KARACHI, May 8: Physical trading on the cotton market on Tuesday failed to pick up as buyers were again conspicuous by their absence awaiting further developments on the import front.

Floor brokers said unconfirmed reports about the official permission of lint import from India by the overland route seem to have taken steam out of the ready market for the near-term as spinners and mills are not inclined to make fresh commitments.“The Indian lint may not be that cheaper as widely speculated as the import trade of any country is generally governed by the international market trend,” they said, adding “but there could be small savings on the freight front owing to short distant”.

Aptma has been requesting the government to allow import of lint from India for the last several weeks but it remained silent on the issue apparently allowing ginners to dispose of their unsold stocks, they added.

Modest consignments from a number of foreign countries are reaching here to meet the local shortfall after but the figures were too low to influence the local market price line based on unsold stocks, some others said.

Meanwhile, the fixation of next year’s crop target at 14.5m bales indicates that the government has based its future production estimate on the sowing of B.T. type of cottonseed on commercial basis.

But the higher target did not have any negative impact on the ruling prices for the near-term, dealers said.

It was in this background that there was relative quiet on the ready front as official spot rates were firmly held at the last levels.

Some of the local dealers reported stray lots did change hands in the ready section between Rs2,750 to Rs2,800 per maund depending on the quality of lint.