KARACHI, May 31: The cotton market on Thursday maintained firm outlook unlike the previous sessions, which lacked normal trading interest, as ginners started receiving buying enquiries from both mill and spinners.

However, the price ideas of the both failed to find a meeting ground as a result the ready off-take remained light as mills were not willing to go beyond their export parity levels, floor brokers said.

Leading among them however were after new crop lots and so far did not miss a single lot offered by ginners.

“An average price of lower Sindh lint for delivery between July 15 and Aug 15 at Rs2,500 per maund is in line with their export parity levels and spinners and mills are willing buyers at this rate,” brokers said.

The trading in the new crop from lower Sindh, where the crop is said to be close to official projections, is expected to pick up by the middle of next month after picking operations are resumed there, they said.

Unconfirmed reports said that growers are willing sellers at any rate above Rs1,200 per 40 kg for clean phutti but leading among them prefer to deliver on an unfixed basis, some others said.

Reports reaching here from the central Punjab cotton belt indicate that early sown crop is ready for picking operations and ginners may resume operations as will do their counterparts in the lower Sindh, they added.

It was perhaps in this background that official spot rates were firmly held at the overnight level of Rs2,650 per maund.

New York cotton futures on the other hand recovered from the previous lows on active short-covering and rose by 0.35 and 0.50 cents per lb at 50.38 and 54.20 cents for both the ruling July and the forward October settlements respectively.

Ready offtake was light totalling about 1,000 bales as under: 400 bales, new crop, Sultanabad at Rs2,500 and 500 bales low-mic, Chistian at Rs2,450.