LAHORE: The local cotton market on Tuesday remained steady and the trading volume remained low. The Spot rate remained unchanged.
Cotton Analyst Nasseem Usman while talking to Business Recorder said that price of Punjab’s Phutti attracted per 40 kilograms prices from Rs 6500 to Rs 8900. Cotton of Sindh was traded from Rs 15500 to Rs 20,000 per maund, Punjab’s cotton was traded from Rs 16500 to Rs 20,000 per maund.
ICE cotton futures fell more than 1% to their lowest level in over two weeks on Monday, weighed by a stronger dollar and as weakness in the grains market seeped into the US cotton market.
The March contract on ICE futures was down 2.08 cents, or 1.7%, at 123.20 cents per lb by 11:25 a.m. ET. It traded within a range of 121.62 and 125.47 cents a lb.
Grain prices being lower and the dollar being higher has pushed the cotton market down, said Rogers Varner, president of Varner Brokerage in Cleveland, Mississippi.
The dollar rose as investors rushed into safe-haven assets amid fears that Russia is preparing to invade Ukraine. A stronger greenback makes cotton more expensive for holders of other currencies.
Soybeans fell from nine-month highs seen last week as traders awaited more news about the impact of dry weather on trade flows which is expected to reduce crops in South America, while corn also fell.
“There’s been such heavy and persistent buying (of cotton), and this has been going on for almost eight months... some of the merchants were saying they are seeing a slight slowdown in demand,” Varner said.
Last week, a federal weekly export sales report showed net sales of 185,200 running bales of cotton for 2021/2022, down 44% from the previous week and 47% from the prior four-week average.
Meanwhile, speculators cut net long positions in cotton futures by 884 contracts to 77,883 in the week to Feb. 8, data from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission showed on Friday.
Total futures market volume fell by 18,042 to 31,324 lots. Data showed total open interest fell 8,703 to 255,330 contracts in the previous session.
The Spot Rate remained unchanged at Rs 20,200 per maund. The rate of Polyester Fiber was increased by Rs 3 and was available at Rs 268 per kg.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2022
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