KARACHI: Cotton prices soared to new high level on Wednesday as short supply of phutti (seed cotton) failed to meet rising cotton demand from the textile industry.

Late sowing of cotton owing to water shortage is delaying phutti arrivals creating lint shortage.

At the outset, prices moved higher and at one stage it touched a peak level of Rs9,250 per maund. In sympathy, phutti prices also touched historic high level at Rs4,000 to Rs4,400 for Sindh variety and Rs3,800 to Rs4,500 per 40 kg for Punjab quality.

Cotton analyst Naseem Usman said a spell of monsoon rains in Sindh could help growers to go for cotton sowing again in many areas and compensate earlier losses.

Meanwhile market reports suggest that cotton trade is currently under crisis as many deals have ran into dispute because of price variations. Some ginners took long position but failed to deliver while many spinners have backed out due to high price.

As cotton prices on ready counter crossed Rs9,000 mark, the official spot rates of the Karachi Cotton Association (KCA) were also raised by Rs100 to Rs8,900 per maund.

The world leading cotton markets also maintained an upward trend, with Indian cotton gaining INR100 more to INR46,600 per candy (356 kg). New York cotton also recorded modest gains while Chinese cotton closed steady.

Trading on ready counter was fairly active and following deals were reported to have changed hands: 1,000 bales, station Tando Adam, at Rs9,100 to Rs9,200; 600 bales, Shahdadpur, at Rs9,100; 200 bales, Hyderabad, at Rs9,100; 100 bales, Gojra, at Rs9,100; 200 bales, Samundri, at Rs9,100; and 200 bales, Haroonabad, at Rs9,100.

Published in Dawn, July 19th, 2018