KARACHI, Dec 23: The cotton market on Tuesday consolidated the overnight gains but physical business shrank to a modest proportion partly as spinners were in no mood to chase prices higher.

Spinners said they have to go in line with their export parity level both for the lint and the textiles and think twice to breach the price barrier.

The current pickup in TCP operations sidelined both the mills and spinners to await further developments on the cotton front rather than joining the prices, floor brokers said.

For the time being ginners appear to be interested to sell their unsold stocks to the TCP rather than the spinners and mills apparently for a better price.

“Active buying by the TCP during the last couple of sessions seems to have shifted the trading activity to the ginners rather than to the cotton market,” said a leading cotton analyst Naseem Usman.

He said the idea of strong presence of the TCP on the market as a second buyer may be had from the fact that it purchased 0.125m bales in a single day.

Its total tally up to Dec 22, amounted to 0.359m bales, which reflects the TCP’s market support operations to ensure a fair price to the growers are at its seasonal peak, some others said.

Spinners and mills are, however, worried over the developing situation and fear that fine lots may not be available on the open market in the coming days if the TCP further intensified its procurement operations.

Meanwhile, it is good to know that the TCP has started lifting purchased lots from the ginneries to their godowns in Multan and Karachi depending on the distance.

New York cotton futures ruled firm as both the ruling March and the forward May contracts were quoted higher by 0.66 and 0.75 cents per lb at 45.59 and 46.63 cents, respectively.

Mill ready off-take was on the lower side as till late in the evening only 400 bales from Mirpurkhas was traded at Rs2,800 per maund.