Cotton came under pressure as farmers began to loosen their grip on stocks they are holding. On Monday, prices dropped by Rs 500 for a candy of 356 kg in Gujarat with slack demand adding to the pressure.
A Rajkot based cotton trader said: “Export and domestic mills demand is poor currently. Buyers are not interested to purchase in bulk as stock held over is huge. The stocks are expected to find their way into the market easily in the coming days.”
Gujarat Sankar-6 cotton was traded on Rs 31,500-31,600 a candy. Prices of New V-797 were Rs 25,000-26,000 a candy.
Kapas traded between Rs 750 and Rs 800 for a maund of 20 kg in Gujarat. About 15,000-17,000 bales of cotton arrived in Gujarat and 45,000 bales arrived across the country.
In Maharashtra, A grade cotton (low micronaire) was quoted at Rs 31,000-31,500 a candy and A grade (high micronaire cotton 29+ MM) was quoted at 31,500-32,000.
Cotton traded lower in North India on weak demand and increased selling. J-34 RG quoted in range of Rs 3,380-3,460 a quintal in Punjab; Rs 3,350-3,360 in Haryana and Rs 3,350-3,355 in Rajasthan.
On the Multi Commodity Exchange, June contracts declined by Rs 90 to Rs 15,190 for a bale of 170 kg and July contracts decreased by Rs 20 to Rs 15,550.
In the global market, cotton futures slid to a 31-month low on concern over the global economic slowdown.
December-delivery cotton dropped to 64.61 cents a pound, the lowest since October 2009 on ICE Futures US in New York.