Quoting the CCI report for the month of May, the South India Cotton Association sources said the world supply of cotton in the season was expected to be 84.1 million bales of 480 lbs and the consumption around 84.8 mn bales.

The United States' production would be 13.9 mn bales and that of China 20.2 mn bales during the season. Pakistan's production was put at 6.3 mn bales of 480 lbs, they said.

The actual cotton shipment from the country was reported at 55,141 bales (170 kg) valued at Rs 4663.50 lakh as on May 27, as against the export quota of six lakh bales for the current season, they said.

Meanwhile, despite a slowdown in arrivals in several cotton belts in the country, lint prices firmed up during the last fortnight of May.

With poor cash flow situation continuing, offtake frommills were reportedly much less compared to the availability of stocks, South India Cotton Association (Sica) said in its market report for the period.

Lint prices remained quiet with zero demand from mills in Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan. Bangladeshi was quoted at Rs 1,300 to Rs 1,450, while j-34 saw ginned ruled at Rs 1,710 to Rs 1,800 per maund spot during the period.

A mixed trend prevailed in Gujarat with prices gaining for quality lots, particularly for v-797 and shankar-6. V-797 quoted at Rs 12,500, wagad at Rs 11,750, while shankar-6 ruled at Rs 18,000 to Rs 20,500 per candy spot, the report said.

The prices remained unchanged in Madhya Pradesh, with h-4 quoting at Rs 18,750 to Rs 19,500 and jayadhar at Rs 13,000 to Rs 13,200 per candy spot.

Anticipating more enquiries and also to create demand, the Maharashtra Cotton Federation reduced the prices by Rs 200 per candy for 1997-98 season stocks, the report said.

While the prices in Andhra Pradesh remained steady, in Karnataka it were quietduring the period. There was not much gain in the prices in Tamil Nadu also, Sica said.