Cotton Rallies into the Weekend
Cotton futures closed out Friday with contracts rallying 39 to 63 points in most contracts. December was up 370 points this week, helped by the early week limit gains. The dollar index was up 149 points, with crude oil futures 7 cents/barrel higher. Rains expected in the TX panhandle over the next week may put a halt to some cotton harvest.
The large managed money speculators in cotton futures and options slashed 18,974 contracts from their previous net short position as of September 17. They held a net short of 30,518 contracts as of Tuesday.
Export Sales data showed total cotton export commitments at 4.871 million RB, which is down 11% from last year. That is 44% of the current USDA export forecast for the 2024/25 marketing year and lagging the 55% average selling pace.
The Seam reported 4,212 online cash cotton bale sales on Thursday, averaging 69.92 cents/lb. ICE cotton stocks were unchanged on September 19, leaving 265 bales of cert stocks. The Cotlook A Index was down another 95 points on September 19 at 82.80 cents/lb. The USDA Adjusted World Price (AWP) was raised by 283 points on Thursday to 58.83 cents/lb.
Dec 24 Cotton closed at 73.52, up 49 points,
Mar 25 Cotton closed at 75.14, up 54 points,
May 25 Cotton closed at 76.16, up 55 points
On the date of publication, Austin Schroeder did not have (either directly or indirectly) positions in any of the securities mentioned in this article. All information and data in this article is solely for informational purposes. For more information please view the Barchart Disclosure Policy here.