KARACHI: Strong buying from textile spinning mills on Wednesday kept cotton prices high. The Karachi Cotton Association (KCA) spot rates were increased for the second time in a week by Rs50 to Rs8,900 per maund.

The ongoing shutdown of Faisalabad yarn market slightly impacted trading volume otherwise the market as a whole remained bullish amid brisk activity.

According to market reports, phutti (seed cotton) prices also stood on higher side with Sindh variety was quoted between Rs3,000-4,200, Punjab in the range of Rs3,800-4,400 per 40kg. Balochistan phutti, however, stood even higher betweenRs4,000-4,600 per 40kg.

Large spinning units continued to book import orders to meet their cotton demand for current season. Arrival of shipments from far off countries would need around 2-3 months to reach Karachi port.

The world leading markets were erratic. New York cotton recouped part of the recent losses for all future contracts. Chinese and Indian cotton were steady.

The following deals were reported to have changed hands on ready counter: 1,200 bales, station Rohri, at Rs8,800-8,850; 1,800 bales, Rahim Yar Khan, at Rs9,050-9,100; 1,400 bales, Sadiqabad, at Rs9,100; 1,200 bales, Fort Abbas, at Rs9,000-9,050; 1,400 bales, Bahawalpur, at Rs8,900-9,000; 1,000 bales, Yazman Mandi, at Rs9,000; 600 bales, Khanpur, at Rs9,100; 600 bales, Mianwali, at Rs9,050-9,100; and 1,200 bales, Vehari, at Rs8,750.

Published in Dawn, October 17th, 2019