Cotton Association (KCA) said .....

Fine lint remained in focus amid firm spot rate and strong physical prices, traders at the Karachi Cotton Association (KCA) said Tuesday.

The KCA kept the spot rate unchanged at Rs 11,500 per maund while physical prices stayed around Rs 13,500 per maund amid growing demand for fine lint, floor brokers said. The spinning units and mills in Punjab stations bought lint of all grades on competitive prices around Rs 13,600 per maund while in lower Sindh stations, ginners withholding fine lint increased their asking prices above Rs 13,500 per maund, floor brokers said. They said leading sellers withholding powers in Punjab stations remained confident of flare up in lint prices in the next coming sessions. The ginning activities in upper Sindh are on the dying stage as the arrival of cottonseed has finally come to an end and stocks are being ginned by only 5.0 percent of the total ginning units, analyst Shakeel Ahmad said.Ahmad said major mills and spinning units in Sindh made deals with ginners in Punjab on monthly delivery basis with extra transportation charges.It increases the production cost of the yarn and cloth producers but due to higher demand of yarn, the manufacturers are managing marginal profits to keep their wheels running. “The local banks remained reluctant to increase credit limits on back of stagnant spot rate, which is causing liquidity shortage of leading buyers and ginners,” Ahmad maintained.Ahmad said mills to mills business also took place in Punjab as middle and small units bought lots to their requirements.Majority of the deals in Punjab took place at Rs 11,550 per maund to Rs 13,000 per maund depending on grade during the trading session. The deals in upper Sindh changed hands above Rs 13,000 per maund while in Punjab textile and spinning sectors remained the volume leaders and made around 85 percent of the total deals to 24,600 bales during the trading session. The private sector commercial exporters purchased fine lint on limited quantity in the wake of its paucity and increase in demand in near future. The New York Futures is still on the higher side and has caused higher cotton prices in the international market besides leading buyer China is busy in buying.
He said New York Futures Market March deals 2011 stood at 186.05 cents per pound and May stayed at 183.05 cents per pound while Cotlook A Index remained on higher side at 217.30 cents per pound. staff report