KARACHI, April 26: Amid strong mill demand for fine quality the cotton prices rose as ginners held onto their stocks, which kept the entire market extremely volatile due to tight supply position.

Activity remained slow as ginners were anticipating further hike in prices in view of falling stocks and sustained demand from the needy mills. Naseem Usman, a leading cotton analyst, said prices had reached saturation point because imported cotton was also costing at par with of local lint.

The analyst added that the tight supply position would prevail till the arrival of a new crop in September even though some cotton stocks would start arriving by the end of June from lower Sindh.

Karachi Cotton Association (KCA) kept the spot rates unchanged at the overnight levels. The following notable deals were reported on Thursday evening by Karachi Brokers Forum: 200 bales Shahdad Pur at Rs5,000, 400 bales Khanewal at Rs5,800 to Rs6,000, 200 bales Rahimyar Khan at Rs5,800, 400 bales Hasil Pur at Rs6,200 to Rs6,300, 100 bales Chichawatni at Rs6,550 and 200 bales from Lodhran at Rs6,600.