Cotton Futures See Mixed Results Amid Heavy External Pressures
Export Sales Show Promise While Prices Dip
Cotton prices displayed a mixed performance on Friday morning, staying within just 7 points of unchanged. Futures concluded Thursday’s trading session with declines ranging from 10 to 32 points. Negative external influences impacted the market, highlighted by a rise in the US dollar index, which increased by 401 points, along with crude oil prices falling by $0.79 per barrel.
Newly released Export Sales data showed upland cotton bookings for 2024/25 reaching 194,895 running bales (RB), representing a three-week high and a significant increase of 27.39% compared to the previous week. Notably, 42,400 RB were sold to Vietnam, while sales to Pakistan amounted to 37,000 RB. For the 2025/26 season, sales tallied 6,864 RB. Despite this positive demand, shipments declined to a five-week low of 128,573 RB, marking a 6.43% drop from last week; shipments included 25,500 RB to Pakistan and 23,800 RB to Vietnam.
On December 18, the Seam reported online sales of 2,299 bales at an average price of 63.46 cents per pound. ICE cotton stocks remained stable as of Wednesday, with 20,113 bales of certified stocks recorded. The Cotlook A Index noted a decrease of 40 points on December 18, landing at 78.85 cents per pound, while the USDA Adjusted World Price (AWP) experienced a further cut of 113 points on Thursday, now at 55.09 cents per pound.
As of the latest updates:
Mar 25 Cotton closed at 67.91, down 17 points, but currently shows a rise of 7 points.
May 25 Cotton finished at 69.03, down 18 points, with a modest increase of 2 points currently.
Jul 25 Cotton closed at 69.98, down 25 points, currently unchanged.
On the date of publication, Austin Schroeder did not hold (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article. All data and information provided are for informational purposes only. For more details, please visit the Barchart Disclosure Policy here.
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