KARACHI: Cotton prices hit a new seasonal high as sustained demand from leading spinners continued for second straight session on Wednesday.

Floor brokers said buyers have also moved forward to replenish their stocks on higher arrivals of phutti (seed cotton).

Most of the world`s leading cotton markets moved higher under the lead of New York cotton market.

However, brokers believe that India would still have a sizeable exportable surplus of cotton of around 3 million to 3.5m bales, and Pakistani is the ideal destination to sell the stock.

Many leading spinners, however, are currently importing cotton from the United States whose landed cost is around Rs5,900 a maund (around 37 kilograms). But market talks suggested that spinners would still prefer to import cotton from India even though there is border tension between the two countries.

Phutti prices rose by Rs100 to Rs3,000 to Rs3,250 per 40 kg for both Sindh and Punjab varieties, brokers said.

The Karachi Cotton Association raised its spot rate by Rs50 to Rs6,050 a maund.

Major deals on the ready counter were: 1,200 bales from Mirpurkhas (Rs5,950 to Rs6,000), 2,000 bales Shahdadpur (Rs6,000 to Rs6,050), 1,600 bales Sanghar (Rs6,000 to Rs6,050), 2,400 bales Tando Adam (Rs6,000 to Rs6,050), 1,600 bales Nawabshah (Rs6,100 to Rs6,150), 1,600 bales Rohri (Rs6,100 to Rs6,200), 1,400 bales Vehari (Rs6,200 to Rs6,300), 1,600 bales Haroonabad (Rs6,250 to Rs6,300), 2,000 bales Burewala (Rs6,250 to Rs6,300).-Staff Reporter