prices are being quoted between Rs1,050 to Rs1,075 per 40 kg in the Punjab cotton belt and slightly lower in Sindh because of quality premiums.

Ready offtake remained on the higher side, bulk of which was confined to the Punjab variety done late in Monday evening as spinners were not inclined to miss a single lot at the prevailing prices, market sources said.

According to them about 20,000 to 25,000 bales business is being transacted daily for the last couple of sessions as spinners and mills are out to build-up long positions at the prevailing prices, they said.

However, fresh price flare-up was halted as some of the ginners from the central Sindh lowered their asking prices in apparent bid to unload their long positions to cover fixation of phutti prices by the growers.

Most of the deals were, therefore, finalized below Rs2,500 per maund without 15 per cent sales tax. A forward deal of 200 bales was done at Rs2,550 on one month credit, brokers said.

Unlike the previous sessions, Punjab lint was sold at premium as compared to its central Sindh counterpart, an average rate being Rs2,500, while some Sindh lots changed hands at the day’s lowest rate of Rs2,375, they said.

Reports from the world cotton markets were mixed as consumers are still in the process of assessing the size of the total crop and the consumption estimate for the current year.

New York cotton futures showed a fractional decline of 0.5 cents for the ruling October contract and 0.35 cents for the forward December at 63.55 and 65.22 cents per lb respectively.

Official spot rates were, on the other hand, firmly held at the overnight levels, although in physical trading most of the deals were done well above them.

Ready offtake was active as till late in the evening the following deals were reported by a leading brokerage house:

SINDH TYPE: 800 bales, Nawabshah at Rs2,500, 200 bales, Punjmoro, at Rs2,550 on one-month credit, 200 bales, Tando Allahyar at Rs2,375, 200 bales, Mirpurkhas at Rs2,400, 200 bales, Sakrand at Rs2,500, and 200 bales, Karachi delivery also at the same rates.