KARACHI, May 13: Cotton market on Monday showed quietly steady trend as ginners held on to their unsold positions and did not lower asking prices despite some positive overtures from the spinners.

Unconfirmed reports said stray lots did change hands but details about the buyers and the sellers and the quantity in trade were not immediately available.

“Ginners and spinners appear to be locked in a price war”, claims a broker adding “but the fight appears to be uneven as the former is still at the receiving end”.

Ginners who have been a bit worried during the last week and were willing to lower their selling prices seem to have found cue of the things to come in the hope of greater TCP intervention.

A positive statement from the TCP high-ups on their current procurement drive and their commitment to lift all the quality lots lying with the ginners has encouraged ginners to hold on to their positions at least for the near-term.

According to official sources, the TCP is close to hit the mark of half a million bales against its target of 1m bales, if spinners did not resume their normal buying operations, it has to come to the rescue of ginners.

As the TCP has to sell the procured lint to the world buyers, it has set some quality standards and its entire operations are guided by them, they added.

“Larger imports of over a million bales of lint has pushed the spinners in a commanding positions as they enter and leave the market according to their own perceptions”, brokers said.

The private sector exporters though still are far behind an impressive foreign sales figure are making concerted efforts to hit. Between May 9 and 11, they have registered export contracts for another 3,763 bales sold to some Far Eastern countries and Bangladesh.

The total foreign sales up to May 12, 2002 rose to 0.145m bales, out of 0.108m bales have already physically shipped, the private sector share being 0.104m bales, according to official figures.

Meanwhile, reports coming from the upper Sindh and the southern and central Punjab cotton belt indicate that some of the small farmers have already started sowing of the new crop, while the big ones and progressive growers are awaiting the official sowing time schedule, which will start from May 15.

Official spot rates, therefore, remained pegged at the last close in the absence of active physical trading.

Leading brokerage houses said enquiries for some fine lots were received but the price ideas of buyers and sellers failed to find a meeting ground.

However, reports originating from the Punjab sources indicates about 1,500 bales did change hands around Rs1,525 per maund.