KARACHI: The cotton market on Friday reeled back owing to lack of buying interest amid poor off-take of cotton yarn and fabric. The undertone remained weak and outlook uncertain.

The buyers generally avoided to participate in the proceedings because big spinners have already booked substantial quantity of imported cotton while small and medium sized spinners are faced with liquidity problem.

The falling exports of textile goods started having its toll over the entire textile industry which now seems to be faced with liquidity problem. The cotton yarn and fabric markets are giving sluggish performance while exports are dropping, lamented a broker.

Meanwhile, India cotton was steady with private estimates putting domestic consumption at 20.95 million bales against expected production of 30.41 million bales. However, India has already entered into export commitments with many deals were either cancelled or renegotiated after hike in price.

The Karachi Cotton Association left its spot rates unchanged. On the ready counter, only one deal of 400 bales from Buchari was reported at Rs6,600 per maund (around 37 kilograms).

Published in Dawn, February 25th, 2017