KARACHI, Oct 30: Cotton prices on Tuesday maintained their upward drive for the fourth session in a row as spinners and mills again indulged in panic-buying in an apparent effort to grab the floating stock at the current levels.

Bulk of the business was transacted between Rs3,050 and Rs3,150 per maund depending on the quality of lint but Punjab variety was sold at premium over its Sindh counterpart.

“The cotton trade witnessed a price war among the spinners and mills but their weaker links are at a disadvantage owing to their low capacity of paying higher prices,” dealers said.

The crop may not be that short as being speculated by the end product users but some speculative forces have made it look so, they said, adding “if the current speculative run-up continues, there could be serious problems on the export front”.

Over the last couple of sessions, lint prices had surged by more than Rs300 per maund and how the spinners would honour their export commitments in future is a question being debated by the textile sector, market sources said.

“Import of lint is getting expensive each day as the New York cotton futures are close to hit decades higher level of 70 cents per lb for the forward March contract”, they said.

They said the local prices were now following the international market trend as ginners were not inclined to sell their lint until international prices touch the 70-cent per lb level.

Official spot rates were quoted further higher by Rs25 per maund at Rs3,025 for average quality of lint.

New York cotton futures on the other hand showed fractional rise of 0.14 and 0.05 cents per lb for both the ruling December and distant March at 64.77 and 69.20 cents respectively.

Mill off-take was on the higher side totalling 30,000 bales the following being some of the notable deals.

SINDH TYPE: 6,000 bales, Nawabshah at Rs3,050 to Rs3,100, 2,000 bales, Shahdadpur at Rs3,075 to Rs3,100, 2,000 bales, Sanghar and 1,000 bales, Mirpukhas at Rs3,050 to Rs3,0 75 and 2,000 bales, Khairpur at Rs3,125 to Rs3,150.