Prices extended overnight gains on the cotton market on Tuesday in the process of moderate trading activity, dealers said. The official spot rates gained further Rs 150 to Rs 8500, they added. In ready session, over 18,000 bales of cotton changed hands between Rs 7750 and Rs 8775, they said. Rates of seed cotton per 40kg in Sindh were at Rs 3600-3900 and in the Punjab prices were at Rs 3600-4100, they said. In Balochistan, cotton prices showed rising trend at Rs 8300-8500, seed cotton prices were also higher at Rs 4000-4400, 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 picked up more Rs 5 to Rs 190. According to the market sources, rates of cotton showed further surge following the persistent demand from mills and spinners, geo-political, and economic uncertainties cast by the attacks on Saudi oil facilities.

In the cotton producing countries, cotton output depicting decline during the year, which may cause further increase in the prices, they said. Cotton analyst, Naseem Usman said that rates of cotton will move up due to shortage of better quality. Adds Reuters: Cotton prices held steady on Monday in light trade after surging over 6% in the previous week on hopes of a trade deal between the United States and China, while investors were looking for crop progress due later in the day.

Cotton contracts for December rose 0.01 cent, or 0.02%, to 62.29 cents per lb as of 2:01 p.m. EDT (1801 GMT). It traded within a range of 61.88 and 62.78 cents a lb. The December contract gained about 6.3% last week, its best since the week ended June 1, 2018. Total futures market volume fell by 11,794 to 25,885 lots. Data showed total open interest fell 1,292 to 233,028 contracts in the previous session.

The following deals reported: 1000 bales of cotton from Tando Adam at Rs 7900, 1200 bales from Shahdadpur at Rs 7850/7900, 1000 bales from Sanghar at Rs 7750/7850, 200 bales from Shahpur Chakar at Rs 8100, 200 bales from Jhole at Rs 7800, 800 bales from Khadro at Rs 8100, 1600 bales from Nawabshah at Rs 8100/8300, 800 bales from Khairpur at Rs 8400/8500, 600 bales from Saleh Pat at Rs 8500, 1000 bales from Khanewal at Rs 8750/8775, 1000 bales from Bahawal Nagar at Rs 8700, 3000 bales from Haroonabad at Rs 8650/8700, 200 bales from Daranwala at Rs 8700, 200 bales from Kabirwala at Rs 8700, 400 bales from Mian Channu at Rs 8700, 1000 bales from Rajanpur at Rs 8700, 400 bales from Faqeerwali at Rs 8700, 1400 bales from Chichawatni at Rs 8650/8675, 800 bales from Burewala at Rs 8650, 200 bales from Layyah at Rs 8650, 600 bales from Vehari at Rs 8575/8600, 600 bales from Sahiwal at Rs 8490 and 200 bales from Samandari at Rs 8300, 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 16-09-2019

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37.324 kg         8,500       160        8,660         8,510        + 150/-

Equivalent

40 kgs            9,109       171        9,280         9,120        + 160/-

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Copyright Business Recorder, 2019