KARACHI, March 20: Cotton market on Wednesday showed quietly firm trend as ginners did not lower their asking prices despite a considerable decline in ready demand.

Unlike the previous sessions, physical business fell to a low ebb as spinners and mills kept to the sidelines most of the time and did not bid for many lots, dealers said.

“Owing to coming three closures on account of Pakistan Day and Muharram, delivery problems remained the chief worry of spinners”, they said adding “there could be anything during the intervening period”.

Thus, a sort of status quo was maintained soon after the trading resumed despite the fact that some of the spinners holding short positions were willing buyers at the prevailing rates.

But reports coming from the upper Sindh and southern Punjab ginneries show that the TCP is in touch with the ginners and is offering to purchase export packing lots at much higher rates than being offered by the spinners.

Although details of the TCP latest tally are not immediately available, brokers feel the figure may have touched the high mark of over 0.3 million bales.

“TCP’s seasonal buying target may not be half a million bales but it could soar to this level thanks to an exportable surplus of about 0.6 million bales”, some brokers predict.

At the current rate of Rs1 billion for 0.1 million bales, the TCP has the capacity to buy a million bales as it has at its disposal the central bank allocation of Rs10 billion for the current crop, they added.

The private sector exporters have, however, to play their due role for various reasons including the Afghan war and foreign buyers reluctance to open fresh letters of credit until Afghan situation improves, they said.

Much has changed since then and foreign orders have just started tickling in and by the end of the current fiscal exporters are expected to improve their performance, some others said.

Meanwhile, reports coming in from the central Punjab cotton belt indicate that most of the ginners are engaged in moping up operations after having sold their long positions. But central and upper Sindh ginners and those from the southern Punjab still hold long unsold positions of quality lots.

There was no change in the official spot rates because of slack physical trading and were held unchanged at the overnight level of Rs1,725 per maund.

Ready business was also light because of delivery problems and as a result only 400 bales from Tharo Shah changed hands at Rs1,725.