Trade activity came down on the cotton market on Wednesday owing to less buying interest, dealers said. The official spot rate was unchanged at Rs 6750, they said. In the ready session, 2000 bales of cotton sold at Rs 6900 and another deal of 200 bales from Muridwala sold at Rs 7000 for 25 July (Delivery), they said.

Cotton analyst, Naseem Usman said that like other countries of the world, Pakistan is also facing bearish sentiments in cotton business for a long time. Other analysts said that the issue of outstanding refunds with billons of rupees against customs duty and Sales Tax related to the export sector dampening sentiment with the hope of getting even a fraction of these funds in the near future, the entire textile industry is faced with liquidity crunch. They said that it's a kind of dullness as many mills and spinners were interested in announcement of textile related incentives in the budget ahead of Ramazan.

Adds Reuters: ICE cotton futures fell on Tuesday to a near two-week low on favourable weather conditions for planting of the natural fibre crop and increasing expectations of more export cancellations. The December cotton contract on ICE futures US settled down 0.64 cent, or 0.88 percent, at 72.37 cents per lb, after touching a session low of 72.22 cents a lb, the lowest since May 11. Meanwhile, the July cotton contract settled down 1.5 percent at 77.22 cents per lb.

The July contract on Tuesday edged below the 100-day moving average, a key support level and analysts expect many speculators to roll over their contracts from July to December. The following deals reported: 2000 bales of cotton from Shujabad at Rs 6900 and 200 bales from Muridwala at Rs 7000 for July 25 delivery, 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 23-05-2017

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37.324 kg          6,750      135        6,885       6,885              NIL

Equivalent

40 kgs             7,234      145        7,379       7,379            -54/-

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Copyright Business Recorder, 2017