NEW YORK: ICE cotton futures eased on Friday en route to their worst week in 11, as the market continued to grapple with a dim demand outlook.
Cotton contracts for July fell 0.20 cent, or 0.33 %, to 59.82 cents per lb by 02:28 p.m. ET, erasing slight gains from earlier in the session driven by optimism seeping in from a rebound in the stock market.
The contract is set to fall 3% this week, the biggest weekly percentage drop since March 27.
"Demand is slow even though major economies are opening up. The retail sales numbers show that," said Keith Brown, principal at cotton brokers Keith Brown and Co in Moultrie, Georgia.
The USDA in its latest World Agriculture Supply and Demand Estimates report on Thursday projected 2020/21 world ending stocks 5.2 million bales higher than last month at 104.67 million bales, driving cotton prices lower in the previous session.
"If we see there are hints of those (USDA demand) numbers coming true, cotton might fall and head down to 48 cents by mid-July," Brown added.
Certificated cotton stocks deliverable as of June 11 totaled 28,570 480-lb bales, up from 24,615 in the previous session.