Prices declined modestly on the cotton market on Saturday in the process of slow trading activity, dealers said. The official spot rate drifted lower by Rs 50 to Rs 6750, they said. In Punjab, prices of seed cotton were at Rs 3700-3800, as per 40 kg, they said. In ready session, over 1000 bales of cotton changed hands between Rs 6750 and Rs 6900, they said.
Some brokers said that trading activity came down as the ginners were not keen to oblige spinners due to limited stock with them. Cotton analyst, Naseem Usman said that the mills were looking cautious mainly because of quality factor. It is expected that the ginners may be in a hurry to sell at the present rates as they are feared that hot and dry weather likely to deteriorate the quality of cotton and lessen it weight, he observed.
Besides, water shortage could disturb sowing in Sindh and it may cause delay in production, other experts said. They said that the BD importers have shifting their position from India to Pakistan to buy yarn after price rise in India.
Adds Reuters: ICE cotton futures crawled higher on Friday, supported by mill fixations, but was down one percent for the week. The May cotton contract on ICE Futures US was down one percent for the week, in the biggest weekly decline since the seven-day period ending February 17. Speculators cut their net long position in cotton by 4,319 contracts to 109,050 in the week to March 21, US Commodity Futures Trading Commission data showed on Friday.
The May cotton contract on ICE Futures US settled up 0.2 cent, or 0.26 percent, at 77.47 cents per lb. It traded within a range of 77.17 and 78.15 cents a lb. Total futures market volume rose by 6,927 to 26,085 lots. Data showed total open interest gained 1,609 to 281,312 contracts in the previous session. The following deals reported: 200 bales of cotton from Jahanian at Rs 6750, 514 bales from Liaquatpur at the same rate, 200 bales from Bahawal Nagar at Rs 6900 and same figure from Faqirwali at the same rate, they said.
===========================================================================
The KCA Official Spot Rate for Local Dealings in Pakistan Rupees
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
FOR BASE GRADE 3 STAPLE LENGTH 1-1/16"
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
MICRONAIRE VALUE BETWEEN 3.8 TO 4.9 NCL
===========================================================================
Rate Ex-Gin Upcountry Spot Rate Spot Rate Difference
For Price Expenses Ex-Karachi Ex. KHI, As Ex-Karachi
on 24-03-2017 in Rupees
===========================================================================
37.324 kg 6,750 135 6,885 6,935 - 50/-
Equivalent
40 kgs 7,234 145 7,379 7,433 - 54/-
===========================================================================
No content from Business Recorder shall be reproduced, published, broadcast, rewritten for broadcast or publication, or redistributed directly or indirectly in any medium.
Business Recorder shall not be responsible or held liable for any error of fact, opinion or recommendation and also for any loss, financial or otherwise, resulting from business or trade or speculation conducted, or investments made, on the basis of the information posted here. Nor shall Business Recorder be held liable for any actions taken in consequence." >Copyright Business Recorder, 2017