Cotton Falls on Friday to Close the Week with Losses

Austin Schroeder Barchart Fri Dec 13, 5:11PM CST
Harvesting cotton field by Leila Melhado via iStock

Cotton futures ended the Friday session with loses of 71 to 86 points, as March slipped 84 points this week. The outside markets were mixed factors, with the US dollar index up slightly and crude oil shooting $1.07barrel higher.

Commitment of Traders data showed a total of 5,840 contracts added to the spec funds net short position as of Tuesday, taking the position to 22,223 contracts by December 12.

Export Sales data took total cotton shipments to 2.293 million RB, down 12% from last year and 22% of USDA’s export forecast, lagging the 25% average shipping pace for this time of year. Total shipped and unshipped commitments are 7.012 million RB, down 12% from a year ago. That is also 66% of the USDA projection, behind the 73% average pace.

The Seam reported 5,661 bales of online sales on December 12 at an average price of 64.99 cents/lb. ICE cotton stocks were unchanged on Thursday, at 20,113 bales of certified stocks. The Cotlook A Index was up 65 points on 12/12 at 80.25 cents/lb. The USDA Adjusted World Price (AWP) was cut by 152 points on Thursday to 56.22 cents/lb. 

Mar 25 Cotton  closed at 69.27, down 82 points,

May 25 Cotton  closed at 70.41, down 86 points,

Jul 25 Cotton  closed at 71.41, down 85 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.