KARACHI, July 31: New crop cotton prices on Wednesday eased modestly as some of the ginners indulged in hasty selling followed by reports of steady arrivals of phutti into the lower Sindh ginneries.
The dealing in the new crop resumed at around Rs2,000 per maund and after holding on to these levels for a good part of the session despite no matching offers from the spinners, the market then started easing as some ginners lowered their asking prices.
As a result, some of the deals were finalized as lower as Rs1,925 and some others around Rs1,975 to Rs1,980 depending on the quality of lint.
Floor brokers said the mid-session easing of the market and the subsequent recovery reflected conflicting reports about the size of arrivals of phutti into the ginneries and lower prices.
Reports that some of the growers are offering their phutti slightly below the official procurement rate of Rs800 per maund seemed to have a negative impact on the new crop lint prices, they added.
The market sources said growers were not inclined to hold long positions as most progressive among them were in no mood to face the last season’s phenomenon falling prices.
“Phutti prices have fallen as low as Rs600 per maund last year season after the attack on the US World Trade Centre and the growers are not ready to face the identical situation,” they said.
Most of the growers are making ready sales at the prevailing spot rates and refrain dumping phutti into the ginneries on unfix basis, they added.
But cotton analysts said the world cotton outlook was not that bleak in the backdrop of shortages in the major producers, including the US and China, and there was a possibility of competitive prices both for the grower and the ginner during the current season.
The fall in local prices could be attributed to hectic selling by the TCP and once it exhausts its stock, the local market will respond to the international bullish factors, they added.
Official spot rates were held unchanged at the previous level of Rs1,950 per maund as current crop prices remained firm.
Ready offtake was light totalling 500 bales of new crop as under: 100 bales of Mirpurkhas done at Rs2,00 and 100 bales at Rs1,975; 100 bales, Sultanabad at Rs1,925; and 100 bales of Burewala at Rs1,980.