U.S. Cotton: Prices Fall for Second Session as Dollar Firms

Barchart: Cotton futures fell for a second straight session on Monday, with contracts down 23 to 174 points at the close. December settled at 84.55 cents/lb (-151 points), October fell 174 points to 80.64 cents, and March lost 144 points to 87.12 cents. The Cotlook A index rose 100 points on Friday to 98.20 cents, while the Adjusted World Price fell 441 points on the week to 69.51 cents/lb. ICE certified stocks fell 3,164 bales on September 11 to 38,462.
Source: Barchart

U.S. Cotton: Dec Breaks Below Key Averages as China Diverges from ICE

Calcot: December cotton settled at 84.55 cents/lb on Monday, down 151 points for a two-day loss of 367 points; most other months fell 1 to 174 points. Dec closed below its 10-, 20-, and 40-day moving averages for the first time in almost two months, touching an intraday low of 84.36 cents — its weakest level since August 17. Volume was 64,121 contracts, with open interest little changed at 380,251. China's ZCE cotton futures fell for a fourth straight session — the eighth decline in the last nine — with the active January contract down a net 5.2% over nine sessions, compared with a 9.2% net loss for ICE December, suggesting ICE has been leading the move lower. China's State Reserve auction sold out again after Friday's shortfall, its 40th sell-out in 41 auctions, selling 8,017 tonnes and bringing cumulative sales to about 328,513 tonnes. Crude oil rose 1.3% as new attacks on Saudi energy infrastructure and postponed Iran-Gulf talks pushed Oct-26 crude to a fifth straight contract high. U.S. equities and metals also fell, with gold and silver at five-week lows. The Federal Reserve begins a two-day meeting Tuesday, with markets expecting a 25-basis-point rate hike Wednesday.
Source: Calcot

Global Cotton: Two-Week Slide Tied to Geopolitical and Macro Pressures

Mambo: Cotton has fallen sharply over the past two weeks, with December down 8.99% from 93.55 to 85.14 cents/lb, March off 8.18%, and the Cotlook A index down 3.06%; the euro also weakened 0.40% against the dollar. Analyst Armand Ezerzer frames the decline against a backdrop of resource competition tied to the conflicts in Ukraine and Iran, with central banks pulling in different directions — the ECB raising rates to fight inflation while the Fed weighs conflicting pressures around the U.S. elections. On fundamentals, he notes falling U.S. production and carryover stocks in the September WASDE, global production trailing consumption outside the U.S., and China's continued sales from strategic reserves amid expectations of a smaller domestic crop. Rising fuel, input, and anticipated freight costs are adding further pressure, with little prospect of relief without an end to the regional conflicts affecting energy markets. Weather concerns in Texas and India have also weighed on ICE futures, and spinners have cut back purchases at current price levels. Despite the recent weakness, Ezerzer describes the underlying fundamentals as still "encouraging."
Source: Mambo

U.S. Cotton: Market Eyes Fed Decision and US-China Talks After Crop Cut

PCCA: Cotton ended last week near 86 cents/lb after a sharp Friday sell-off tied to USDA's cut in the U.S. crop estimate to 13.2 million bales, with West Texas yields hit hard by record summer heat. Managed money funds turned net sellers after weeks of buying, adding to the downward pressure. International sales improved slightly, but demand is still not showing the strength the market would like to see. Traders are now watching Wednesday's Federal Reserve rate decision and a U.S.-China meeting scheduled for September 24 as potential catalysts, with the market seen as vulnerable given lingering questions over crop size and weak demand momentum.
Source: PCCA

U.S. Cotton: Bolls Opening Accelerates, but Texas Crop Stays Stressed

USDA: The weekly Crop Progress report for the week ending September 13 showed 57% of the U.S. cotton crop with bolls open, well ahead of both the prior week's 40% and the 48% five-year average, though behind last year's 49% pace at this point in the season. Harvest reached 8%, in line with the 8% five-year average and up from 7% a week earlier. Crop condition improved slightly, with 36% of the crop rated good to excellent, up from 34% the prior week, while the poor-to-very-poor share rose to 34% from 32%. Both measures remain well behind last year, when 52% was rated good to excellent and just 14% poor to very poor. Arizona led bolls-opening progress at 89%; California continued to lag at 35%. Texas remained the most stressed state, with 49% of its crop rated poor or very poor.
Source: USDA

