Cotton trading activity remained dreary due to unrest in the city because of a sit-in by a religious organisation, owing to fear the brokers also did not turn up. There was thin attendance in the trading ring which kept proceedings listless.

The spot rates stood unchanged at the previous levels of Rs6,600/maund (37.324kg) and Rs7,073/40kg. Ex-Karachi rates also remained firm at Rs6,745/maund and Rs7,228/40kg after an addition of Rs145 and Rs155 as upcountry expenses, respectively.

According to market report, no transactions were recorded on ready counter. A major factor for listless trading has been that many commodity markets in Punjab remained closed for several days when the situation at the Faizabad intersection started worsening from last Friday.

Since there was no supply of phutti (seed cotton), cotton trading activity almost came to a standstill, brokers said. Meanwhile, power looms owners are demanding that they should also be given relief in the shape of drawback because yarn prices have increased due to higher cotton prices.

According to Naseem Usman, chairman of the Karachi Cotton Brokers Association, the market activity was down, but rates would remain steady because of a shortage in the crop. Market will remain steady.

Import deals for 1.8 million bales have been finalized and around 600,000 bales have arrived. A total of 1.3 million bales will be imported from the US alone, which will reach by January and February. The remaining lots have been imported from Brazil, South Africa and the Middle East.

At the Karachi Cotton Association spot rates remained unchanged at week-end level.