KARACHI, June 28: The prices of new cotton crop on Saturday remained under pressure as the pace of phutti arrivals was maintained on the higher side and spinners did not opt for fresh commitments apparently waiting to have a fair idea of the crop situation.

The notable feature was that a lower Sindh ginner also signed a forward deal with a spinner for 400 bales at Rs3,700 per maund for delivery on Sept 5, as unlike the previous seasons when Punjab ginners outwitted their Sindh counterparts after resuming operations well before them.

“Owing to uncertain crop outlook, Punjab growers are out to sell their newly-picked phutti at the rates offered by ginners on the spot, said a leading broker. “The talk of rate above Rs2,000 per 40 kg seems to have now no relevance to the objective conditions,” he added.

According to market sources most of the growers in the central Punjab cotton belt, where half a dozen factories had resumed operations, growers are now dumping their phutti around Rs1,600 per 40 kg but well above the official support price of Rs1,025.

Indications are that prices of both new crop phutti and lint may fall further as spinners and mills are not inclined to indulge in speculative activity and to go by their export parity levels, they said.

This factor is well reflected in the new crop prices, which had declined from Rs2,200 to Rs1,600 and that of lint from Rs4,200 to Rs3,700 per maund in official trading, dealers said.

However, ginners were not inclined to lower their asking prices for the current crop, which is being sold between Rs3,850 to Rs3,875 per maund and spinners preferred to have it even at the higher rates because of fine quality.

News from the foreign markets was on the higher side amid conflicting reports about the size of the crop and the prevailing weather conditions.

New York cotton futures fell modestly by 0.68 and 0.28 cents per lb at 73.41 and 78.11 cents for both the ruling July and the distant October contract, respectively, on weekend selling.

But on the other hand local official spot rates were again firmly held unchanged at Rs3,750, although some of the deals were done at much higher rates.

Mill ready off-take was light as ginners remained busy clearing backlog of their odd lots as under: 863 bales, Shahdadpur and 404 bales, Hyderabad at Rs3,850.