KARACHI, May 4: Cotton market on Friday lacked normal trading interest in the absence of reports from the Punjab cotton belt as ginners observe Friday as weekly closure.

The other factor, which contributed to the relative calm in physical activity was the release of final crop figures by the Pakistan Cotton Ginners Association (PCGA).

According to official figures, total arrivals amounted to 12.410m bales, out of which spinners have purchased 11.885m bales, and the exporters’ 0.118m bales, leaving an unsold stock of 0.408m bales, with the ginners.

Market sources said the unsold stock of lint was far below the annual consumption needs of the textile sector and spinners and mills will have to import a substantial quantity of lint from various sources to make up for the local crop shortfall.

“Spinners have holding the price line around their export parity level for the last couple of weeks after keeping off the market or making stray covering purchases,” they said “ but the situation has now changed a bit as ginners may exploit the supply and demand factor to push prices further higher.”

The relative quiet in daily business activity reflects that ginners too are not worried over the falling mill demand as unsold stocks did not have any negative impact on their holding capacity, they added.

But local brokers said some of the spinners were in the market for modest lots but as the price ideas of buyers and sellers were poles apart no deal could be finalised.

Official spot rates were, therefore, again quoted at the last level of Rs2,700 per maund but in the ready section ginners were not inclined to sell fine lots below Rs2,800 per maund.New York cotton futures on the other hand showed fractional decline of 0.05 and 0.22 cents at 46.50 and 48.40 cents per lb for both the maturing May and the forward July contracts, respectively.