Prices fell sharply on the cotton market on Friday as some needy mills finalised of best quality to replenish their stock, dealers said. The official spot rate dropped sharply at Rs 8,700, they added. Prices of seed cotton in Sindh were at Rs 3000-4000, in the Punjab seed cotton prices at Rs 3200-4000 and in Balochistan, rates of seed cotton were at Rs 3600-3900, they said. In the ready session, around 3,000 bales of cotton changed hands between Rs 8150-8450, they said.

According to the market sources, mills most of the time kept on the sideline due to lack of buying interest. In the meantime, very little number of mills came ahead to finalise deals at the psychological levels, they added. The overall sentiment remained subdued owing to uncertainty on the currency market, they said.

Cotton analyst, Naseem Usman said that cotton business is facing a kind of dullness due to short crop and little interest by the participants. According to the reports, rates of cotton failed to recover lost ground in the international markets. The following deals reported: 400 bales of cotton from Daur at Rs 8450, 200 bales from Sanghar at Rs 8350, 1400 bales from Fort Abbas at Rs 8250/8300, 400 bales from Maroot at Rs 8250, 600 bales from Haroonabad at Rs 8250 and 200 bales from Hasilpur at Rs 8150, 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 20-12-2018

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37.324 kg         8,700       160         8,860        9,060        - 200/-

Equivalent

40 kgs            9,324       171         9,495        9,709        - 214/-

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Copyright Business Recorder, 2018