KARACHI, Feb 3: Cotton prices on Tuesday recovered from the overnight lower levels as some of the leading mills and spinners covered positions against forward sales of cotton yarn and cloth for the current quarter ending March 31.

Some of the fine lots, including big-lot were again traded as higher as Rs3,450 per maund after having fallen to Rs3,250 during the last couple of sessions.

“The current rebound may not have any relevance to the recovery on the world cotton markets as some analysts may say, the run-up appears to be based on supply and demand factors,” said a leading broker.

He said some of the leading mills by now have a fair idea of the total crop through their private surveys and again indulged in panic buying, fearing an imminent price flare-up.

About 25,000 bales changed hands on Tuesday and some brokers said many offers failed to find willing sellers amid strong rumours that prices could rise further in the coming weeks.

“All eyes are now focused on the arrival figures of phutti for the fortnight ended Jan 31, which will give a fair idea of the total crop and its impact on the local price line,” analysts said.

Some of the prominent ginners having a strong holding capacity kept to the sidelines and did not oblige many buyers, including their traditional trading partners hoping further increase in prices, they added.

But some others said the TCP tender for 0.2m bales due to be opened on Feb 11, could well prove a decisive factor for the future market outlook.

There was, however, no change in the official spot rates for average, which remained pegged at the last close of Rs3,350 per maund but fine lots were traded much higher. New York cotton futures on the other hand showed a modest rise after several lean sessions and were quoted higher by 0.30 and 0.36 cents at 49.71 and 50.80 per lb for both the ruling March and forward May settlements, respectively.

The following were some of the notable deals in the ready section late on Tuesday evening:

SINDH TYPE: 1,000 bales, Shahdadpur at Rs3,250 to Rs3,300, 400 bales, Dadu at Rs3,250, 800 bales, Hala at Rs3,275, 800 bales and Mirpurkhas at Rs3,300.

PUNJAB VARIETY: 1,000 bales, Ahmedpur East and 600 bales, Bahawalpur at Rs3,450, 4,000 bales, Vehari at Rs3,400, 2,000 bales, Sadiqabad at Rs3,300 to Rs3,400, 1,000 bales, Rahimyar Khan at Rs3,300 to Rs3,310, 400 bales, Fort Abbas at Rs3,325, 800 bales, Haroonabad at Rs3,300, 400 bales, each Faqirwali and Liaquatpur at Rs3,250, 400 bales, Mongi Bungalow at Rs3,225 to Rs3,250, 800 bales, Noorpur at Rs3,375 to Rs3,400 and 200 bales, Khanewal at Rs3,360.