Firmness prevailed on the cotton market on Tuesday though ginners did not lower the asking prices due to short crop, dealers said. The Karachi Cotton Association (KCA) spot rate was unchanged at Rs 9800, they said. Seed cotton prices in Sindh and Punjab were unchanged at Rs 3,900-4,550, they said.
In ready business nearly 12,000 bales of cotton changed hand between Rs 9,600-10,000, they added. Markets sources said that despite the upward trend in the NY cotton market, many buyers are hoping that fall in the NY cotton futures to encourage them to finalise the new deals.
Commenting on the fresh development, some experts said that India to export nearly 1.9 million bales of cotton and Pakistan to get some 0.4-0.5 million bales, which may not enough to meet the local demand. Naseem Usman said that supply pressure to continue, which will not help in easing the prices, instead, rates will maintain present levels in the near future.
He also said that under the circumstances, there expectations are looking very unusual because, the ginners have very little quantity of unsold stock, in the presence of this factor, how prices can come down? In the meantime, local cotton traders are contracting with the Indian cotton exporters to buy cotton at the reasonable rates, they added.
According to report, torrential rains and extensive floods have damaged Australia's cotton crop and the country, one of the world's top cotton exporters, could harvest much less of the crop than earlier expected, Rabobank predicted.
Analysts said that the cotton trade will watch for any significant changes in world cotton supply figures when the US Agriculture Department (USDA) releases its monthly crop report during the current week. On Monday the US cotton futures finished higher on speculative and possibly some mill buying, but business was moderate as most players awaited release of a key government crop report this week, traders said. Benchmark March cotton contract on ICE Futures US increased 2.65 cents to conclude at $1.4325 per lb, trading from $1.405 to $1.446.
The following deals were reported: 400 bales of cotton from Shahdad Pur sold at Rs 9600, 200 bales of cotton from Tando Adam at Rs 9600, 600 bales of cotton from Moro at Rs 9700, 2000 bales from Upper Sindh at Rs 10000, 400 bales from Bahawal Pur at Rs 9700, 400 bales of cotton from Bakkhar at Rs 9700, 200 bales from Depal Pur at Rs 9800, 1000 bales from Jam Pur at Rs 10000, 3000 bales from Rahim Yar Khan at Rs 10000, 2000 bales from Ahmed Pur at Rs 10000, 200 bales from Shadan Lund at Rs 10000 and 2000 bales from Sadiqabad at Rs 10000.
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The KCA Official Spot Rate for Local Dealings in Pak 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 10.01.2011
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37.324 Kgs 9,800 120 9,920 9,920 NIL
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Equivalent
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40 Kgs 10,503 120 10,623 10,623 NIL
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