KARACHI, July 8: Cotton market maintained a firm trend on Tuesday as new crop prices remained stable around the previous levels amid an actively traded session.

However, stray quality lots, notably 200 bales from a Haroonabad ginnery in the central Punjab, was traded Rs50 higher against the overnight closing rate of Rs3,800 per maund, while others changed hands around Rs3,750.

Unlike the previous session, the mills ready off-take showed a significant increase well over 10,000 bales, reflecting that the arrival of first picking is fairly steady.

Floor brokers said that the interesting feature was that despite above normal daily arrival of phutti, there was no sign of softening in the selling prices at least for the near-term.

Mills and spinners also ignored the weakness of the New York cotton futures below 70 cents per lb as no one among them is inclined, for the time being, to buy foreign lint, they said.

Ginners said steady mills demand has given us the confidence to take in all the phutti steadily arriving in our ginneries for ready delivery and on cash basis.

“No one among us is holding on to the unsold stock of lint and dispose it of the very next day at the current average rate of Rs3,650 per maund,” they added.

Meanwhile, reports reaching here from the central Punjab cotton belt indicate that the instances of pest attack on the new crop in some of the areas were not alarming and could be steadily managed.

Steady arrival of phutti points out that the crop is good and could lead to production target.

But on the other hand the plants of the newly sown cotton are tender but the germination is normal and there no incidence of pest attack in the area, brokers said.

New York cotton futures were quoted further lower by 1.86 and 2.44 cents per lb at 66.16 and 69.76 cents for both the ruling July and the distant October settlements, respectively.

Ready business was on the higher side totaling about 10,000 bales all of new crop per maund as under: 800 bales, Burewala at Rs3,750 to 3,800,200 bales, Haroonabad at 3,800; 1,600 bales, Sahiwal at 3,700 to 3,750; 400 bales, Chichawatni at 3,750 to 3,800,600 bales, each Mian Channu, Arifwala and Bahawalnagar and 400 bales, Pak Pattan at 3,750.