KARACHI: Steady flow of buying orders from needy spinners on Tuesday kept cotton prices pegged at overnight level.

Forecast of more rains has been a cause of concern for growers.

Though currently the cotton crop is not facing any major issues but rainy weather and high moisture could affect the quality of phutti (seed cotton) and cause pest attack in the coming days.

Some reports from Punjab indicate pest attacks in early stages while the new spell of rains in Sindh could also affect phutti.

Meanwhile, the transportation issue has also been aggravating with each passing day as more and more vehicles are being diverted towards the haulage of sacrificial animals.

It was interesting to note that much of the trading activity remained around Punjab variety cotton. However, prices of both Sindh and Punjab closed steady at overnight level.

The looms workers in Faisalabad have withdrawn their strike but now owners have decided to keep the operations closed till after Eidul Azha.

The world’s leading cotton markets including New York Cotton, China and India closed steady.

The Karachi Cotton Asso­ciation (KCA) spot rates were firm at overnight level.

The following major deals were reported on Tuesday: 2,000 bales, Sanghar, at Rs6,050 to Rs6,100; 2,000 bales, Shahdadpur, at Rs6,050 to Rs6,100; 2,000 bales, Hyderabad, at Rs6,100; 1,600 bales, Kotri, at Rs6,050 to Rs6,100; 2,000 bales, Tando Adam, at Rs6,100; 1,200 bales, Khan­e­­wal, at Rs6,200 to Rs6,275; 800 bales, Burewala, at Rs6,200 to Rs6,275; 1,200 bales, Haroonabad, at Rs6,185 to Rs6,200; 1,000 bales, Vehari, at Rs6,200 to Rs6,250; and 600 bales, Sahiwal, at Rs6,200.

Published in Dawn, August 23rd, 2017