KARACHI, Aug 12: Cotton prices on Thursday eased from the current higher levels as ginners indulged in hasty selling followed by reports of steady arrivals of phutti into the lower Sindh ginneries.

Brokers said leading ginners were not inclined to sit on the ready stocks and try to sell them in an uncertain market plagued by higher imports and falling prices on the world markets.

"Owing to a clear weather, picking operations are said to be on the higher side in most of the areas and growers are not in a mood to hold on to their stocks in an uncertain market," ginners said.

They said the average rate at which growers were fixing their stocks on cash was between Rs975 to Rs1,000 per 40 kg depending on the quality of phutti, which varies from area to area.

"In the absence of buyers from the central Punjab cotton belt, Sindh growers are virtually dumping the commodity into the ginneries but no one among them is inclined to keep his stock on an unfixed basis", they added.

Unlike the last season, ginners were also not inclined to indulge in panic-buying as most of them were still trying to cut their previous losses. Market sources said the southern Punjab ginners where the new crop was still in the flowering stage were worried over the unsold stock of about 0.250m bales and seeking official help to clear the backlog before the new crop picking resumed sometime late next month.

Floor brokers said there were no reports of a serious pest attacks in the entire cotton belt as hot weather was killing pests on the one hand and providing needed climatic natural growth inputs to the standing crop.

After ruling firm for the last couple of sessions, official spot rates were lowered by Rs25 per maund but in the ready section some of the deals were done Rs50 below this rate.

New York cotton futures also suffered modest decline of 0.17 and 0.25 cents per lb for both the ruling October and the distant December settlements at 44.88 and 45.46 cents respectively. Ready off-take was light totalling about 3,000 bales as under: 1,500 bales, Mirpurkhas at Rs2,300, 200 bales at Rs2,250, 100 bales, Pithro at Rs2,300 and 100 bales, Sultanabad at Rs2,300.