KARACHI: Trading in new cotton crop officially started on Monday with a couple of deals fetching higher price. However, the Karachi Cotton Association (KCA) made the debut of the crop (2018-19) at Rs7,700 per maund.

Overall, trading remained restricted owing to slow arrival of phutti (seed cotton).

Growers have stopped picking phutti due to the ongoing spell of rains in Punjab and parts of Sindh, thereby affecting its movement to the market.

Meanwhile, many areas of lower Sindh and south Punjab continue to face water shortage which is adversely affecting crop, brokers said.

According to market reports most of the deals on ready counter in new crop transpired between Rs8,200 to Rs8,300 for Punjab variety and Rs8,150 to Rs8,175 for Sindh. Phutti prices were also steady at Rs3,500 to Rs4,000 per 40 kg for both Sindh and Punjab varieties.

The textile industry, after the recent devaluation of the rupee against dollar, was optimistic but the sudden hike in POL prices dashed its hopes as the cost of production and raw materials would go up.

The first impact of the rise in POL prices would hit polyester yarn which is widely used by the value-added textile sector, coupled with higher cost of production.

The world leading cotton markets gave mixed trend with New York and Indian cotton closing steady and Chinese cotton moving higher on strong demand.

The following deals of new crop were reported to have transpired on ready counter: 200 bales, station Sanghar, at Rs8,150, 200 bales, Kabirwala, at Rs6,900, 200 bales, Tando Adam, at Rs8,150, 200 bales, Tando Adam, at Rs8,175 and 100 bales, Shahdadpur, at Rs8,100.

Published in Dawn, July 3rd, 2018