KARACHI, Dec 10: Cotton prices on Monday eased further by Rs50 per maund as a section of ginners continued to liquidate their long positions fearing fresh fall in prices. During the last three sessions, the prices fell by Rs150 per maund adding significantly to export parity level of spinners and mills, floor brokers said.

They said the sharp decline in prices was owing to inferior quality lint, adulterated in some of the cases with trash and water, they said.

Bulk of the selling came from the weaker links of leading ginners who seemed to be inclined to clear their backlog before the Eid holidays and long closure of international market after Dec 22, they said.

As a result, ready off-take shrank to modest proportions as leading spinners held onto their unsold positions having a strong holding capacity.

The current was also attributed to transportation problems as most of the cargo haulers were busy these days in transporting sacrificial animals from the upcountry to the city and were demanding higher freight rates, market sources said.

Most of the deals are said to be on local delivery basis from the city godowns or from the lower Sindh cotton belt against previously signed deals, they added.

Official spot rates were lowered by Rs50 per maund at Rs2,950 but in the ready section some of the deals were done at well above this rate.

Ready business was relatively slow as leading ginners remained conspicuous by their absence and were not inclined to sell at the lower levels. The following notable deals were finalised on Monday.

SINDH TYPE: 800 bales, Dadu at Rs2,950, 1,400 bales at Rs2,975.