KARACHI: Mounting selling pressure amid higher phutti (seed-cotton) arrivals from Punjab and increased availability of quality lots pushed lint prices further down on Thursday.

The spinners have adopted a cautious approach due to slow off-take of cotton yarn and fabric.

Calling it a crisis-like situation cotton analyst Naseem Usman said the local prices declined by up to Rs500 per maund in a week in sympathy of falling international prices of the commodity.

“This is definitely hurting growers’ interest because phutti prices have come down below the benchmark of Rs3,000 per 40kg,” he added.

The freight costs for the haulage of cotton have also increased substantially due to transportation of sacrificial animals from rural areas to urban dwellings.

The Karachi Cotton Association (KCA) further reduced its spot rates by another Rs100 to Rs6,100 per maund.

The New York and Chinese markets closed easy but Indian cotton was steady on reports of massive damage to the standing crop by recent rains in Gujrat. The following deals were reported on Thursday: 4,000 bales, Shahdadpur, at Rs5,900 to Rs6,100, 2,000 bales, Mirpurkhas, at Rs5,975 to Rs6,100, 2,600 bales, Hyderabad, at Rs6,000 to Rs6,100; 2,000 bales, Sanghar, at Rs6,000 to Rs6,100; 2,000 bales, Kotri, at Rs6,000 to Rs6,100; 2,600 bales, Tando Adam, at Rs6,000 to Rs6,100; 1,000 bales, Khanewal, at Rs6,100 to Rs6,250; 3,000 bales, Burewala, at Rs6,150 to Rs6,200; 1,000 bales, Chichawatni, at Rs6,150 to Rs6,200; and 600 bales, Vehari, at Rs6,150 to 6,200.

Published in Dawn, August 18th, 2017