Cotton market: business activity falls on lack of buying interest

Lack of buying interest seen on the cotton market on Wednesday as most of participants were on the sidelines in the absence of motivating factors, dealers said. The official spot rate was unchanged at Rs 5,350, dealers said. In Sindh, prices of seed cotton low type was lower by Rs 200 to Rs 1600 and Rs 2800, in the Punjab, rates were down by Rs 50 to Rs 2000 and Rs 3000, they said. In the ready business, around 3,000 bales of cotton changed hands between Rs 4800 and Rs 5625, they said.
Market sources said that volume of business fell as lack of motivating factors kept buyers on the sideline during the session. Cotton analyst, Naseem Usman said that weak sentiments the overseas market was an adding factor behind the slow activity. He said that a meeting of cotton board will be held on Thursday to review the problems and issues faced by cotton growers and farmers.
Reuters adds: Cotton futures on ICE extended losses on Tuesday after the US government on Tuesday raised its outlook for global inventories amid lower demand. The front-month March contract on ICE Futures US was down 0.4 cent, or 0.7 percent, at 59.18 cents per lb by 12:06 pm EST (1706 GMT) after the report. The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) also raised its outlook for US inventories by the end of July as it lowered its forecast for exports. The following deals reported: 400 bales of cotton from Hasilpur at Rs 4800, 1000 bales from Yazman Mandi at Rs 5500, 400 bales from Fort Abbas at Rs 5550 and 1000 bales from Rahim Yar Khan at Rs 5625, dealers said.

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The KCA Official Spot Rate for Local Dealings in Pakistan Rupees

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FOR BASE GRADE 3 STAPLE LENGTH 1-1/32"

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                                    MICRONAIRE VALUE BETWEEN 3.8 TO 4.9 NCL

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Rate              Ex-Gin   Upcountry   Spot Rate    Spot Rate    Difference

                    For      Price     Ex-Karachi  Ex. KHI. As   Ex-Karachi

                                                  on 09-02-2016

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37.324 kg          5,350       135       5,485          5,485           NIL

Equivalent

40 kgs             5,734       145       5,879          5,879           NIL

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