KARACHI, July 10: Cotton prices on Tuesday rose further higher as spinners and mills again indulged in panic-buying to grab the floating stocks of current crop.

No one could deny the fact that supply and demand factor is one of the most pressing reasons behind the current price flare-up, but the price war among the leading spinners and mills has accentuated the situation,” market sources said.

For the last two months, spinners have been playing hide-and-seek game with the ginners who still hold a sizable stock of fine lint, but there were no buyers well below the Rs2,700 per maund level, they said.

“But ginners were not that fool and held on to their stocks on the perception that spinners will be at the receiving end in the final analysis,” they said, adding “now they are selling lint around Rs3,000 per maund, which spinners were not inclined to buy at Rs2,600”.

Floor brokers said the prices could rise further in the coming weeks, if the pressure on ready supplies did not ease. Already, a leading mill had purchased a big lot of the current crop at highest rate of Rs3,100 per maund.

Some of the leading ginners still have some 25,000 bales of good quality lint, but spinners are again opting for forward deals in the new crop, they added.

The news from the world markets, notably from the New York cotton market, are more than bullish and could have sympathetic impact on the local prices in the coming weeks, analysts said.

New York cotton futures closed with limit-gain of two cents per lb for the ruling October and distant December contracts at 64.75 and 66.63 cents, respectively.

Official spot rates were again revised upward by Rs50 per maund at Rs2,775 but most of the deals in the ready section were done well above them.

The following forward deals in new crop were finalised to be delivered by the end of the this month: 400 bales, Tando Adam at Rs2,800, 200 bales, Burewala at Rs3,000, 200 bales, Sahiwal at Rs2,950 and 600 bales, current crop, Mailsi at Rs3,030.