KARACHI: Renewed buying interest was witnessed on the cotton market on Tuesday as buyers replenished their stocks with quality cotton fearing short crop.

However, the underlying sentiment continues to be influenced by world cotton trade where leading markets remained under pressure and closed easy.

Meanwhile, the latest local cotton production figures show that crop size would remain short at around 10.8-10.11 million bales. This means a huge quantity of around 4m bales needs to be imported, brokers said.

The New York cotton market closed easy for all future contacts. Chinese and Indian markets also remained easy.

The Karachi Cotton Association (KCA) spot rates were firm at the overnight level of Rs8,800 per maund.

The following transactions were reported to have changed hands on ready counter: 1,500 bales, station Gupchani, at Rs8,300; 1,000 bales, Khairpur, at Rs8,450-8,600; 1,200 bales, Saleh Pat, at Rs8,675-8,800; 2,000 bales, Kot Sabzal, at Rs9,100; 400 bales, Ghotki, at Rs9,100; 2,000 bales, Sadiqabad, at Rs9,000-9,100; 800 bales, Marot, at Rs8,400; 400 bales, Chichawatni, at Rs7,500-7,800; 600 bales, Alipur, at Rs8,600; 800 bales, Ahmed Pur East, at Rs8,900; 400 bales, Ghazi Ghat, at Rs8,900; 400 bales, Sarhari, at Rs8,400; 400 bales, Sanghar, at Rs8,300; and 400 bales, Hasilpur, at Rs8,150.

Published in Dawn, December 19th, 2018