KARACHI, Aug 23: Cotton market on Thursday maintained a firm trend as spinners and mills remained active buyers around the asking prices of ginners.

Ready off-take was active as Sindh lint traded at Rs3,150 per maund, while its counterpart in the Punjab changed hands around Rs3,300.

The interesting feature was that the a couple of weeks earlier both the types were selling at same rate which in normal conditions is sold at a premium, floor brokers said.

“Varietal price difference based on fine quality and buyers preference has been revived,” they said, adding “the Punjab lint on Thursday was sold at a premium of Rs150 per maund and spinners were willing to pay more for good reasons too”.However, they said, upper Sindh lint, which matches its southern Punjab lint, is expected to be sold at par with it during the next couple of weeks, they added.

Market sources said steep rise in Punjab type from Rs2,900 to Rs3,300 per maund indicated that the quality of lint was not damaged by the recent pest attack as was widely speculated.

But they did not rule out the possibility of fresh rise in lint prices as doubts were being expressed about the production target which may not be met.

Meanwhile, there was relative calm on lint import front as foreign lint was not that cheaper rather said to be expensive as being claimed by some quarters and spinners have opted for the local stuff, they added.

Official spot rates were firmly held at the last level of Rs3,000 but in the ready section most of the deals were done at well higher rates.

Mill ready off-take was on the higher side totalling about 5,000 bales as under:

SINDHY TYPE: 400 bales, each Jhole, Shahdadpur, 600 bales, each Tando Adam and Sabghar and 200 bales, Hyderabad at Rs3,150.