KARACHI: The cotton market on Tuesday re­­mained steady as sustained buying orders from needy spinners helped prices stay firm at overnight level. The outlook remained positive and sentiments high.

The current cotton prices are quite attractive for spinners who are actively replenishing their inventories.

According to market reports, textile mills are encouraged by lower cotton prices as their yarn could easily compete in domestic and world market.

Flow of phutti (seed cotton) from cotton fields into ginneries has also improved the availability of quality cotton.

However, reports from Sindh are not encouraging as recent rains have caused extensive damage to the crop in lower parts of the province. There are also signs of Pink Bollworm attack.

In many districts of Punjab, cotton crop could not mature properly due to which fruiting is less, resulting in fewer cotton balls. This could impact the overall cotton production in the country which is being currently estimated to be around 13 million bales.

Meanwhile, cotton prices in India crashed on higher production reports and closed easy by around Rs500 per candy (356kg). However, New York cotton and Chinese markets remained firm on strong demand for cotton.

The Karachi Cotton Association (KCA) spot rates were unchanged at overnight level.

The following deals were reported to have changed hands on ready counter on Tuesday: 2,000 bales, Shahdadpur, at Rs5,900 to Rs5,950; 1,000 bales, Tando Adam, at Rs5,900 to Rs5,950; 1,600 bales, Sanghar, at Rs5,900 to Rs5,950; 1,000 bales, Mirpurkhas, at Rs5,900 to Rs6,000; 1,200 bales, Nawabshah, at Rs6,100 to 6,125; 2,000 bales, Khairpur, at Rs6,125 to Rs6,150; 1,000 bales, upper Sindh, at Rs6,125; 1,200 bales, Haroonabad, at Rs6,175 to Rs6,200; 1,200 bales, Vehari, at Rs6,175 to Rs6,200; 800 bales, Lodhran, at Rs6,175 to Rs6,200; 600 bales, Ali Pur, at Rs6,200; and 600 bales, Fort Abbas, at Rs6,175.

Published in Dawn, September 20th, 2017