Cotton Futures Make Steady Gains Amid Mixed Commodity Markets
Weekly Cotton Exports Reach Record Highs, but Production Concerns Linger
Cotton futures ended the Friday session with modest gains, rising 13 to 14 points across contracts, although March futures only increased by one point for the week. In contrast, crude oil futures slipped by 2 cents per barrel. Meanwhile, the US dollar index dropped by 603 points.
Recent Commitment of Traders data revealed that speculative funds increased their net short positions in cotton, adding 5,353 contracts to reach a total of 48,439 contracts as of January 21.
The weekly Export Sales report indicated cotton bookings hit a marketing year high, totaling 348,927 running bales (RB) for the week ending January 26. This figure represents a 10.33% rise compared to the previous week. Notably, Vietnam was the leading buyer, purchasing 94,500 RB, while Pakistan and Turkey bought 75,400 RB and 66,800 RB, respectively. In terms of shipments, 222,603 RB were shipped that week, which is a slight decrease of 0.99% from the prior week. Pakistan acquired 60,000 RB, and Vietnam received 47,800 RB.
On January 23, The Seam reported 9,788 bales sold online at an average price of 58.52 cents per pound. The ICE cotton stocks remained stable on Thursday, with certified stocks at 218 bales. Additionally, the Cotlook A Index decreased by 50 points on January 23, settling at 77.60 cents per pound. The USDA Adjusted World Price (AWP) also fell, down 27 points from the previous week on Thursday afternoon, now at 53.71 cents per pound.
Mar 25 Cotton closed at 67.61, gaining 14 points.
May 25 Cotton closed at 68.67, gaining 13 points.
Jul 25 Cotton closed at 69.77, also gaining 13 points.
At the time of publication, Austin Schroeder did not hold (either directly or indirectly) positions in any of the securities mentioned in this article. All information and data presented are for informational purposes only. For more details, please refer to the Barchart Disclosure Policy
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