Pakistan cotton market in quandary over rapid revaluation in exchange rate

Low cotton demand was witnessed over sudden change in the export parity with rapid revaluation in exchange rate by 12 percent. Moreover, the spinning industry has already built upon their cotton inventory at higher prices and only around half a million bales are currently held by ginners, their competitive edge has been totally scoured.

There are reports that around 60 to 70 spinning units have already closed down due to huge loss incurred against their export commitments made earlier at around Rs106 to a dollar.

The entire cotton economy is under crisis and exporters are faced with a situation where they are losing on each and every export order negotiated before rise in the value of the rupee, which now stands at around Rs96 to a dollar.

The textile industry has come under tremendous pressure due to rapid appreciation in the local currency against the US dollar, as export orders are normally booked in advance.

The Karachi Cotton Association (KCA) spot rates remained unchanged at previous level and trading on ready counter was extremely slow.

The following deals were reported to have changed hands on ready counter: 200 bales, Rohri, at Rs6,100; 752 bales, Khanpur, at Rs6,400; 200 bales, Mailsi, at Rs6,500; 552 bales, Jahanian, at Rs6,500; and 1,000 bales, Rahimyar Khan, at Rs6,500.

On the global front, the New York cotton market gave mixed trend where near-future contracts ended with fresh gains and far-off contacts closed with reasonable losses.