KARACHI: Cotton pri­ces continued to rise in front of short supply of quality lint and rising demand. However, activity once again failed to pick up on Thursday as sellers were reluctant to dispose of their stocks at current rates.

Strong demand for quality cotton from needy spinners pushed prices up, but the short supply of quality cotton kept trading activity slow and restricted, brokers said.

Since the prospects of importing Indian cotton have diminished after sur­ge in prices, market reports suggested that many big spinners are now exploring US market for importing quality lint to meet their consumption demand.

Phutti (seed cotton) prices also rose along with cotton prices with Sindh variety being quoted at between Rs3,100 and Rs3,350 and Punjab quality between Rs3,100 and Rs3,575 per 40 kilograms.

However, the flow of phutti from cotton fields into ginneries has slowed down which indicated that very little unpicked cotton has been left behind. The cotton prices also surged up to Rs6,800 per maund (around 37 kilograms).

The Karachi Cotton Association’s spot rates remained unchanged. Maj­or deals on the ready counter were: 3,000 bales from Sakrand (done at Rs6,200), 1,000 bales Haroonabad (Rs6,550 to Rs6,575), 2,000 bales Bahawalpur (Rs6,600 to Rs6,800), 1,600 bales Rahimyar Khan (Rs6,600 to Rs6,800), 200 bales Noorpur Noranga (Rs6,750) and 1,200 bales Sehar Sultan (Rs6,600).

Published in Dawn, January 20th, 2017