Cotton market: Volume of business improves as falling prices attract buyers

LAHORE: The Spot Rate Committee of the Karachi Cotton Association (KCA) on Tuesday decreased the spot rate by Rs 300 per maund and closed it at Rs 18300 per maund. The local cotton market remained bearish and the trading volume remained satisfactory.

Cotton Analyst Nasseem Usman while talking to Business Recorder said that price of Punjab’s Phutti attracted per 40 kilograms prices from Rs 6000 to Rs 8000. Cotton of Sindh was traded from Rs 15000 to Rs 19000 per maund, Punjab’s cotton was traded from Rs 16000 to Rs 18500 per maund.

He told that 1400 bales of Ahmed Pur East, 2000 bales of Burewala, 2000 bales of Lodhran, 1000 bales of Jalal Pur were sold at Rs 18250 per maund, 800 bales of Yazman Mandi were sold at Rs 17200 per maund, 1200 bales of Fort Abbas were sold at Rs 17300 to Rs 17750 per maund, 200 bales of Vehari were sold at Rs 16800 per maund, 200 bales of Hasil Pur were sold at Rs 16600 per maund and 200 bales of Dunya Pur were sold at Rs 16300 per maund.

He also told that the rate of quality cotton in the local cotton market reached at all-time high of Rs 20,000 per maund after increasing by Rs 1000 per maund.

Adviser to the Prime Minister on Commerce and Textiles Abdul Razak Dawood has made it clear that the Commerce ministry has not withdrawn the Textile & Apparel Policy 2020-25 while the facility of Duty Drawback of Local Taxes and Levies (DLTL) for the textile sector will continue in future in order to increase the export of value-added textiles.

He was addressing a conference arranged by the Pakistan Readymade Garments Manufacturers and Exporters Association (PRGMEA) here at a local hotel. Besides PRGMEA regional Chairman Sheikh Luqman Amin, the meeting was attended by PRGMEA former Chairman Mubashar Butt, Sohail Afzal Sheikh and representatives of the Pakistan Hosiery Manufacturers & Exporters Association (PHMA).

The PM Advisor assured the value-added textile sector’s stakeholders of raising their problems with PM Imran Khan and the federal cabinet. The adviser said the government would consider and resolve all issues that were highlighted during the meeting.

Razak Dawood said that the textile sector has been playing a major role in stabilizing the national economy. Therefore, the government was also striving hard to resolve problems of this sector on a priority basis.

Meanwhile, ICE cotton futures were little changed on Monday as investors held back from making large bets ahead of the US Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) monthly supply and demand report due later this week.

The cotton contract for March was up 0.16 cent, or 0.1 percent, at 115.16 cents per pound by 11:13 am ET (1613 GMT). It traded within a range of 115.11 and 116.38 cents a lb.

Total futures market volume fell by 14,112 to 12,014 lots. Data showed total open interest gained 561 to 245,943 contracts in the previous session. The Spot Rate Committee of the Karachi Cotton Association decreased the spot rate by Rs 300 per maund and closed it at Rs 18300 per maund. The price of Polyester Fiber was increased by Rs 5 per kg and was available at Rs 257 per kg.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2022