KARACHI, Aug 1: Trading activity on the cotton market on Tuesday remained slow as price ideas of buyers and sellers failed to find a meeting ground owing to heavy rain. While spinners are not inclined to go beyond their export parity levels, ginners have further raised their asking prices as picking operations of phutti remained suspended for the last about one week because of heavy rain in the entire Sindh cotton belt, brokers said.

As the arrivals of phutti have virtually dried up, central Sindh ginners hold on to modest stocks of lint apparently eyeing the price level of Rs2,600 per maund, they added.

However, spinners and mills were not inclined to go beyond Rs2,525 level but ginners appear to be in no obliging mood and held on to their stocks, market sources said.

They said the current standoff between the ginners and the spinners was expected to persist until clear weather returned to the Sindh cotton belt and normal picking operations were resumed.

Meanwhile, spinners and mills had opted for the TCP lint against which bids would be opened on Aug 3. Market sources said most of the spinners were actively participating in the tender for 32,000 bales.

In the absence of sufficient new crop stocks, spinners are expected to try to lift as many bales as they could in the Thursday’s TCP tender to fill in immediate supply gaps.

Some of the local spinners are also planning to arrange immediate deliveries from the central Punjab cotton belt where supply position is normal and rates being quoted by the ginners are well below Rs2,600 per maund.

Official spot rates were again held unchanged at the previous level of Rs2,500 per maund but stray new crop lots were changed hands above them.

New York cotton futures on the other hand showed modest fall of 0.25 and 0.26 cents at 53.45 and 55.28 cents per lb for both the ruling October and the forward December contracts respectively.

Ready business was light totalling 800 bales of new crop from Sindh ginneries sold around Rs2,525 per maund.