KARACHI: Buyers remained at the forefront on the cotton market and indulged in short covering to meet their near future demand on Saturday. The underlying sentiment was firm and outlook positive.

The economic measures taken by the government in the mini budget are being taken positively by the industry and could help restore business confidence.

Interestingly, there was also a revival in buying at the cotton yarn market though spinners say that they are still holding substantial stocks of the commodity.

Textile spinners who need to import up to 4 million bales are eagerly awaiting the statuary release order (SRO) for allowing duty free imports of cotton permitted by the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC).

On the global front most of the leading cotton markets continue to give mixed trend with New York cotton recovering part of recent losses. Similarly, Indian and Chinese cotton markets were mixed to easy.

The Karachi Cotton Association (KCA) spot rates were firm at overnight level at Rs8,700 per maund.

The following deals were reported to have changed hands on ready counter: 200 bales, station Rohri, at Rs8,200; 1,400 bales, Ghotki, at Rs8,800; 600 bales, Layyah, at Rs8,700-8,750; 200 bales, Rahim Yar Khan, at Rs8,700; 2,000 bales, Jalalpur, at Rs8,600-8,650; 200 bales, Fort Abbas, at Rs8,500; 400 bales, Mianwali, at Rs8,400; 400 bales, Mian Channu, at Rs7,800; and 100 bales, Toba Tek Singh, at Rs7,500.

Published in Dawn, January 27th, 2019