Cotton market: Mills, ginners under pressure owing to huge losses

Cotton prices are coming down with the passage of time after spread of coronavirus, dealers informed on phone on Saturday. The official spot rate was unchanged at Rs8800, dealer said. Rate of seed cotton per 40kg in Sindh low quality was at Rs2800, while the best quality was unchanged at Rs4100, and in the Punjab prices of low quality were at Rs2800 while the fine type was available at Rs4600, they said.
In Sindh, Binola prices per maund were at Rs1400-1800, in Punjab rates were at Rs1650-1800, they said and the rate of polyester fibre was at Rs167 per kg, they added. Cotton market was closed as all businesses were closed due to face challenges caused by epidemic coronavirus, cotton analyst Naseem Usman said.
The whole world is under pressure, including cotton trade, he added. The mills and ginners were worried for great losses in the coming days, he observed. Adds Reuters: ICE cotton futures fell on Friday, recording its third consecutive week of declines, as markets grappled with the economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic.
Cotton contract for May settled down 1.45 cent, or 2.8%, at 51.33 cents per lb. It traded within a range of 51.15 and 53.32 cents a lb. The contract was down 3.4% for the week. Total futures market volume rose by 5,230 to 28,372 lots. Data showed total open interest fell 573 to 192,616 contracts in the previous session.

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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 1-1/16"
                    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  27-03-2020
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37.324 kg         8,800       160         8,960        8,960            NIL
Equivalent
40 kgs            9,431       171         9,602        9,602            NIL
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