Cotton prices held the present levels owing to lean business on the local market on Thursday, dealers said. The official spot rate was unmoved at Rs 6700, they said. In ready session, around 1600 bales of cotton changed hands between Rs 6800 and Rs 7000, they said. Market sources said that activity was thin as mills and spinners were confused under the circumstances.

Some experts said that earning of exports in Bangladesh went up to 34 billion dollars from 24 billion dollars due to the government's friendly policies and other concessions and facilities, they said. Whereas, they noted that the Pak exports fell to 20 billion dollars from 25 billion dollars against the last year.

In a surprising way, they said that during the Nawaz Sharif's government, exports came down in the absence of basic facilities. To achieve desired results, the government should make arrangement for immediate payment of refund claims and ensure continuity in it's policies, they said. Cotton analyst, Naseem Usman said that the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) reports depicting a modest fall in exports.

Adds Reuters: ICE cotton futures were nearly unchanged in light trading on Wednesday as traders were awaited direction from a weekly federal report on US export sales. The July cotton contract on ICE Futures US settled up 0.04 percent at 79.39 cents per lb, after touching the highest since March 16 at 79.74 earlier in the session.

The July cotton contract on ICE Futures US settled up 0.03 cent, or 0.04 percent, at 79.39 cents per lb. It traded within a range of 78.71 and 79.74 cents a lb. Total futures market volume rose by 3,243 to 24,020 lots. The following deals reported: 1000 bales from Faqirwali at Rs 6800, 200 bales from Khanewal at Rs 6825 and 400 bales from Khanewal at Rs 7000, they said.

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The KCA Official Spot Rate for Local Dealings in Pakistan Rupees

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FOR BASE GRADE 3 STAPLE LENGTH 1-1/16"

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                                    MICRONAIRE VALUE BETWEEN 3.8 TO 4.9 NCL

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Rate              Ex-Gin   Upcountry   Spot Rate    Spot Rate    Difference

                    For      Price     Ex-Karachi  Ex. KHI. As   Ex-Karachi

                                                  on 25.04.2017

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37.324 kg         6,700       135        6,835          6,835           Nil

Equivalent

40 kgs            7,180       145        7,325          7,325           Nil

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Copyright Business Recorder, 2017