KARACHI: Fear of acute shortage of gas and electricity during the winter season amid slack global demand kept sentiments depressed on the cotton market on Wednesday as ginners were hasty sellers while spinners and exporters were obliging them at further lower prices.

Floor brokers said even the good news of granting export concessions to the country by the EU under its GSP+ status from the start of the next year could not help arrest the falling local cotton prices. They said reports of mild showers in some cotton growing areas of Punjab would prove to be a healthy sign for the standing crop.

The bumper Indian cotton crop and reports that China would not enter the world market in view of already having huge buffer stocks were the key factors that kept the global cotton prices remained under pressure, brokers said.

The New York cotton futures finished easy, closing below 80 cents per lb.

The Karachi Cotton Association (KCA) lowered its spot rates by Rs50 to Rs6,350 per maund.

The following deals were finalised on the ready counter on Wednesday: 1,000 bales, Nawabshah at Rs6,125 to Rs6,200, 1,000 bales, Sanghar at Rs5,900 to Rs6,000, 2,000 bales, Shahdadpur at Rs5,900 to Rs6,000, 1,000 bales and 2,000 bales, Khairpur at Rs6,350-Rs6,400 and Rs6,425-Rs6,450, 1,400 bales, Upper Sindh at Rs6,425 to Rs6,450, 2,800 bales, Bahawalpur at Rs6,300-Rs6,400, 3,000 bales, Haroonabad at Rs6,350 to Rs6,400.

Some 2,000 bales, Ahmedpur at Rs6,400, 1,400 bales, Bahawalpur at Rs6,400, 1,000 bales, Shujabad at Rs6,250 to Rs6,400, 4,000 bales, Noorpur at Rs6,400 to Rs6,450, 4,200 bales, Sadiqabad at Rs6,450-Rs6,400, 8,200 bales, Rahimyar Khan at Rs6,450-Rs6,500, 7,400 bales, Rajanpur at Rs6,500-Rs6,550 and 5,200 bales, Mianwali at Rs6,550-Rs6,650.