KARACHI, May 10: Trading activity on the cotton market on Thursday gathered fresh momentum as some of the ginners cleared the backlog of their unsold stocks at the lower rates.

“After having lost hopes of a price flare-up in the backdrop of a short crop, most of the ginners holding odd lots hastened to get out of the market even at the falling prices,” floor brokers said.

But leading among them, notably from the southern Punjab cotton belt, were held on to their unsold positions still hoping an increase in prices during the next couple of weeks, they said.

Spinners and mills on the other hand were not inclined to go beyond their export parity levels and lifted only those fine lots which were offered below Rs2,800 per maund.

Owing to various factors including a short crop, falling world demand for textiles and higher local prices had a negative impact on the operational efficiency of the textile sector.

That was perhaps why spinners and mills enter and leave the market at will never allowing ginners to benefit in the form of higher prices despite a lower crop, market sources said.

They said the unsold stock with the ginners fell to around 0.3m bales as leading textile groups were said to be cornering the unsold stock to sell at the higher rates after having met their own consumption needs before the arrival of the new crop from the lower Sindh cotton belt in early July.

Official spot rates resisted fresh fall and were quoted unchanged at the overnight level of Rs2,675 per maund.

Ready offtake amounted to about 5,000 bales including a big deal of 4,000 bales, at Rs2,700, Karachi delivery, 600 bales from D.G. Khan were also sold at this rate.

Some of the low-mic lots including 200 bales each from Sanghar and Shahdadpur were sold at Rs2,340 and Rs2,325 per maund respectively.