Prices maintained firm posture on the cotton market on Thursday amid sustained buying by mills and spinners, dealers said. The official spot rate was up by Rs 50 to Rs 6050, they said. In the ready session, over 20,000 bales of cotton changed hand between Rs 5875-6250, they said. In Sindh seed cotton prices were at Rs 2800-3000 and in the Punjab, rates were stable at Rs 2800-3050, as per 40 kg, they said.

According to the market sources, prices maintained higher trend on strong demand by mills and spinners, in the meantime, the exporters were conspicuous by their absence. Cotton analyst, Naseem Usman said that trading activity is improving with the passage of time and it looks that rates not fall or rise sharply in days to come.

Adds Reuters: ICE cotton futures settled nearly unchanged on Wednesday in thin trading ahead of weekly US export sales due on Thursday and as the dollar hovered near 2-1/2-year lows. Cotton contracts for December settled down 0.02 cent, or 0.03 percent, at 69.25 cents per lb. It traded within a range of 69.05 and 69.73 cents a lb. "The market is waiting for the crops to come in to see if they are as big as everybody says and also to see if the quality is good," said Peter Egli, director of risk management at British merchant Plexus Cotton.

The following deals reported: 1600 bales from Tando Adam at Rs 5875/6000, 1400 bales from Shahdadpur at Rs 6000, 800 bales from Hala at Rs 6100/6125, 800 bales from Nawabshah at Rs 6100/6125, 1200 bales from Rohri at Rs 6150/6200, 1200 bales from Salehpat at Rs 6150/6200, 5000 bales from Khairpur at Rs 6200, 1000 bales from Haroonabad at Rs 6175/6200, 600 bales from Layyah at Rs 6175/6240, 600 bales from Kabirwala at Rs 6200, 400 bales from Vehari, 200 bales from Mianwali, 600 bales from Khanewal, 800 bales from Burewala all finalised at the same prices, 400 bales from Jahanian at Rs 6250, 400 bales from Alipur at Rs 6250, 200 bales from Uch Sharif, 600 bales from Ahmedpur and 400 bales from Rajanpur all sold at the same rates, dealers 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 20.09.2017

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37.324 kg          6,050      145        6,195         6,145         + 50/-

Equivalent

40 kgs             6,484      155        6,639         6,585         + 54/-

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Copyright Business Recorder, 2017