Greece: Cotton Market Rebounds, but Pressure Builds on the Greek Premium

Agronews (Yiannis Papadogiannis): Cotton futures have rebounded from a low near 86 cents/lb to about 88 cents, a gain of roughly 1.78%, helped by technical support and firmer oil prices amid Middle East tensions. In the Greek market, despite the correction, demand remains weak: buyers are holding out for lower prices, while ginners' asking prices still exceed what buyers are willing to pay, keeping pressure on the premium for Greek cotton.
Source: Agronews

Global: Middle East Conflict Pushes Up Cotton and Clothing Costs

Economic Times: Cotton prices have climbed to their highest level since March 2024 as the Iran conflict pushes buyers away from polyester, whose price has jumped as much as a quarter within weeks at some Bangladeshi mills as rising crude oil costs push up synthetic-fiber prices. An Indian textile executive said "there's not a single input cost that hasn't gone up," with raw materials making up about 60% of a basic T-shirt's cost against manufacturer margins of just 2-3%. McKinsey estimates basic apparel prices could eventually rise 10-20%, with the impact reaching consumers this autumn and intensifying by spring/summer 2027. Bangladesh, which exports roughly $800 million in garments a year to the Middle East, has seen that trade almost entirely suspended amid the regional instability.
Source: Economic Times

Benin: Africa's Top Cotton Producer Pushes to Process More at Home

BusinessDay: Benin, Africa's largest cotton producer with 1.15 million bales in 2025/26 (0.9% of global output), is shifting toward processing more of its crop domestically rather than exporting raw fiber. The Glo-Djigbé Industrial Zone, a public-private venture launched in 2020, processes about 40,000 tonnes of cotton a year into 7-10 million garments for brands including U.S. Polo Association and Kiabi, and the push has helped narrow Benin's current-account deficit from 6.2% of GDP in 2024 to 5.7% in 2025. The cotton sector supports more than 2 million rural livelihoods through 183,746 producers organized into 2,206 village cooperatives. Smaller ventures are following suit: designer Fatoumata Dosso's DAF Collection employs about a dozen weavers, earning roughly $545 a month, producing "Made in Benin" fabrics from traditional northern designs. Farmer Toussaint Bapetem, who grows cotton on three acres, harvested 3.8 tonnes in his last crop, sold at 300 CFA francs per kilogram.
Source: BusinessDay

India: Textile Exporters Seek Six-Month Extension to Cotton Duty Waiver

Apparel Resources: The Tiruppur Exporters Association is asking India's government to extend its duty-free cotton import window, due to expire October 31, by another six months, warning that cotton yarn prices have jumped 60% this year while raw cotton is up 20-24%. Yarn accounts for about 60% of a garment's raw-material cost. Domestic cotton output fell 2.35% in 2025/26 to 290 lakh bales, part of a decline of more than 17% since 2021/22. Cotton farmers oppose the extension, fearing it would depress domestic prices just as the October harvest begins.
Source: Apparel Resources

Kenya: Bt Cotton Expands as One of Africa's Established GMO Crops

Kenyans.co.ke: Kenya is listed alongside South Africa, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Eswatini, Sudan, and Malawi among African countries commercially growing genetically modified crops, with Bt cotton — engineered with a soil bacterium to resist the African bollworm — its main GMO crop. Approved in December 2019 and first planted commercially in 2020, Bt cotton covered about 14,575 hectares across 21 counties in 2025, yielding an estimated 12,000 bales of lint; ginneries operate in Makueni, Kitui, Tharaka Nithi, Baringo, Busia, and Meru counties. Other GM crops such as maize, cassava, and blight-resistant potato remain in research or trials and are not yet grown commercially.
Source: Kenyans.co.ke

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