RECORDER REPORT

KARACHI: Renewed buying by spinners pushed the rates sharply higher on the cotton market on Thursday in the process of improved trading activity, dealers said.

The official spot rate picked up Rs 100 to Rs 7200, they added. In Sindh, seed cotton prices were at Rs 2400-3000 and in the Punjab, rates were at Rs 2600-3100, they said.

In the ready session, around 8000 bales of cotton changed hands between Rs 6500-7800, they said.

Market sources said that diminishing stock of lint cotton propelled spinners to make deals at higher rates. Short supply of lint cotton is a basic factor behind the continued rise in the prices of fine quality cotton, experts said.

They observed that unsold cotton stock is diminishing with the passage of time, this factor likely to push rates further up in the coming days.

According to reports, Indian seed companies threatened to halt supplies to 8 million cotton farmers in protest against a potential government plan to cut prices by 7.5 percent, the chief of a producers’ body said.

Farmers in India started planting the crop in the rainy months of June and July. Lower supplies of seeds could delay plantings and hit output, potentially pushing up benchmark prices in New York.

Adds Reuters: In New York, cotton futures were sharply higher on Wednesday.

The following deals were reported: 1200 bales of cotton from Dherki at Rs 7775/7800, 800 bales from Sakrand at Rs 6600, 600 bales from Saeedabad at Rs 6600, 200 bales from Hala at Rs 6500, 603 bales from Shahar Sultan at Rs 7500, 3400 bales from Rahim Yar Khan at Rs 7200, 400 bales from Khanewal at Rs 6850, they said.