KARACHI, May 8: The cotton market remained calm but steady on Thursday as official ready rates were firmly held at the previous level of Rs3,375 per maund.

But in physical trading the selling prices were mostly quality based as ginners were not inclined to lower their asking prices, notably for fine lots, dealers said.

As a result, a big deal of 3,500 bales, mostly of fine quality from the upper Sindh ginneries was finalised between Rs3,500 to Rs3,550 per maund, they said.

Floor brokers said some of the leading spinners and mills still need a lot of fine lint to cater to needs of their clients in the foreign markets seeking supplies of lint to produce higher counts of cotton yarn and cloth for local as well as re-export purposes.

They said most of the ginners, sans the weaker links of the giants, who still hold bulk of the unsold stock of about 0.350 million bales, appear to be in no hurry and are firmly holding on to their positions.

“The general perception among the leading ginners is that the market could heat up any moment to as higher as Rs3,700 per maund or above in the coming weeks followed by reports of problems on the irrigation front,” they said.

They said as the sowing in the major crop areas is still to resume, reports of shortage of irrigation water continue to haunt both the ginners and the spinners alike.

The next couple of weeks seem to be very crucial for the new crop and its impact on the local prices, they added.

The following are some of the deals, which gone late on Thursday evening: Apart from 3,500 bales, from upper Sindh, other deals included 1,000 bales, from a Rahim Yar Khan ginnery at Rs3,500 and 600 bales, Sadiqabad at Rs3,400.