Trading activity at cotton market remains down on Thursday due to easy supply of Phutti ahead of Eid-ul-Azha holidays, dealers said. According to the market sources, some leading mills did not take interest in fresh buying due to improved supply position and declining demand for cotton yarn.

Dealers said that the official spot rate continued to fall, losing Rs 100 to Rs 5,850. In Sindh, seed cotton prices were at Rs 2800-3050 and in Punjab rates of Phutti were at Rs 2500-2900, as per 40 kg while in ready business, around 14,000 bales of cotton changed hands between Rs 5900 and Rs 6100

Cotton analyst, Naseem Usman said that the mills have already replenished their stocks rapidly owing to falling cotton prices. The rising arrivals of seed-cotton exerted pressure on the cotton prices. Other experts said that spinners are still worried about the duty and tax remission on export scheme which allows value-added textile industry to import fine count yarn, free of duty and taxes.

The rising trend in the import of cotton yarn under the scheme is a major concern for the spinners, they observed. Even after the Eid-ul-Azha holidays, the prices may weaken further as arrivals will gain further momentum.

The following deals were reported to have changed hands as per dealers: 3000 bales of cotton from Shahdadpur sold at Rs 5900/6000, 800 bales from Kotri at Rs 5950/6000, 2000 bales from Sanghar at Rs 6000, 1000 bales from Hyderabad at Rs 6000, 1000 bales from Tando Adam at Rs 6000, 2600 bales from Mirpurkhas at Rs 6000, 400 bales from Maqsoodo at Rs 6000, 200 bales from Jhole at Rs 6000, 200 bales from Kandiyaro at Rs 6050, 400 bales from Kumb at Rs 6050, 200 bales from Hasilpur at Rs 6000, 200 bales from Sahiwal at Rs 6000, 400 bales from Bahawal Nagar at Rs 6000, 600 bales from Chichawatni at Rs 6000, 300 bales from Renala Khurd at Rs 6000/6100, 200 bales from Vehari at Rs 6000, 200 bales from Samundri at Rs 6050 and 200 bales at Rs 6100, from Haroonabad.