KARACHI: The cotton market became active on Friday as some leading textile spinners rushed back to replenish their stocks on fear of cancellation of import orders by Indian exporters.

The sudden surge in cotton demand from big spinning mills was also based on fear of fixing of higher duty by Pakistan in retaliation of Indian move of imposing 200 per cent import duty on Pakistani goods.

As a result of this, many spinners rushed to cover up their position in order to meet their demand and this pushed prices higher on ready counter.

However, the official spot rate of the Karachi Cotton Association remained static at overnight level at Rs8,500 per maund. The world leading cotton markets remained mixed to steady but Indian cotton remained under pressure owing to fear of cancellations of import orders by Pakistani importers.

The following deals were reported to have changed hands on ready counter: 400 bales from Faqeerwali done at Rs7,300; 2,200 bales, Haroonabad, at Rs7,450-8,500; 400 bales, Mian Channu, at Rs8,475; 400 bales, Balawalpur, at Rs8,300; 1,200 bales, Sadiqabad, at Rs8,800; 3,300 bales, Tonsa Sharif, at Rs8,150; 3,300 bales, Alipur, at Rs8,725; 1,400 bales, Jalalpur, at Rs8,725 and 2,000 bales, Khanpur, at Rs8,800.

Published in Dawn, February 23rd, 2019