KARACHI, Dec 20: Cotton prices ended flat on Thursday and millers especially in Punjab continued to accumulate their stocks due to lower phutti arrivals.

According to official figures the last fortnight (Dec 1 to 15), phutti arrivals declined in Punjab. However, Sindh still witnessed a sustained flow and to some extent helped offset the negative impact on overall cotton production.

The slower phutti arrivals in Punjab put total cotton production at 10.768 million bales or 2.42 per cent lower when compared with 11.036 million bales produced in the corresponding period last year.

The Karachi Cotton Association kept its official spot rate unchanged at Rs6,000 per maund.

In Sindh, 4,600 bales of cotton were exchanged at Rs5,250 to Rs6,150. In Punjab, 18,800 bales of cotton were exchanged at Rs5,900 to Rs6,200 and most of the activity was witnessed at Rs6,000 or above.

New York cotton eased off two-month highs to settle slightly lower as producers sold into the recent rally, while volumes were extremely low with speculative investors sitting on the sidelines.

After this year's meteoric price rally due to the drought, most market participants expect growers to sow much less cotton to take advantage of higher-priced wheat and corn. Analysts and brokers have said cotton prices may benefit from the smaller acreage planted next year, although most say it will take more than one year of fewer plantings to eat into the record global surplus expected in the 2012/13 marketing year.

The following transactions were reported on the ready counter on Thursday:

SINDH TYPE: 400 bales, Mirpurkhas at Rs5,250, 400 bales, Khadro at Rs5,300, 800 bales, Upper Sindh at Rs6,100 and 3,000 bales, Khairpur/Upper Sindh at Rs6,150.

PUNJAB VAREITY: 1,000 bales, Uch Sharif at Rs5,900, 400 bales, Vehari at Rs5,900 to Rs5,950, 3,600 bales, Hasilpur at Rs5,900 to Rs5,950, 400 bales, Faqirwali at Rs5,900 to Rs6,000, 1,000 bales, Bahawalpur at Rs5,950, 400 bales, Chistian at Rs5,950, 1,200 bales, Haroonabad at Rs5,950 to Rs6,050, 1,000 bales, Dera Ghazi Khan at Rs6,050, 400 bales, Fort Abbas at Rs6,050, 800 bales, Layyah at Rs6,050, 400 bales, Khanewal at Rs6,050, 4,000 bales, Rahim Yar Khan at Rs6,100, 400 bales, Bakkhar at Rs6,100, 400 bales, Jhang at Rs6,200, 2,200 bales, Mian Wali at Rs6,200 and 1,200 bales, SDK at Rs6,100.