KARACHI: A slight rise in cotton prices was witnessed on Saturday but trading remained restricted.

The downward trend in cotton prices during the entire week suddenly came to an end and prices slightly rebounded on expectations of higher yarn exports and rise in cotton prices in coming days, brokers said.

A steep fall in the rupee value of up to Rs5-8 against the dollar is expected to give a competitive edge to Pakistani products including cotton yarn in the world market, sources added.

The market expects higher cotton yarn exports which will in return trigger demand for cotton in the domestic market. However, many analysts believe that the gain would be short-lived. According to some estimates, imported component in exports goods is up to 50 per cent.

Cotton analyst Naseem Usman said the cotton crop would not be more than 10.5 million bales, less than 1m bales over the last season. This means a huge quantity of around 4.5m bales would have to be imported if textile industry revives after new parity of dollar and the rupee.

The world’s leading cotton markets were mixed. New York cotton slightly recovered while Indian cotton remained under pressure.

The Karachi Cotton Association spot rates were revised upward by Rs50 to Rs8,700 per maund.

The following deals were reported to have changed hands on ready counter: 500 bales, Sanghar, at Rs8,575; 1,000 bales, Kotri, at Rs8,175-8,200; 2,000 bales, Khairpur, at Rs8,550; 600 bales, Fort Abbas, at Rs8,500; 1,400 bales, Haroonabad, at Rs8,300 to Rs8,400; 200 bales, Chishtian, at Rs8,300; and 1,000 bales, Rajanpur, at Rs7,500.

Published in Dawn, December 2nd, 2018