Cotton Futures End Strong as Managed Money Positions Shift

On Friday, cotton futures showed positive movement, with contracts gaining between 54 to 87 points across all categories. March cotton finished the week with a rise of 59 points. The US dollar index experienced upward pressure, increasing by 438 points, while crude oil prices dropped by $0.64 per barrel. Note that markets will be closed on Monday in observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, with normal trading expected to resume on Tuesday.

Financial Positions and Market Sales Data

According to the CFTC Commitment of Traders data, managed money spec traders increased their net short positions by 3,744 contracts as of January 14, bringing the total to 43,086 contracts.

Export Sales Numbers Fall Short

The latest Export Sales data indicated that a total of 316,248 running bales (RB) of upland cotton were sold during the week ending January 9. Total sales commitments, including shipments, now stand at 8.068 million RB, which is 78% of the USDA’s export projection for the 2024-2025 period. This figure falls significantly below the average sales pace of 882%.

Market Performance and Price Updates

On January 16, The Seam reported 4,510 bales of cotton sold online, with an average price of 57.66 cents per pound. Additionally, ICE cotton stocks remained steady at 218 bales of certified stocks as of Thursday. The Cotlook A Index rose by 30 points on January 16, reaching 78.15 cents per pound. However, the USDA Adjusted World Price (AWP) decreased by 68 points from the previous week, settling at 53.98 cents per pound on Thursday afternoon.

Closing Prices for Cotton Futures

Mar 25 Cotton closed at 67.6, up 87 points.

May 25 Cotton ended at 68.63, rising by 78 points.

Jul 25 Cotton finished at 69.62, increasing by 74 points.

On the date of publication, Austin Schroeder did not hold any direct or indirect positions in the securities mentioned in this article. All information and data in this article is provided for informational purposes only. For additional information, please refer to the Barchart Disclosure Policy.

The views and opinions expressed herein are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.