Cotton price action is up 26 to 48 points so far on Monday morning. Futures saw losses on Friday, with front months down 11 to 16 points at the close. March was down 103 points last week. The outside markets were pressure factors to close out the week. Crude oil futures were down $2.18/barrel, with the US dollar index $0.276 higher.
CFTC data via the weekly Commitment of Traders report showed a total of 3,095 contracts trimmed by the spec traders from their net short in cotton futures and options as of 2/18 to 57,386 contracts.
The Friday morning Export Sales report showed upland cotton bookings totaling 312,452 RB in the week of 2/13. Export Shipments totaled 298,278 RB, a MY high. Combined shipped and unshipped sales have totaled 9.443 million RB, which is down 10% from last year. That is also 92% of USDA’s forecast, matching the average sales pace for this time of year.
USDA will release their initial arm chair estimates for the 2025 cotton crop in their Outlook Forum this week. A survey of analysts by Bloomberg shows an average of 10 million planted acres for cotton this year, with a range of 8.8 to 10.8 million acres and down from 11.2 million last year.
ICE cotton stocks were unchanged on 2/20 at 1,732 bales of certified stocks. The Seam tallied 4,747 bales in February 20 online sales, with an average price of 59.07 cents/lb. The Cotlook A Index was back down 110 points on Thursday at 78.30 cents/lb. The USDA raised their Adjusted World Price (AWP) again on Thursday by 68 points to 54.67 cents/lb.
Mar 25 Cotton closed at 66.08, up 11 points, currently up 27 points
May 25 Cotton closed at 67.34, down 13 points, currently up 45 points
Jul 25 Cotton closed at 68.31, down 16 points, currently up 31 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.More news from Barchart
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