Lint prices remained firm to tight during first half of this week

Some needy buyers made forward deals for all grades during trading session at lint market before the start of the Eid ul Azha holidays from Thursday 24th September lasting till the end of this week. Thus lint prices reportedly remained firm to tight during the first half of this week. Business will now open on next Monday viz the 28th of September 2015.

Fresh selling in fine grades remained dull on back of holiday-like mood of ginners and sellers while buyers were anticipating decline in prices after Eid-ul-Azha, floor brokers said.

In the meantime, there were more rains in several parts of the cotton belt so that according to cotton consultant Naseem Usman, Pakistan is likely to reap only 13 million to 13.5 million bales of cotton (155 Kgs) this season (August 2015 / July 2016) on an ex-gin basis. There are also fears of further pest attack which could not only decrease cotton output during the current season (2015 / 2016), but quality may also be a casualty in the ongoing crop. Better idea of the crop situation could emerge over the next few weeks.

On Wednesday, the general price idea of seedcotton from Sindh was said to range from Rs 2350 to Rs 2450 per 40 kgs, while in the Punjab they reportedly ranged from Rs 2250 to Rs 2450 per 40 kilogrammes. In general, lint prices from Sindh were said to have extended from Rs 4675 to Rs 4800 per maund (37.32 Kgs), while in the Punjab they reportedly ranged from Rs 4850 to Rs 4950 per maund in a firm market. Thus cotton prices this week were stable and steadily held. Though trading activity in the market was relatively low, prices were generally firm.

The Karachi Cotton Associaton (KCA) has consistently fixed the ex-gin price of grade three cotton at Rs 4,700 per maund (37.32 Kgs) since 11 days. Thus even though the international cotton prices have remained under pressure lately, the domestic lint prices have been held firmly. The local textile industry has not being performing well. Yarns and textile products are costly in Pakistan because of high cost of production. Thus Pakistani textile producers cannot compete with other regional manufacturers. For instance, textile circles said that China is buying yarn and textile products from India instead of Pakistan.

On the global front, the cotton futures prices in New York fell below 60 cents per pound, said to be the lowest level in more than several months.
However, the current calendar year (2015) promised lot of hopes at its inception, but as the year progressed deeper faultiness appeared and emerged to show that the world’s economy is quite sick. Indeed the global economic malaise became more evident than what was believed at the beginning of the year.