ICE cotton futures extended their decline on Wednesday after a supply and demand report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) showed more than enough cotton while demand remained subdued.
* Cotton contracts for July (CTc1) fell 0.86 cent, or 1.18%, to 71.87 cents per lb by 1:32 p.m. ET (1732 GMT).
* Cotton dropped further mainly due to the fact that "shipments are not going to make earlier projections," said Peter Egli, director of risk management at British merchant Plexus Cotton, adding that there is "too much cotton and not enough demand."
* "The 2024/25 U.S. cotton projections show higher beginning and ending stocks compared to last month," according to the WASDE report, "ending stocks are 400,000 bales higher at 4.1 million."
* Revisions to the world balance sheet for the year 2023-24 include higher beginning stocks and production, with reduced trade and consumption, while ending stocks were raised by about 500,000 bales.
* The report also showed the revised U.S. cotton balance sheet for 2023-24 included a 500,000-bale reduction in exports to 11.8 million based on the slowing pace of shipments.
* "Weakness continues and we still see 68 (cent)s as the next landing zone, short-term," said Valentin Olah, risk management consultant at StoneX Group
* The USDA's weekly export sales report is due on Thursday.
* China's agriculture ministry raised its forecast for cotton imports in the 2023/24 crop year by 200,000 metric tons in its June outlook, a government crop estimates report showed on Wednesday.