Surge in demand lifts spot rate by Rs 100 in a single session

KARACHI (January 05 2010): Strong demand induced the Karachi Cotton Association (KCA) to push the spot rate sharply higher on the cotton market on Monday, dealers said. The Karachi Cotton Association (KCA) official spot rate was up by Rs 100 to Rs 4,600, dealers said. In the ready business, prices maintained upward trend as nearly 12000 bales changed between Rs 4525-4700.

Phutti prices also went up with a gain of 150-50 in Sindh and the Punjab, to Rs 2200-2450, they added. According to the market sources there was high demand for the cotton as rising prices in the international market are not allowing the buyers to think about the buying from the overseas.

It is very much clear that import will be very expensive for them, so leading mills are preferring to buy the local stuff, Naseem Usman said. Other analysts said that fine quality is in demand by the overseas buyers, which is no doubt a big issue for the local buyers, they said. Short production in China, India and the United States is the basic factor behind the time-and-again record breaking figures, they added.

In the meantime, the Pakistan Cotton Ginners Association (PCGA) issued fortnightly report till December 31, 2009, showing a rise of 2.2 million bales at 11.9 million bales against the last year figure, they said. Despite the higher production, it looks that the ginners may raise prices due to rise in the demand by the mills and exporters, they added.

THE FOLLOWING DEALS WERE REPORTED: 200 bales of cotton from Mirpurkhas sold at Rs 4600, 2000 bales from Shahdadpur at Rs 4550-4650, 1000 bales from Sanghar 4525-4650, 1000 bales from Sanghar at Rs 4700 (one month Credit), 1600 bales from upper Sindh at Rs 4700, 2400 bales from Rahim Yar Khan at Rs 4650-4700, 400 bales from Lodran at Rs 4550, 1000 bales from Liaquatpur at Rs 4650-4700, 600 bales from Haroonabad at Rs 4600, 800 bales from Sadiqabad at Rs 4700.