Cotton Market: Rates Fall Amid Post-Holidays Session

Prices showed soft trend on the cotton market on Wednesday in the absence of leading buyers’ interest amid Eid-ul-Fitr holidays’ session, dealers said. The official spot rate was down by Rs 100 to Rs 4600, dealers said. Seed cotton prices in Sindh followed same pattern losing Rs 50 to Rs 2250-2300 and in Punjab rates were at Rs 2350 and Rs 2400, they said. In the ready business, over, 2000 bales of cotton changed hands between Rs 4675 and Rs 4700, they said.

Market sources said that fresh rains in the country are beneficial for the cotton crop, but lack of buying interest among the leading buyers is causing cautious buying of seed cotton. The ginners were busy in selective and cautious buying of seed cotton from the farmers, they said. Cotton analyst, Naseem Usman said that continued rains in some parts of Punjab may hurt the cotton crop, government must take practical measures to save the crop. Flood played havoc in few areas of Punjab, so the government must take precautionary steps to save precious lives of people, animals and properties.
Reuters adds: Benchmark cotton futures on ICE fell for the third straight session on Tuesday, hitting their lowest levels in nearly three months, as speculators liquidated long positions and refrained from buying as the downward trend of recent weeks continued.
December cotton on ICE Futures US settled down by 0.43 cent on Tuesday, a 0.7 percent loss, to 64.24 cents per pound, after falling as low as 64.11 cents a lb, its lowest since April 23. Total futures market volume fell by 4,862 to 12,649 lots. Data showed total open interest fell 297 to 176,785 contracts in the previous session. The following deals reported: 1000 bales of cotton from Shahdadpur at Rs 4675-4700, 800 bales from Sanghar and 400 bales from Hala all finalised at the same rate, dealers said.