Cotton Slipping on Wednesday Morning
Cotton price action has contracts down 13 to 32 points this morning. Futures held higher in the front months on Tuesday, with gains of 9 to 64 points and the deferred contracts lower. The outside markets were being ignored, with crude oil down 51 cents/barrel and the dollar index steady. Cotton country is expected to be fairly dry over the next week, with scattered totals in the Southeast.
The US cotton growing season is still running ahead of normal, with 87% squared by July 28, That’s 3 percentage points above the average. Some 54% of the acres were setting bolls, vs. the 46% 5-year average pace. Progression in TX was noted, with 49% setting bolls vs. the 38% average. Condition ratings were back down 4% to 49% gd/ex, with the Brugler500 index down 12 points from last week to 327. Crop ratings in TX dropped 20 points from the previous week, with GA up 8 points.
ICE cotton stocks were unchanged July 29, leaving 28,745 bales of cert stocks. The Cotlook A Index was down 95 points on July 29 at 78.35 cents/lb. The USDA Average World Price (AWP) was cut by 140 points to 55.02 cents/lb, and is in effect through this Thursday.
Dec 24 Cotton closed at 69.55, up 34 points, currently down 14 points
Mar 25 Cotton closed at 71.18, up 27 points, currently down 19 points
May 25 Cotton closed at 72.4, up 20 points, currently down 21 points
On the date of publication, Alan Brugler 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.