MULTAN: Listless conditions prevailed on the cotton market on Wednesday as both buyers and sellers stayed away. Shortage of quality cotton coupled with reluctance from ginners to sell the commodity at low rates kept proceedings dull and dreary. The Karachi Cotton Association kept its spot rate unchanged at Rs9,000.

Cotton expert Syed Muddabir Shah said ginners are not ready to sell quality cotton at lower rates. “Unsold stocks with ginners stand at 550,000 bales. Out of this, quality lint will not be more than 160,000 bales. Ginners are anticipating price of their choice against this quality stock,” he said.

Shah added that cotton production in Vehari and Bahawalpur — two large cotton growing districts of Punjab — has decreased alarmingly by 54.7 per cent and 36.1pc respectively.

He said that due to less cotton production as many as 100 ginning factories are on sale. 80pc of these units are in Punjab.

“The ginning sector is badly affected due to reduction in overall production of cotton and if timely steps are not taken to increase the production, machinery of many ginning factories will be sold out as scrap,” he said.

The following deals were reported to have changed hands on the ready counter: 200 bales, Daharki, at Rs9,150; 700 bales, Fort Abbas, at Rs8,800; 200 bales; Bahawalpur, at Rs8,650; 200 bales, Haroonabad, at Rs8,400; and 200 bales, Hasilpur at Rs8,600.

Published in Dawn, March 5th, 2020