Slow trading witnessed at cotton market on Thursday owing to dwindling stocks in the country and shortage of quality cotton. The Karachi Cotton Association’s spot rates were reduced by Rs50 to Rs6,750 per maund (around 37 kilograms).

Only small-lot deals were reported to have changed hands as spinners kept looking for quality cotton but mostly failed due to limited stocks with ginners.

Meanwhile, ginners fear that the next crop could also be short if the government did not come up with a cotton policy and protected cotton-growing areas which are shifting to sugar cane.

Already two successive cotton crops have miserably failed and were short by up to 30 to 35 per cent and if this trend continues the country could soon become cotton importing within next couple of years.

Major deals to have changed hands on the ready counter were: 600 bales from Lodhran at Rs6,850, 400 bales from Haroonabad at Rs6,900 and 400 bales from Liaquatpur at Rs7,000.