KARACHI: Lacklustre conditions prevailed on the cotton market on Tuesday with buyers mostly operating on day-to-day basis amid an uncertain economic outlook.

Spinners mostly concentrated their activity on quality cotton which was in short supply.

Despite the fact that crop size is much shorter than anticipated earlier, there was no buying enthusiasm from spinners who reportedly have huge unsold stocks of cotton yarn.

According to market talks, China has refused to accept a large number of containers loaded with cotton yarn shipped from India and Pakistan and this also had a negative impact on sentiment.

Phutti (seed cotton) prices also came down for all the varieties because of slow off-take of cotton and partly due an issue of quality. Spinners seem to be keen on importing cotton rather than buying locally.

“The area under cotton cultivation has declined and had been taken over by sugarcane which is a political crop. This results in excessive sugar production in the country which could not be exported due to high price against world market prices,” said cotton analyst Naseem Usman.

The Karachi Cotton Association (KCA) spot rates were firm at overnight level at Rs8,800 per maund.

The following deals were reported to have changed hands on ready counter: 600 bales, station Panno Aqil, at Rs9,000-9,100; 400 bales, Ghotki, at Rs9,000-9,100, 400 bales, Khanpur Mahar, at Rs9,150, 1,200 bales, Khairpur Mirus, at Rs8,600; 1,400 bales, Sadiqabad, at Rs9,000-9,025; 1,600 bales, Rahim Yar Khan, at Rs8,975-9,000; 1,000 bales, Shujabad, at Rs9,000; 1,600 bales, Fort Abbas, at Rs8,625-9,725; 1,800 bales, Yazman, at Rs8,627-8,700; and 600 bales, Burewala, at Rs8,450.

Published in Dawn, November 21st, 2018