Cotton market in Pakistan witnesses active buying
Pakistan Times Business & Commerce Desk

KARACHI: The spinners staged a comeback in the cotton market on Wednesday showing interest in available lots at reduced prices.

Around 12000 bales of lint changed hands at Rs2100/2200 for low grade cotton and Rs2200/2325 for higher grade. Official spot rate remained pegged at the previous level of Rs2250. Buyers ended their standoff in view of persistent rise in New York cotton futures prices and fast depleting stock of cotton in the local market.

The buyers grabbed the floating stock making payment according to the quality of the lot available. Ginners also did not do much haggling. However, the spinners apprehended hardening of the ginners’ posture because of sharp decline in the quantity of unsold stock which could land the spinners in serious trouble. The ginners with strong holding capacity were unwilling to sell at the ruling prices.

Anyway, the prices are expected to hover around the current levels owing to sharp deterioration in the quality of the lots held by the ginners. Inferior quality cotton is finding outlet mainly because of their requirement by the spinners for mixing purposes.

Exporters are also picking up these relatively cheaper cotton for shipment abroad. However, what is indeed intriguing is the ginners’ imperviousness to the hike in New York cotton futures. It should have led to a sympathetic rise in local prices, particularly when the gap between demand and supply is increasing.

Anyway, the fact remains that the situation has turned to the advantage of ginners here as the import of foreign cotton has now become quite expensive increasing the dependence of spinners on domestic supplies. The brokers rule out the possibility of any drastic fall in domestic prices as the cotton arrival figures for the second fortnight of March may show little improvement in the supply situation.

Very little phutti has been left with growers and the arrivals into the ginneries have sharply dropped leading to the closure of many factories.

Ready business stood at 12,000 bales out of which 4,200 bales were from Sindh and the rest from Punjab. Of Sindh cotton, 500 bales Hingorja were sold at Rs2200, 1700 bales Sarhari at Rs2100/2200 and 2000 bales upper Sindh at Rs2200/2300.

Of Punjab cotton, 1000 bales Sadiqabad changed hands at Rss2200/2300, 2000 bales Bahawalpur at Rs2325, 577 bales Ahmedpur East at Rs2325, 2000 bales Shujabad at Rs2325 and 2000 bales Rahimyar Khan at Rs2200/2325.●