Active buying by some leading mills and spinners was seen but the ginners were not ready to oblige them by lowering the rates. In fact, ginners raised asking prices amid fresh buying by mills and spinners, at Pakistan cotton market on Wednesday.

According to Cotton analyst, Naseem Usman, the Pakistan Cotton Ginners Association (PCGA) issued fortnightly phutti arrivals report till February 15, at 14.6 million bales.

Prices of best quality may depict further rise in times to come. The arrivals are almost at the end of season and the quality factor is still a concern for buyers and sellers, as well.

The official spot rate remained unchanged at Rs 4,900. In the ready session, around 20,000 bales of cotton changed hands between Rs 4500 and Rs 5200, dealers said.

The following deals reported: 200 bales from Kotri at Rs 4500, 400 bales from Mehrabpur at Rs 4750, 100 bales from Rasoolabad at Rs 4875, 6000 bales from Upper Sindh at Rs 5100-5200, 1000 bales from Haroonabad at Rs 4700-4800, 400 bales from Faqirwali at Rs 4800, 600 bales from Fort Abbas at Rs 4875-5100, 600 bales from Vehari at Rs 4700/4900, 400 bales from Yazman Mandi at Rs 4950-5050, 600 bales from Burewala at Rs 4700-5000, 400 bales from Alipur at Rs 5000, 2000 bales from Sadiqabad at Rs 5000-5100, 1000 bales from Rahim Yar Khan at Rs 5100, 1000 bales from Mian Chano at Rs 4800-5100, 600 bales from Chani Goth at Rs 5100, 400 bales from Jalalpur at Rs 5100 and 4000 bales from Khanpur at Rs 5200.

On global front, ICE cotton rose for the fourth straight session on Wednesday, hitting a five-month high as certified stock levels remained near 2012 lows, indicating strong demand for US cotton on the physical market. The most-active May cotton contract on ICE Futures US rose 0.79 cent, or 1.2 percent, to settle at 65.32 cents a lb, after rising as high as 65.44 cents a lb, the highest level for the second-month since September 2014.