KARACHI, Jan 29: Spinners were back in the cotton market on Tuesday after ginners further lowered their asking prices to get out of the impasse of larger unsold stocks.
“It could not be called the revival of pent-up mill demand but lower asking prices provided the much-needed bait to spinners”, floor brokers said.
After last couple of sessions low volumes, the day’s mill tally swelled to about 15,000 bales, most of them offered as low as Rs1,175 and Rs1,650 on the higher side.
The interesting feature was that most of the lots in trade from the upper Sindh ginneries were sold at Rs1,725 per maund as were sold as contamination-free lint, dealers said.
They said what seems to have disappointed ginners and obliged them to further lower their prices was reports that the TCP has announced to purchase contamination-free lint from the model factories of Rahimyar Khan at Rs1,726 per maund. The premium of Rs200 per maund is not included in the basic price.
But TCP sources say they have purchased 5,000 bales from the ginners of Rahimyar Khan at this rate and talks for more lots are well in progress.
Although unconfirmed reports claim that ginners are not inclined to sell their fine lots to the TCP, hoping some improvement in prices in the coming weeks, some of the leading spinners managed to buy a couple of lots around Rs1,750 per maund, they added.
“But the cotton situation is still unclear as both the ginners and the spinners tell their respective vows caused by early higher prices,” they said “ginners have purchased phutti at the higher rates early in the season and so did spinners for the lint and current steep decline in prices has outwitted the both.
Unsold stocks of phutti are now available between Rs400 and Rs750 per maund depending on quality as compared to early season rates of Rs1,000.
Official spot rates were held unchanged, but in the ready section selling prices depended on the quality of lint in trade.
Ready offtake rose to about 15,000 bales, the following being some of the deals:
SINDH TYPE: 500 bales, Sanghar at Rs1,500, 400 bales, Mehrabpur at Rs1,550 purchased by exporters, 400 bales, Kumb at Rs1,550 and 2,200 bales, from upper Sindh ginneries at Rs1,725.
PUNJAB VARIETY: 1,000 bales, Burewala at Rs1,650, 200 bales, at 1,200, 100 bales, Bagho Bahar at Rs1,650, 200 bales, Mian Channu at Rs1,550, 500 bales, at Rs1,600, 200 bales, Khanewal at Rs1,600, 400 bales, Machiwal at Rs1,175, 500 bales, Mureedwala at Rs1,675 and 400 bales, at Rs1,500.