Cotton In Groove, Cloth Lustreless

Prices ruled quietly steady on the Mumbai cotton market last week. Early in the week. prices of Punjab cotton had risen sharply but at week-end prices receded with gains pared off.

On the other hand Gujarat cotton ruled quiet with new crop shankar-four on the decline.

Punjab reported rainfall and cloudy weather condition over the last week which hampered arrivals.

However, at the week-end, with the weather clear, the inflow had gone up resulting in prices on the decline.

Punjab Bengal deshi was offered at week-end at Rs 1,150-86 per Bengal maund. Punjab saw gin went up mid-week to as high as Rs 1,650-1,950 for lesser stations to main line varieties but with rise in the inflow prices receded to Rs 1,825-1,900 per Bengal maund.

Supplies had been rising in saw gin while arrivals of Bengal deshi had been maintained. On an average supplies had been touching 10,000 bales a day.

In Gujarat the inflow of shankar-four would show substantial increase in November but even now the demand had been poor from mills and sellers were forced to dispose off the same cutting prices.

Prices dropped to Rs 19,00-20,500 per candy.

In old cotton kala ruled quiet at 1.2000 and waghad at Rs 1,3,000-13,300 per candy.

Cloth weekly: Activity on the Mumbai wholesale cloth market was at a low ebb, devoid of festival demand, over the last week. However, good demand had been reported on the semi-wholesale Mangal das and other cloth markets.

With Diwali approaching, demand had turned to ready-made garments.

Traders are banking on the demand for marriage season, starting after Dev Diwali.

In view of a good crop, traders anticipate good demand.

Traders are worried that the mills had announced increase in prices from 50p to Rs 2,50 per metre effective from November one.

Even traders were now offered to clear stocks cutting prices below the official mill prices, it would be difficult to make fresh purchases of cloth at higher prices.

This would result in sifting the purchases from mill cotton varieties to powerloom varieties and that too of polyester and blended one.