KARACHI, Sept 28: The cotton market on Tuesday remained under pressure throughout the session amid reports of steady arrivals of phutti into ginneries and panic selling by the growers.

Reports that the Trading Corporation of Pakistan has resumed its procurement operations from Sindh and purchased about 2,000 bales at the official rate of Rs2,159 per maund failed to boost growers' morale and most of them tried to clear their backlog irrespective of the falling prices.

An idea of panic among the growers of both Sindh and Punjab may well be had from the fact that each one of them is out to sell his stocks of phutti even below the official support price as fears of a bumper crop continue to haunt them, brokers said.

Some of the deals in lint were, therefore, finalized below Rs2,000 per maund depending on the quality and brokers fear further decline in prices if ginners follow the lead of growers.

"Crop may be on the higher side but not enough to meet the textile industry's total demand of about 13m bales," a cotton specialist contends, adding "a little rethinking on the objective supply and demand figures tell holding capacity of the growers could be the final price setter."

The presence of TCP in the market should have restored growers' confidence in its ability to intervene in a falling market to ensure a fair price for them, he added. But on the other hand, an air of optimism is prevailing in the textile sector as no one among them is inclined on the sidelines and continues to grab the available floating stock without looking back at his inventories, he said.

"The cotton trade is in a complete mess and unlike the previous season, the chief beneficiary is the textile sector and this time the growers are at the receiving end," some others said.

Official spot rates were marked down by Rs40 per maund in line with the ready section, but on the other hand New York cotton futures rose by 0.90 and 1.03 cents per lb at 50.30 and 48.05 cents for both the ruling October and the distant December settlements, respectively.

Ready off take was fairly brisk as late on Monday evening about 70,000 bales, mainly from the Punjab cotton belt changed hands at Rs2,075 and Rs2,100 per maund. On Tuesday evening, they fell by another Rs50 per maund.

The following are some of the deals reported in Sindh type late on Tuesday evening: 1,000 bales, Mirpurkhas at Rs1,950; 400 bales, Tando Allahyar at Rs1,950; 1,000 bales, Sanghar at Rs1,975 to Rs1,980; 200 bales, Shahdadpur at Rs2,025; and 400 bales, Shahdadpur at Rs2,075.