KARACHI: Cotton prices stayed firm on Monday on sustained buying from small- and medium-sized textile units to replenish their stocks at current prices amid fears of short crop.

The world leading markets remained under pressure with Indian cotton prices came crashing down between Rs200 to Rs1,000 per candy. The Chinese and New York markets were easy.

However, major spinning groups were reported to have started exploring import market.

The private estimates put cotton production little over 10 million bales for the current season suggesting a substantial quantity of cotton will have to be imported to meet the shortfall of around 3-4 million bales, cotton analyst Naseem Usman said. Consequently, the buyers remained focused on quality cotton and seemed to be in a hurry to build up their inventory. But sluggish performance of cotton yarn market somewhat hindered buying from many textile spinners, brokers said.

The Karachi Cotton Association (KCA) maintained its spot rates at weekend level of Rs8,550 per maund.

The following deals were reported to have changed hands on the ready counter: 1,400 bales, Shahdadpur, at Rs7,850 to Rs8,000; 2,000 bales, Tando Adam, at Rs7,850 to Rs8,000; 1,200 bales, Rajanpur, at Rs8,750 to Rs8,800; 1,000 bales, Hasilpur, at Rs8,750; and 1,400 bales, Layyah, at Rs8,675.

Published in Dawn, September 24th, 2019