Cotton Market: Trade Activity Slows Down Due To Low Quality

Cotton Market: Trade Activity Slows Down Due To Low Quality
Falling trend persisted on the cotton market on Saturday due to limited buying by spinners and mills, dealers said. The official spot rate was unchanged at Rs 6,600, dealers said. In Sindh and Punjab, seed cotton prices were inert at Rs 2900-3200, as per 40 kg, respectively, they said. In ready business, nearly 1700 bales of cotton changed hands between Rs 6600 and Rs 6900, they said.
Market sources said that trade activity slowed down due to low quality. Business activity remained restricted as seed cotton in Sindh continues to be normal, they said. Cotton analyst, Naseem Usman said that moisture content in phutti due to rains raising question about quality. As a result, the spinners were reluctant to make deals in a big way owing to quality constrains.
Reuters adds: ICE cotton futures turned negative and hit their lowest levels in one month on Friday after the US government cut its global demand estimate and raised its forecast for US production and inventories for the 2016/17 crop year. ICE December cotton fell as much as 2.3 percent to a low of 70.20 cents per lb, the lowest level for the second-month contract since July 12, immediately following the release of the US Department of Agriculture’s monthly supply and demand report.
The following deals were reported: 500 bales of cotton from Sanghar at Rs 6600-6650, 200 bales from Hala at Rs 6600, 400 bales from Tando Adam at Rs 6600-6800, same number from Shahdadpur at Rs 6690-6800 and 200 bales from Okara done at Rs 6900, dealers said.