KARACHI, Nov 8: Cotton prices on Saturday eased by Rs50 per maund as some of the ginners sold in a bit haste their long positions fearing further fall owing to steady arrivals of phutti into the ginneries.
Unlike the last two days when some of the fine lots were traded as higher as Rs3,300 per maund, most of the deals on Saturday were finalised at an average of Rs3,250, while central Sindh lint fell to Rs3,100, floor brokers said.
They said growers are flooding the ginneries with their newly picked phutti and are mostly selling it at the prevailing spot rate of Rs1,600 per 40 kg as the two are not inclined to hold unsold stocks because of conflicting reports about the size of the crop.
The other destabilising factor appears to be the renewed turmoil on the foreign financial markets followed by fresh fall in New York cotton futures on speculative selling and falling demand from the leading importers.
Both the contracts were marked further down by 0.91 and 1.09 cents per lb at 42.07 and 45.60 cents for the ruling December and the forward March, respectively.
“The developing crisis in the textile sector in the backdrop of recession among its major trading partners and steady decline in imports may cut its demand for fresh lint supplies in the coming weeks,” cotton analyst Naseem Usman said adding: ”Huge amounts of cash are tied to unsold finished stocks of textile awaiting shipments, creating liquid problem for it.”
However, it was good to note that steady arrivals of phutti could lead to higher final crop figure, keeping the current price pattern a bit erratic, he added.
Official spot rates were again held unchanged at the last level of Rs3,200 per maund but bulk of the business was finalised below them.
The following are some of the notable deals, which were gone through late on Saturday evening:
SINDH VARIETY: 1,000 bales, Mirpurkhas at Rs3,100 to 3,150, 1,200 bales, Shahdadpur at Rs3,125 to 3,150, 1,000 bales, Sanghar at Rs3,100 to 3,125, 1,200 bales, Nawabshah at Rs3,100, 1,000 bales, Khairpur at 3,125, and 2,000 bales, upper Sindh at 3,250.
PUNJAB TYPE: 2,000 bales, Shujaabad at Rs3,150 to 3,250, 1,000 bales, Rahimyar Khan at Rs3,250, 200 bales, Muhammadpur Dewan, 600 bales, Ahmedpur East, and 800 bales, Rajanpur, 400 bales, Liaquatpur, 200 bales, each Bahalwalpur and Fort Abbas at 3,250, 400 bales, Lodhran and 200 bales, Jalalpur at 3,190, 400 bales, 200 bales, Duniyapur, at 3,150,400 and 200 bales, Chichawatni and Mian Channu at 3,200 and 600 bales, each Khanewal and Shadan Lund at 3,200 to 3,275.