ICE cotton futures were on track for the best daily gain in nearly six months on Thursday, rebounding from 11-year lows on the back of firmer oil prices and a slight uptick in export data by the US Department of Agriculture (USDA).
Cotton contract for May rose 1.56 cent, or 3.2%, at 49.97 cents per lb by 1:46 p.m. EDT (1746 GMT), the biggest one-day percentage gain since Oct. 11.
It traded within a range of 48.58 and 51.48 cents a lb.
Prices earlier in the session soared as much as 6.3%, after ending the previous session 5.3% lower and hitting their lowest levels since April 2009.
“Looks like cotton is rallying following oil higher. … There were strong export shipment figures from the US this morning which was good to see given the ongoing circumstances," said Bailey Thomen, cotton risk management associate with INTL FCStone.
Sentiments were lifted after US President Donald Trump said he expects Russia and Saudi Arabia to announce a major oil production cut, and Saudi state media said the kingdom was calling an emergency meeting of oil producers to deal with the market turmoil.
Weekly export sales report from the USDA showed net sales of upland cotton totaled 147,500 running bales for 2019/2020 in the week ended March 26, down 47% from the previous week, while exports of 400,800 RB were up 4% from the previous week.
Intercontinental Exchange Inc on Wednesday said the daily price limit for all Cotton No. 2 futures will expand to 4 cents per pound (400 points) above and below the prior day's settlement price. Total futures market volume fell by 6,597 to 41,293 lots. Data showed total open interest fell 662 to 198,773 contracts in the previous session.