Cotton futures posted weaker trade on Friday, as contracts were down 13 to 30 points. December slipped 51 points this week. The outside markets were mixed factors, as the US dollar index was down $0.624 on the day to $97.680 and crude oil futures $1.51 lower.
Spec funds in cotton futures and options were increasing their already large net short position by 6,438 contracts as of September 2, taking that net short to 66,369 contracts.
USDA’s weekly Export Sales report showed a total of 244,971 RB of cotton sold in the week ending on August 28. That was a 36.6% increase from last week and 81.21% above the same week last year. Vietnam was the top buyer during that week at 109,700 RB, with 53,800 RB sold to India, and 35,200 RB to China. Actual shipments totaled 154,651 RB which was the highest in 4 weeks. A bulk of that was shipped to Vietnam, at 82,800 RB, with 17,500 RB on its way to Pakistan.
Oct 25 Cotton closed at 64.39, down 30 points,
Dec 25 Cotton closed at 66.03, down 17 points,
Mar 26 Cotton closed at 67.96, down 13 points
