Cotton market: prices resist further slide on fresh buying ahead of holiday

Prices resisted more decline on the cotton market on Tuesday after emergence of fresh buying by mills and sinners, dealers said. The official spot rate was unchanged at Rs 5,250, dealers said. In Sindh, seed cotton prices were at Rs 2000-2200, and in Punjab prices at Rs 2500 and Rs 2900, they said. In the ready business, around 20,000 bales of cotton changed hands between Rs 5100-5500, they said.
According to the market sources, most of the leading buyers managed to finalise deals ahead of holiday. In the meantime, some of them were making cautious deals due to shortage of quality lint, they added. Other analysts said that rains in Punjab are also causing tight supply of fine type.
Reuters adds: Cotton futures rose on Monday to their highest single-session gain in a week as investors covered bearish bets, stemming losses in the previous session spurred by news surrounding the release of massive Chinese stockpiles. Speculators boosted their net short position in cotton by 3,952 lots to 40,488 lots, according to Commodity Futures Trading Commission data, as prices touched fresh 2009 lows. That was the largest net short position in fiber since records dating back to 2006.
The front-month May contract on ICE Futures US settled up 1.01 cent, or 1.77 percent, at 58.17 cents per lb, after touching a high of 58.58 cents. The following deals finalised: 5000 bales of cotton from Ghotki sold at Rs 5100-5500, 4000 bales from Mirpur Mathilo at Rs 5390-5450, 4000 bales from Dharki at Rs 5450, 1000 bales from Khanewal at Rs 5100, 700 bales from Haroonabad at Rs 5250, 1400 bales from Sadiqabad at Rs 5400, 1600 bales from Rahim Yar Khan at Rs 5400 and 800 bales from Hasilpur at Rs 5500, they said.

===========================================================================

The KCA Official Spot Rate for Local Dealings in Pakistan Rupees

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

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

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

                                    MICRONAIRE VALUE BETWEEN 3.8 TO 4.9 NCL

===========================================================================

Rate              Ex-Gin   Upcountry   Spot Rate    Spot Rate    Difference

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

                                                  on 21-03-2016

===========================================================================

37.324 kg         5,250       135         5,385        5,385            NIL

Equivalent

40 kgs            5,626       145         5,771        5,771            NIL

===========================================================================