KARACHI, March 24: Cotton prices on Monday remained stable around the previous levels as spinners and mills were not inclined to go for bigger lots above their benchmark of Rs2,650.

Ginners too were not in mood to lower their asking prices for the fine lots below Rs2,700 amid predictions that and expected pressure on ready supplies could work in their favour in the sessions to come.

Unlike the previous two sessions’s stand-off caused by the export parity levels, spinners did not sit idle and opted for inferior lots around Rs2,500 or below per maund.

Bulk of the ready offtake was, therefore, confined to inferior lots, which the spinners are expected to use for blending purposes with polyester yarn against export orders.

Floor brokers said going on the cotton front for the spinners were not that smooth as most of them were sandwiched between the higher prices of lint and expensive polyester fibre.

“Barring big ones, who had already covered their forward positions for the current year against foreign sales, their weaker links are terribly worried over the developing situation in the cotton trade,” they said, adding “higher lint prices have negative impact on their export margins.”

But persistent increase in the share value of leading listed shares tells a different story, they said, adding it is pretty difficult to find out whether the rise is speculative or genuine.

The general market thinking is that the next quarter beginning form June 1 could be very difficult for the textile industry as the pressure on ready supplies could be tremendous as an aftermath of the Gulf war and could significantly erode its profit margins.

But some others hope the supply situation may ease a bit by that time as the new crop from the lower Sindh cotton belt is expected to start reaching the market and may have negative impact on the prevailing higher prices.

As a result, most of the spinners have curtailed their daily purchases hoping a modest decline in prices in the weeks to come.

On the export front, private sector exporters have sold another 2,030 bales to Bangladesh importers on March 20, against which physical shipments are being steadily maintained. The total foreign sales rose to 0.157m bales during the current season.

There was no change in the official spot rates owing to dull trading conditions prevailing on the ready market.

Ready offtake was light as till late in the evening about 3,000 bales, changed hands, all from the Punjab cotton belt, the following being some of the notable deals: 800 bales from Bahawalpur at Rs2,650; 400 bales, Mamon Kanjan at Rs2,500; 200 bales, Vehari at Rs2,550; 1,000 bales, Bahawalnagar at Rs2,450 and 500 bales at Rs2,425.