KARACHI, May 12: Forward trading in new crop from a Sindh ginnery was resumed on Thursday as a ginner offered to deliver a maiden lot by mid-August and brokers said other ginners may follow the suit to get a better price. A maiden lot of 200 bales by a Mirpurkhas ginner was sold to a local spinner at Rs2,300 per maund and delivery will be made between Aug 10 and 15.

Unlike the previous seasons, forward trading in the new crop was resumed a bit early as normally some of the ginners from the lower Sindh cotton belt start forward sales both at the fixed rates or on the basis of prevailing spot rates at the time of physical delivery, brokers said.

The price at which the deal is made appear to be on the higher side as in case of another projected bumper crop of 15m bales could upset the prices at the time of delivery, they said. In the lower Sindh cotton belt, where new crop sowing is made in February or early March, some ginneries resume their operations on a modest scale and new crop lint is sold at competitive price.

Lower Sindh growers have an edge over their counterparts in the upper Sindh and southern and central Punjab cotton belt where picking operations resumes in late September, market sources said. The size of the total crop is, therefore, known by the December figures released by the Pakistan Cotton Ginners Association (PCGA) amid conflicting speculative reports including pest attack and damage to the standing crop to suit the vested interest, they said.

Meanwhile, New York cotton futures rose further by 0.87 and 0.23 cents per lb for both the maturing May and July contracts at 56.80 and 55.50 cents per lb respectively on switching operations from May to July settlement. Local official spot rates remained pegged at the last close in the absence of large ready off-take. Some inferior low-mic lots changed hands at Rs1,925 to Rs1,950 per maund for Karachi delivery.