KARACHI, Sept 22: Trading on the cotton market on Monday resumed on a higher note as spinners and mills were not inclined to take even a technical breather fearing further increase in prices.

Unlike the weekend session, no ginner was inclined to sell below the resistance level of Rs4,000 per maund. However some of the big deals were done well above this rate.

“The 1,800 or odd ginning factories operating in the entire cotton belt are turning out daily about 60,000 bales, and all of them are lifted by the mills,” said a leading cotton analyst Naseem Usman, adding “prices could rise further higher in the pre-Eid holiday sessions”.

Strong mill buying each day reflects that no one among the spinners and mills is inclined to take supply risk at this stage and at current levels which seems to conform to their export parity rates, he said.

He said the delivery problems owing to reported hike in transport fares by the cargo haulers before the Eidul Fitr could make lint more expensive during the current week as spinners are not inclined to oblige as any further increase will add significantly to production costs.

Moreover, the highly volatile world cotton markets including the New York cotton futures amid global financial crisis are back to their pre-reaction levels, making imports of lint more expensive.

Some dealers said a section of leading spinners had made forward deals with the foreign exporters after New York cotton futures October delivery fell below the 60-cent per lb for nearby shipments.

Official spot rates, however, were held unchanged at the weekend level at Rs3,950 per maund, but in the ready section most of the deals were done at well higher rates. The following notable deals were done on Monday evening.

SINDH VARIETY: 4,006 bales, Shahdapur at Rs4,000 to Rs4,025, 3,006 bales, Tando Adam also at Rs4,000 to Rs4,025, 2,000 bales, Sanghar at Rs4,000, 2,000 bales, Mirpurkhas, 1,000 bales each, Shahdadpur and Hyderabad at Rs4,000.

PUNJAB TYPE: 1,000 bales, Burewala at R3,975 to Rs4,000, 1,000 bales, Khanewal at Rs4,000, 1,000 bales, Chichawatni at Rs3,950 to 4,000, 1,000 bales, Mian Channu at Rs3,975 to Rs4,000.