Slow trading was witnessed on the cotton market on Tuesday as buyers remained away from the market and only a few deals took place. The Karachi Cotton Association cut its spot rate by Rs50.

Brokers said buyers were showing less interest despite the fact that new cotton season has started.

They said that as the Punjab government had discouraged early sowing in the country, buyers were waiting for the assessment of crop size which would take a few more days.

The government should announce duty on the import of cotton without any delay, they said, as cotton was being imported from the United States, India and Brazil.

Earlier, it was announced that the government im­­posed duty on the import of cotton from May. Later on, it was announced that duty will be imposed before the start of new cotton. However, the government hasn’t im­­posed the duty so far which will cause financial losses to the farming community.

Brokers said the government should also devise a strategy to regularise the transportation of cotton from Afghanistan, Turkme­nis­­tan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, as a huge quantity of cotton is being transported to Pakistan.

They said that as many as 10 ginning factories have been functional in the bordering cities of Afghanistan.

The government should immediately intervene in the matter of import and transport of cotton to safeguard the interest of cotton growers.

Deals of about 2,700 maunds (1 maund = around 37 kilograms) of new phutti took place. The price in Badin was Rs3,450, Jhadu Rs3,475, Kunri Rs3,500, Thatta Rs3,525, Tando Ghulam Ali Rs3,425 and Nawan Kot Rs3,475.

Major deals on the ready counter were: 200 bales from Mirpur Khas at Rs6,750 per maund, 200 bales from Shahdadpur at Rs6,850, 200 bales from Tandu Adam at Rs6,850, 1,000 bales from Rahim Yar Khan at Rs6,950, and 800 bales from Khanpur at Rs6,900, 3,000 bales from Rahim Yar Khan at 6,900 and 3,400 bales from Rahim Yar Khan at Rs6,975.