MULTAN: Trading activities remained slow on the cotton market on Thursday as sellers took the sidelines after it was confirmed that cotton is included in the list of goods China will purchase from America.

There was an increase of up to Rs150 in cotton prices on the local market. However, the Karachi Cotton Association kept its spot rates unchanged at Rs9,000.

Phutti prices in Sindh and Punjab remained between Rs3,200-4,800.

Cotton experts said that ginners are very excited following the outcome of US-China negotiations. China — the largest cotton buyer — is expected to start purchasing American cotton from next week. This means prices of the commodity in local market will start increasing as soon as China starts its buying spree, sources added.

According to the USDA report, Vietnam was the largest country to purchase US cotton last week with 71,600 bales followed by Pakistan with 34,800, Turkey with 29,500, Taiwan with 27,500 and Bangladesh with 25,000 bales. Sale to other countries stood at 44,500 bales.

In net export from the US, Vietnam was again on the top with 86,800 bales, followed by Pakistan with 47,100, Turkey with 39,100, China with 24,700 and Indonesia with 19,800. Net exports to other countries were 84,200 bales. Deliveries to China were being made on the orders of last year. There was also an increase of 43 per cent as compared to last week in net export.

The following deals were reported to have changed hands on ready counter: 400 bales, station Rahim Yar Khan, at Rs9,300; 1,200 bales, Khanpur, at Rs9,100 and Rs9,200 (600 bales each), 1,200 bales, Sadiqabad, at Rs9,200; 400 bales, Mirpur Mathelo, at Rs9,225; 400 bales, Haroonabad, at Rs8,550; 600 bales, Bahawalpur, at Rs8,450; and 200 bales, Lodhran, at Rs8,400.

Published in Dawn, January 17th, 2020