KARACHI, May 21: Trading was relatively slow on the cotton market on Wednesday owing to higher asking prices by ginners, irrespective of quality of lint, floor brokers said.

Stray lots did change hands but mostly at ginners option as some fine lots were traded as higher as Rs3,840 per maund just at the heels of an overnight deal at Rs4,000, they said.

The developing situation with regard to the new crop, sowing of which has just resumed in the major areas, indicates that the new season may not be that encouraging as widely speculated at this stage, they said.

Reports of shortage of irrigation water in major crop areas are pouring in daily, which, ginners fear may curtail the acreage planned for the new crop on the one hand and increase production costs on the other.

“The shortage of irrigation water in some of the Punjab cotton belt areas is so severe that those farmers who could afford the increase in overheads are said to be sowing the new crop through hired tube-wells,” they said.

The new cotton season may be a bit more difficult for the end-product users of lint as compared to that just coming to close as prices of both phutti (seed cotton) and lint could hit new highs, they fear.

Official spot rates were again held unchanged at the overnight level of Rs3,475 but on the other hand New York cotton futures further fell by 1.04 and 1.01 cents per lb at 70.77 and 76.37 cents for both the ruling new crop July and October contracts respectively.

Mill ready off-take was light as under: 600 bales, Yaru Lund at Rs3,600 and 200 bales, Harappa at Rs3,840.