KARACHI, June 30: Cotton prices on Wednesday suffered a fresh fall as weaker links among the ginners indulged in hasty selling but spinners were in no obliging mood. For the third session in a row, official spot rates were lowered by Rs25, the total being Rs75 per maund but there was no buyer even at the falling prices, dealers said.

"Spinners seem to have outwitted the ginners on the price front after staying away during the post-budget sessions," they said. "The removal of 15 per cent sales from the ginned cotton has given them the leverage to keep ginners at their toes all the time."

Owing to year-end considerations, spinners remained conspicuous by their absence and they are expected to be back in the market and would resume new year buying possibly by the next week, they hoped.

Some of the spinners, however, offered to buy low-mic lint for blending purposes and some of the central Sindh ginners readily obliged them. An idea of falling prices in the backdrop of the current standoff between the ginners and the spinners may well be had from the fact that a lot of 200 bales from a Tando Allahyar ginnery changed hands at Rs2,150.

Previously the low-mic lint was sold around Rs2,350 per maund and steep decline reflects ginners' reluctance to hold on their unsold stocks for an indefinite period, brokers said.

They said some of the leading ginners from the southern Punjab cotton belt, they still hold bulk of the unsold stock, though have lowered their asking prices by Rs150 per maund from the previous peak level of Rs3,050, are still holding on to their position hoping for better price in the weeks to come.

Reports from the New York Cotton Exchange were positive where both the matured July and October settlements recovered from the previous lows on speculative buying by the trade.

While the July contract was quoted higher by 1.05 cents per lb owing to rolling of positions to the October delivery and ended at 49.70 cents per lb, the ruling October rose by 0.32 cents per lb at 52.52 cents per lb. Ready offtake remained light as till late in the evening 400 bales from a Nawabshah ginnery was sold at Rs2,700 per maund.