KARACHI, May 10: The cotton market on Tuesday passed through another tradeless session as spinners and mills managed to buy a substantial quantity of bales from the TCP auction after matching their bids. Some of the local spinners were in the market and managed to lift about 2,000 bales of inferior type below Rs2,100 per maund. Identical reports from the southern Punjab cotton belt also said stray business was being done straight between the spinners and ginners.

However, unsold stocks with the ginners are exhausting each day and those who hold modest lots are not worried over the TCP auctions and hope to dispose of them well in time.

According to official figures released by the TCP, local spinners and mills had purchased about 50,000 bales, out of the total tender of 60,000 bales at Rs2,250 and Rs2,300 per maund depending on the mic and staple length of the lint.

But there is no official word about the foreign buyers who have offered to buy lint at 47.07 cents per lb. Indications are that they may not have revised their bids as demanded by the TCP for import parity reasons, market sources said.

The TCP has announced the date of next weekly auction on May 14, when another 60,000 bales will be offered for sale to both the local and foreign buyers and that could get good response as the earlier two did owing to rising world prices, they said.

The spinners and mills needing more supplies owing to steady export demand for the textiles are expected to remain active participants in the next TCP tenders, leaving the market at the mercy of their weaker links.

A smart recovery staged by the New York futures is expected to give needed boost to the TCP perceptions of a higher price if the current rising trend was maintained prior to the tender date of May 14.

New York cotton futures on Monday recovered from the last week’s lows and were marked up by 1.52 cents per lb for the matured May contract amid rolling of positions to the July delivery, while the forward July was quoted higher by 0.85 cents at 54.80 and 55.01 cents per lb. May rose to 55.01 cents per lb.

There was, however, no change in the official spot rates which were firmly held at Rs2,200 per maund.