Slow trading activity witnessed at the cotton market with prices remaining steady in the midst of short supply of quality lint which is the current major issue with rising demand from textile industry.

Although many exporters of home textiles who participated in the recently concluded Heimtextil, Frankfurt trade fair returned with good number of orders from European, US and Middle Eastern buyers but this did not reflect in cotton trade.

Import prospects are also diminishing because India itself is faced with short crop while global cotton prices have also risen considerably.

Indian cotton exporters have cancelled international orders of 0.4 million bales already. Now there are fears that out of the 0.5m bales ordered by Pakistani importers last year, 0.2m bales would be cancelled.

At the Karachi Cotton Association (KCA) spot rates were firm at week-end level. The following deals reported to have changed hands on ready counter were 9,000 bales, Rahimyar Khan, at Rs8,000 to Rs8,075; 4,000 bales, Sadiqabad, at Rs7,900; 400 bales, Khanewal, at Rs7,600; 600 bales, Garamore, at Rs7,000; 400 bales, Maroot, at Rs6,800; and 400 bales, Fort Abbas, at Rs6,800.

Last week in world leading cotton markets rising trend was witnessed. Both Chinese and Indian cotton closed easy while New York cotton remained close on account of public holiday.