KARACHI: Cotton prices scrambled to a new high of Rs9,600 per maund on Tuesday as millers, panicked by short crop reports, actively procured the commodity.

A large number of textile spinning mills do not have the duty and taxes remission facility and hence would be unable to import cotton. Even those mills having DTRE facility strongly feel that imports would not be so easy as they have to get cotton from far off places like Brazil, US and some African countries.

Nevertheless, many leading textile spinning mills continued to open Letter of Credit (L/Cs) for import of cotton and presently Pakistan has become the second largest importer of US cotton.

Phutti (seed cotton) prices also moved up for Punjab and Sindh varieties and quoted between Rs3,600-4,500. Balochistan phutti was in the range of Rs4,200-4,800 per 40kg.

The world leading cotton markets gave mixed trend with Indian cotton coming under pressure following reports of 39 per cent drop in yarn exports. The New York and Chinese markets were mixed.

The Karachi Cotton Association (KCA) spot rates were unchanged at overnight level at Rs9,300 per maund.

The following deals were reported to have changed hands on ready counter: 2,000 bales, Khairpur, at Rs9,050-9,100; 800 bales, Saleh Pat, at Rs9,075; 600 bales, Ghotki, at Rs9,500-9,550; 600 bales, Daharki, at Rs9,500-9,550; 600 bales, Bahawalpur, at Rs9,200-9,250; 1,000 bales, Fort Abbas, at Rs9,275-9,300; 3,200 bales, Sadiqabad, at Rs9,500-9,600; and 8,600 bales, Rahim Yar Khan, at Rs9,500-9,600.

Published in Dawn, October 30th, 2019