Cotton prices came under pressure on Tuesday, January 23, 2018 after the issuance of the long-awaited statuary release order (SRO) removing all duty and taxes on imported lint.
Activity on the cotton market dropped considerably as many spinners rushed to the Customs to clear their lint imports. Taking strong exception of the development, ginners reacted and announced to hold an emergency press conference in Multan today (Wednesday, January 24, 2018).
Ginners and growers had strongly opposed the waiver of duty and taxes on a plea that they were still holding a substantial quantity of phutti (seed cotton) and ginned cotton. However, spinners had been complaining about the cotton quality and were urging the government to remove all duty and taxes on imports of the commodity.
According to reports, a substantial quantity of imported cotton had been lying at the port for days. However, spinners waited for the release of SRO in order to get the maximum benefit of the waiver. The Karachi Cotton Association (KCA) spot rates remained steady at overnight level.
The following deals were reported to have changed hands on ready counter: 400 bales, station Mirpur Mathelo, at 7,800; 400 bales, Sanghar, at Rs6,600; 4,400 bales, Rahimyar Khan, at Rs7,725; 400 bales, Mailsi, at Rs8,000; 2,000 bales, Bahawalpur, at Rs7,350; 3,800 bales, Alipur, at Rs7,300 to 7,500; and 1,000 bales, Shujabad, at Rs7,350.
