Cotton rate stables at Rs 8,600 per maund

KARACHI: Cotton price has improved by Rs 100 to Rs 8,600 per maund this week, as new crop arrived in the market, brokers said Saturday.

Member of Cotton Brokers and Advisory Committee Amir Naseem said that the market has witnessed a stabilising trade in cotton as partial arrival of phutti began at few ginning factories in Haroonabad in Punjab and Shehdadpur in Sindh.

This week, spinners and exporters are cautious in their purchase and waiting for a clear cut picture of cotton production, he added.

He said spot rates of Karachi Cotton Association (KCA) has been increased by Rs 100 per maund to Rs 8,600 per maund on June 18, 2011.

Amir said that Pakistan Cotton Ginners have not released the correct data on cotton production which created confusion in the market. Ginners still posses around 45,000 bales of cotton, he observed.

Cotton prices ranged between Rs 8,000 to Rs 9,000 per maund in Sindh and Punjab, he noted.

Good quality new phutti price was being sold in the range of Rs 3,550 to Rs 3,650 per 40 kg while binola price also closed higher at Rs 1,150 per maund in Sindh and Rs 1,225 per maund in Punjab.

Amir said that 90 percent cotton sowing has been achieved in the country for the next season and the crop situation is satisfactory so far. The country is expected to have 15 million bales of cotton.

He said that USA and China are expected to have lower cotton due to drought in some of their states, while India, Pakistan and Brazil are likely to have good crops.

Copyright APP (Associated Press of Pakistan), 2011