KARACHI, Jan 22: Cotton market on Monday maintained firm trend as ginners were not inclined to lower their asking prices having a fair idea of the total crop size. Fine lots including big ones from the southern Punjab cotton belt were traded above Rs2,600, some of them around Rs2,625 per maund as leading spinners tried to grab the floating stock, floor brokers said.

“An imminent price war among the spinners and mills to grab the floating stock of fine lots, notably from upper Sindh and the southern Punjab, in the coming weeks could cause price flare-up,” they said.

Spinners said the official silence on the issue of import of lint from India by overland route worried them and that was why some of them were considering other options.

According to leading brokerage houses some of the spinners and mills had already signed forward deals with the foreign exporters of lint and some consignments of the imported stuff were on their way to Karachi Port.

“Nobody could deny the fact that the crop is short of annual consumption needs of the industry and until it is supplemented by imports, foreign textile trade may be more expensive,” they added.

Meanwhile, ginners said that arrivals of phutti into the ginneries had almost dried up and some of the ginneries in central Sindh and Punjab have closed down their ginning operations.

There was no change in the official spot rates, which were firmly held at the weekend level of Rs2,550 per maund.

Ready offtake was on the higher side totalling about 20,000 bales, the following being some of the notable deals:

SINDH TYPE: 2,000 bales, Shahdadpur at Rs2,475-2,550 and 400 bales, Khadro, at Rs2,560.

PUNJAB VARIETY: 6,600 bales, Khanpur and 3,000 bales, Rahimyar Khan at Rs2,610-2,625, 3,000 bales, Bahawalnagar at Rs2,470, 400 bales, Sahiwal at Rs2,425 and 500 bales, Gojra at Rs2,500, all inferior quality.