Cotton Fall to Weakness on Thursday

Austin Schroeder Barchart Thu Mar 13, 4:54PM CDT
Cotton field with drones by DJI-Agras via Pixabay

Cotton futures saw a pull back on Thursday, with contracts closing with losses of 30 to 50 points in the nearbys. Crude oil futures closed Thursday down $0.90/barrel to provide some pressure, with the US dollar index up $0.168 on the day.

USDA’s Export Sales report showed a total of 271,814 RB of upland cotton sold in the week ending on March 6, a 3-week high. That was also more than triple the same week last year, as Vietnam was the buyer of 112,700 RB, with 89,300 RB sold to Turkey. Shipments took off to a MY high of 403,461 RB in that week. Vietnam was the top destination at 126,700 RB, with 101,600 RB shipped to Pakistan. 

Total export sale commitment for US cotton are now at 10.124 million RB, which is down 5% from last year. That is 98% of USDA’s export projection and ahead of the 1% average sale pace for the current week.

The Wednesday online auction from The Seam showed 6,631 bales sold, with an average price of 61.51 cents/lb. The Cotlook A Index was back down 10 points on 3/12 at 77.85 cents/lb. ICE cotton stocks were steady again on Wednesday, with the current level of certified stocks at 14,488 bales. The USDA increase this week’s Adjusted World Price (AWP) on Thursday afternoon by 188 points to 53.76 cents/lb. 

May 25 Cotton  closed at 66.53, down 45 points,

Jul 25 Cotton  closed at 67.7, down 46 points,

Oct 25 Cotton  closed at 69.57, down 35 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.