U.S. Cotton: Futures Fade Lower Despite Friendly USDA Report

Barchart: Cotton futures closed 1 to 16 points lower on Tuesday despite a friendly USDA report, as the US dollar strengthened. USDA cut the US yield by 15 lb/acre to 775 lb, reducing production by 267,000 bales to 13.175 million, while domestic use was trimmed by 100,000 bales and ending stocks fell by 100,000 bales to 3.7 million. Ginnings reached 3.7 million running bales as of November 1, down 898,000 from a year earlier and a three-year low. The Seam sold 6,182 bales on Monday at an average of 81.94 cents/lb, and ICE certified stocks fell by 345 bales to 75,380. Dec 26 settled at 78.69 (−9), Mar 27 at 82.51 (−9) and May 27 at 84.09 (−6).
Source: Barchart

U.S. Cotton: Heavy Volume, Little Price Change After WASDE

Calcot – Cindy Walters: Cotton futures recorded the sixth-largest volume session in history, 141,529 contracts, yet prices barely moved, with December settling at 78.69 and March at 82.51, both down 9 points. The market showed little reaction to USDA's reports, given the relatively minor changes: world ending stocks fell by 112,000 bales to 70.567 million, the lowest in 15 years. Production was raised by half a million bales each for Australia and China and cut by half a million for India, with further reductions for Turkey (350,000 bales), Argentina (335,000) and the US (267,000). December liquidation continues, with eight sessions left before first notice day on November 23, as Goldman Sachs rolls its positions into March. Outside markets, a hotter-than-expected October CPI (+0.4%) lifted Treasury yields and expectations of a Fed rate increase in December, while crude oil extended its slide.
Source: Calcot

China: State Reserve Sales Total Nearly 2 Million Bales in 2026

USDA FAS: China's state reserve auctioned about 1.9 million bales of cotton from July through September 2026 to ease pressure on textile mills squeezed by lower domestic output and high prices. US cotton made up nearly 60% of the volume, with Brazilian and Xinjiang cotton accounting for the rest, all from the 2019–2021 crops. USDA estimates the reserve still holds about 13.0 million bales, and industry expects it to buy imported cotton before the end of the marketing year to replace the volumes sold. It was the first reserve sale since 2023, when more than 4.0 million bales were auctioned and an estimated 5.5 million imported bales were then bought back, pushing 2023/24 imports to 15.0 million bales, a ten-year high. The sales came as domestic prices rose above 100 cents/lb, while imported cotton stayed near 83 cents, prompting buyers to shift to imported cotton and yarn.
Source: USDA FAS

Global: New Cotton Initiatives Target Farm Data and Textile Waste

Sourcing Journal – Alexandra Harrell: The Better Cotton Initiative has partnered with agtech company FarmRaise to simplify reporting for US growers, with the platform available from January 2027, ahead of the 2027/28 season, letting growers reuse existing farm data and track programmes and deadlines. The move follows BCI's shift to a regenerative standard, which requires certified producers to introduce improvement plans in at least three of six areas, such as soil health, water and pesticides; BCI-licensed US growers produced more than 330,000 tonnes in 2024/25. In Bangladesh, the Dutch-funded Cotton Loop project, led by Raddis Cotton, was launched in Dhaka on November 4 to link regenerative cotton farming with the recovery and recycling of factory offcuts and used garments through September 2029. Four factories in Zeeman's supplier network have joined the pilot, keeping cotton cutting waste separate and logging it every two weeks.
Source: Sourcing Journal

Turkmenistan: Forced Labour Persists in Cotton Harvest Amid Reform Talks

The Times of Central Asia – Tamila Olzhbaekova: Teachers, health workers and state employees in Turkmenistan continue to pay from their salaries, in some cases about $19 a month out of roughly $110, to avoid being sent to pick cotton, according to independent reports. The harvest began on September 9 with a target of about 1.25 million tonnes of seed cotton, and forced mobilisation was documented in four of five regions, including conscripts with daily quotas of 40–50 kg. In the ILO's 2025 monitoring, children were present in 38% of field visits, up from 23%, while pests cut yields in Mary to 1–1.5 tonnes per hectare from 3–3.5 a year earlier, with the procurement target unchanged. The US has blocked Turkmen cotton imports since 2018, and the EU forced labour regulation takes effect on December 14, 2027; Türkiye took an average of 84% of Turkmenistan's cotton product exports in 2020–2023.
Source: The Times of Central Asia

Uzbekistan: Is Cotton Back in Fashion?

The Times of Central Asia – Bruce Pannier: After years of converting cotton land to fruit, vegetables and other crops, Uzbekistan is reversing course following a record harvest of about 5 million tonnes, the largest since independence. Cotton area had fallen from about 1.83 million hectares in 1990 to about 890,000 hectares in 2026, while average yields have risen from 2.1 to 5.6 tonnes per hectare, with a target of 6.5–7 tonnes in 2027, and about 85% of the crop was machine-picked. President Mirziyoyev has called for Bukhara Province alone to produce 1 million tonnes within two to three years, with desert land reclaimed using Chinese "Xinjiang technology" and plans to open 100,000 hectares in western Uzbekistan. Forced and child labour in the harvest, once affecting 1–2 million people a year, has ended since 2016, and textile sales reached $2.1 billion in January–August 2026, 9.4% of exports.
Source: The Times of Central Asia

The article summaries were generated using ΑΙ.