ICE cotton futures fell on Wednesday as investors were cautious due to the economic implications of China's coronavirus outbreak, ahead of weekly federal export sales data. Cotton contracts for March fell 0.31 cent, or 0.4%, at 70.05 cents per lb by 1:02 p.m. EST (1802 GMT). It traded within a range of 69.96 and 70.92 cents a lb.
“The story out from China (on the coronavirus), that's everybody's focus here," said John Payne, senior broker at Daniels Trading, adding that investors are concerned with the impact of the outbreak on Chinese economy.
A government economist said China's economic growth may drop to 5% or even lower due to the coronavirus outbreak, possibly pushing policymakers to introduce more stimulus measures. The United States is one of the world's biggest producers of the natural fiber, while China is the largest consumer.
Investors also awaited the weekly export sales report from the US Department of Agriculture, which will be released on Thursday.
Total futures market volume fell by 15,569 to 17,481 lots. Data showed total open interest gained 917 to 265,593 contracts in the previous session. Certificated cotton stocks deliverable as of Jan 28 totaled 6,792 480-lb bales, unchanged from 6,792 in the previous session.