KARACHI, Jan 6: Cotton market on Saturday finished the weekend session on a steady note as both ginners and spinners remained busy in evolving new year selling and buying strategies.

Stray lots did change hands around an average rate of Rs2,450 per maund although some of the fine lots were sold around Rs2,550 per maund.

Floor brokers said there was, however, no immediate bullish impact on prices owing to fall in arrivals of phutti, notably in the Sindh cotton belt for the fortnight ending Jan 1, 2007.

The spinner perception that the revised production target is expected to be achieved because of higher arrivals of phutti into the Punjab ginners kept speculative forces out of the market and as a result, official prices remained stable at Rs2,500 per maund, they added.

But in physical trading selling prices were fixed according to quality of lint and its staple length, while upper and southern Sindh varieties were sold at the higher level.

Sindh lint was available between Rs2,375 to Rs2,575 and of Punjab at Rs2,500-2,575 per maund depending on quality but spinners offered much lower price, which caused interruption in ready off-take after the eid holidays.

Market sources said spinners had curtailed their daily offtake owing to falling yarn prices both on the local and foreign markets and kept to the sidelines most of the time awaiting some positive developments.

Meanwhile, some of the spinners and mills who have firm export orders for the quarter ending March 31, 2007 have made forward deals for the import of substantial quantity of lint from various sources.

Some of them, however, reported clearance problems from India via overland route, although the land route was claimed to be most economical on freight account alone.

According to market sources some of the leading spinners and mills have made forward import deals with the Indian exporters for nearby shipments.

Official spot rates were again firmly held at the last levels in the absence of active business in the ready section.