Subdued business was witnessed due to lack of buying interest on the cotton market on Friday in the process of trading activity, dealers said. The official spot rate was unchanged at Rs 8000, they added. In ready session, about 5000 bales of cotton changed hands between Rs 7775 and Rs 8500, they said. Rates of seed cotton per 40kg in Sindh were at Rs 3400-3700, in Punjab prices 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 and in Punjab rates were at Rs 1550-1650, they said and adding that polyester fibre per kg rates were at Rs 187. Some brokers said that some leading mills indulged in fresh buying of fine quality. Besides, cotton analyst, Naseem Usman said that the Pakistan Cotton Ginners Association (PCGA) Chairman Mian Mehmood Ahmed met FBR chairman Shabbar Zaidi, Razzaq Dawood, advisor to prime minister for textile and Industries and Jahangir Tareen advisor of Prime Minister and discussed core issues with them. Mian Mehmood requested them to keep one percent withholding tax on cotton.

Adds Reuters: ICE cotton futures edged up on Thursday, gaining for a third straight session, as positive sentiment around U.S.-China trade talks supported prices even as federal data showed export sales declined again last week.

Cotton contracts for December settled up 0.27 cent, or 0.46 %, at 59 cents per lb as of 3:10 p.m. EDT (1911 GMT). It traded within a range of 57.94 and 59.29 cents a lb.

Total futures market volume fell by 1,369 to 16,810 lots. Data showed total open interest gained 1,887 to 221,262 contracts in the previous session.

The following deals were reported: 600 bales of cotton from Shahdadpur at Rs 7800/7900, 1000 bales from Tando Adam at Rs 7800/8000, 200 bales from Maqsoodo Rind at Rs 7775, 700 bales from Khanewal at Rs 8475/8500, 200 bales from Fazilpur at Rs 8400, 1200 bales from Vehari at Rs 8250/8325, 400 bales from Chichawatni at Rs 8250, 200 bales from Burewala at Rs 8250, 200 bales from Hasilpur at Rs 8200 and 200 bales from Bahawal Nagar 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 29-08-2019

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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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