Cotton Slip Lower into the Weekend
Cotton futures closed with Friday losses of 18 to 24 points, as nearby May was up 163 points on the week. Crude oil futures were down 88 cents/barrel, as the US dollar index $0.292 lower on the day.
Friday’s CFTC Commitment of Traders report showed managed money adding back 4,193 contracts to their net short in cotton futures and options as of March 25. They held a net short of 73,810 contracts by Tuesday.
USDA Export Sales data has commitments for upland cotton at 10.309 million RB, which lags last year by 5%. That is now 100% of the USDA export forecast for 2024/25, slightly behind the 101% average.
Analysts surveyed by Bloomberg estimate next Monday’s Prospective Planting report to show 9.9 million cotton acres. The range is from 8.8 to 10.5 million acres.
The Seam showed 9,181 bales in online sales on March 27 at an average price of 60.15 cents/lb. The Cotlook A Index was back up 50 points on Wednesday at 77.90 cents/lb. ICE cotton stocks were unchanged on 3/27, with the current level of certified stocks at 14,488 bales. USDA’s Adjusted World Price (AWP) was back down 97 points in on Thursday afternoon report to 53.66 cents/lb.
May 25 Cotton closed at 66.89, down 18 points,
Jul 25 Cotton closed at 68.1, down 24 points,
Dec 25 Cotton closed at 70.06, down 23 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.