KARACHI, July 25: Trading on the cotton market on Monday resumed on a steady note as ginners held on to their positions seeking higher prices for their unsold stocks. Physical business was light as leading spinners and mills remained busy with the TCP weekly auction and were awaiting the outcome of their bids in the backdrop of last week’s increase in foreign rates.

However, as the spinners need more lint to cover their forward positions against foreign sales of textiles, they could hardly afford to miss target irrespective of the reference price of the TCP, market sources said.

Both local and foreign sales by the TCP may now have crossed a million bales mark and the balance could serve as a buffer stock after two or three more auctions before the official deadline of Aug 15 to stop further sales, they said.

Some of the spinners and mills, which did not take part in the TCP auctions, continued to meet their day to day needs from ginners who still hold modest stocks of fine lots, brokers said.

Some others, which hold comfortable stock position, are awaiting the arrivals of new crop from the lower Sindh cotton belt and some of them have already made forward deals for delivery in the third week of August, they said.

Although new crop phutti is steadily arriving from lower Sindh ginneries, the ginners may not resume operations before the first week of the next month, they said.

But on the other hand, the central Punjab ginners, who have already resumed their ginning operations based on Sindh phutti, have not made forward deals or started ready sales to the local spinners perhaps owing to a limited turnover.

The month August could be a trend-setter for the market in terms of both price and supply position, as by that time the TCP will be out of the arena and there may a straight battle of wits between the ginners and the spinners, brokers said.

Official spot rates were held firmly at the weekend level of Rs2,375.00 per maund.