Leading mills indulge in forward buying of fine quality lint on the cotton market on Tuesday, dealers said. The official spot rate was unchanged at Rs 8000, they added. In ready session, over 18000 bales of cotton changed hands between Rs 7700 and Rs 8400, they said. Prices of seed cotton per 40kg in Sindh were at Rs 3400-3700, in Punjab rates were at Rs 3200-3800, they said. In Balochistan, seed cotton prices were at Rs 3600-3700, they said.

In Sindh Binola prices per maund were at Rs 1400-1550, while in Punjab rates were at Rs 1550-1650, they said and adding that polyester fibre per kg rates were at Rs 187. According to the market sources rising concern about the quality was basic factor behind the rise in volume of business. Cotton analyst, Naseem Usman said that rates may move up in the days to come.

Cotton prices were mixed in the international markets, dealers said. Adds Reuters: ICE cotton futures dropped over 1% on Monday as heightened U.S.-China trade tensions weighed on investor sentiment even as the natural fiber faces slowing demand. Cotton contracts for December fell 0.60 cent, or 1.03 %, at 57.61 cents per lb as of 01:39 pm EDT (1739 GMT).

Total futures market volume rose by 4,334 to 24,971 lots. Data showed total open interest gained 378 to 216,859 contracts in the previous session. The following deals reported: 1400 bales of cotton from Shahdadpur at Rs 7700, 5000 bales from Tando Adam at Rs 7700/7900, 1200 bales from Sanghar at Rs 7700/7800, 1000 bales from Mirpurkhas at Rs 7750, 1000 bales from Kotri at Rs 7700, 200 bales from Daur at Rs 7800, 1200 bales from Nawabshah at Rs 7700/7800, 1800 bales from Hala at Rs 7700/7750, 600 bales from Shahpur Chakar at Rs 7700, 400 bales from Noabad at Rs 7900, 1200 bales from Khanewal at Rs 8400, 400 bales from Rajanpur at Rs 8300, 200 bales from Gojra at Rs 8250, 600 bales from Chichawatni at Rs 8025/8100, 400 bales from Kasuwal at Rs 8025 and 200 bales from Moongi Bangla at Rs 8200, 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"

                    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 26-08-2019

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37.324 kg         8,000       160         8,160        8,160            Nil

Equivalent

40 kgs            8,574       171         8,745        8,745            Nil

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