Subdued business was again witnessed on the cotton market on Tuesday as buyers were conspicuous by their absences, dealers said. The official spot rate remained unchanged at Rs 6,950, they added. Prices of seed cotton in Sindh per 40 kg were unchanged at Rs 2500 and Rs 3000, in Punjab rates showed no change at Rs 2500 and Rs 3400, dealers said. In the ready session, over, 2,400 bales of cotton changed hands between Rs 6950-7100, dealers said.
Market sources said that leading buyers were conspicuous by their absence. They attributed the decline in the activity to several reasons, some of the leading factors were shortage of fine type and financial crisis, but long closure of Chinese market due to Lunar New Year was also a big factor. Cotton analyst, Naseem Usman said that the business may improve in the coming days.
Reuters adds: The ICE cotton fell on Monday as exchange supplies continued to climb and as weaker-than-expected US factory activity and continued emerging-market worries drove equities and industrial commodities lower. The benchmark March cotton contract on ICE Futures US finished down 0.82 cent, nearly one percent at 85.01 cents a lb. Fiber slightly underperformed the broader commodities sector, as 10 of 19 components of the benchmark Thomson Reuters-Core Commodity CRB index gained. The following deals reported as 200 bales from Fort Abbas at Rs 6950, 200 bales from Faqir wali at Rs 6950, 200 bales from Haroonabad at Rs 6950, 400 bales from Yazman Mandi at Rs 7000, 600 bales from Ali Pur at Rs 7000, 200 bales from Ahmed Pur at Rs 7050, 400 bales from Mian wali at Rs 7050 and 200 bales from Khanewal at Rs 7100, they added.
