KARACHI, July 11: Firm conditions were witnessed on the cotton market on Friday as ginners raised their asking prices by Rs25 per maund after spinners resumed their covering operations against foreign sales of yarn.

The new crop from a central Sindh ginnery fetched the season’s higher rate at Rs2,375 per maund without 15 per cent sales tax, while a big lot of the current crop from the southern Punjab cotton belt changed hands at Rs2,500.

Floor brokers said some of the ginners from the southern Punjab cotton belt who still held modest unsold stocks of contamination-free lint were not inclined to lower their asking prices owing to higher overheads and spinners had to oblige them.

Although the unsold stocks of the current crop are not more than 40,000 bales, they have their own value as spinners need them to spin higher counts of yarn for export markets, they said.

The local brokers, who were sitting idle for the last couple of weeks in the absence of spinners buying orders, were a bit happy over the resumption of mill buying amid hopes that tempo of ready business could gather fresh momentum in the backdrop of short stock position of some of the spinners.

The notable feature was that some of the leading spinners and mills holding stocks of lint more than their annual consumption needs sold surplus lots to other spinners to keep them afloat until arrivals of new crop further improves, dealers said.

About 1,800 bales were credited to inter-mill dealings at rates ranging from Rs2,475 on the lower side and Rs2,500 per maund on the higher side.

Indications are that some of the leading private sector exporters may follow their lead as the current selling rates at Rs2,500 per maund is quite attractive as compared to prevailing foreign prices.

Moreover, foreign demand, notably from Bangladesh, Indonesia and some other Far Eastern countries is shrinking progressively and it may not be possible for them to hold on to their positions as prices could fall after the new crop arrivals get normal, market sources said.

Official spot rates were firmly held at the overnight levels and may be raised during the next couple of sessions in line with those at which physical business is being done, they added.

Ready offtake totalled 2,100 bales as under:

NEW CROP: 200 bales, Mirpurkhas at Rs2,300 and Rs2,350; and 100 bales, Burewala at Rs2,375.

CURRENT CROP: 1,600 bales from various southern Punjab stations at Rs2,480 to Rs2,500 and 200 bales from Khanpur at Rs2,475.