On the back of rise in yarn exports as importers from Bangladesh have diverted to Pakistan to buy yarn after price rose in India and the local demand has moved cotton prices higher on Friday, brokers said.

Indian spinners have also booked around 1.5 million bales for import and plan to import equal quantity in the coming days.

Besides, local ginners have stepped up selling with the start of hot and dry weather as they fear it would deteriorate the quality of cotton and lessen its weight.

Meanwhile, cotton growers in lower Sindh continue to face water shortage which is feared to delay the crop, brokers said.

Separately, ginners met in Multan on Thursday and threatened to close their units if the Federal Board of Revenue continued to harass them.

The Karachi Cotton Association left its spot rates unchanged. The Karachi Cotton Association on Friday fixed the official spot rate, or base price, for Grade 3 cotton at 7,288 rupees per maund (40 kg). Grade 3 cotton has a staple length of 1-1/16" and micronaire value between 3.8 and 4.9 NCL (no control limits), which represents fine to coarse classes of cotton varieties.

In the kerb market, the key crop varieties traded in the range of 5,935 to 7,050 rupees per maund.

Major deals that changes hand on the ready counter were: 3,000 bales from Shahdadpur at Rs5,935 to Rs5,975, 1,400 bales from Dharki at Rs6,975 to Rs7,075 and 6,00 bales from Rahimyar Khan at Rs7,000 to Rs7,050.