KARACHI, May 9: Cotton prices on Wednesday were marked down by Rs25 per maund as some of the ginners cleared their backlog of unsold odd lots at the lower levels. Floor brokers said persistent standoff on the price issue between the ginners and the spinners for the last couple of weeks has pushed the ready off-take to low ebb.

For the last couple of weeks stray lots did change hands but after a gap of couple of days as spinners and mills were not inclined to match the ginners’ asking price owing to problems on the export front, they said.

“Weak link of the leading ginners at last gave in as there was no chance of fresh rise in prices as was speculated by them in the backdrop of a short crop,” they said.

They lowered their selling prices by Rs25 per maund, which in turn attracted buyers and all the lots offered for sale were lifted by the spinners and the mills, they added.

The market has witnessed a battle of wits between the ginners and the spinners since the Pakistan Cotton Ginners Association (PCGA) released the final crop figure and an unsold stock of 0.408m bales but the former failed to exploit the situation.

Indications are that spinners and mills will lift the entire unsold stock but at their parity level and may not go beyond them owing to the prevailing international textile market conditions.

Official spot rates were quoted lower by Rs25 per maund but in the ready section of the deals were done well below them in line with quality premiums.

New York cotton futures on the other hand showed modest rise of 0.41 and 0.10 cents per lb in the maturing May and ruling July contracts at 46.70 and 48.70, respectively.

The following are some of the deals reported in the ready section; 400 bales, Gambat at Rs2,625, 200 bales, Mirpur Mathelo at Rs2,675 and 200 bales, at Rs2,650.