Producers inspect crop damage on the Texas High Plains after the most beneficial rain of the year.
Cotton futures finished lower again Tuesday as rains in West Texas, talk of slack export inquiries and a continued buildup in deliverable stocks invited follow-through selling.
Benchmark December lost 167 points to close at 87.32 cents, a few ticks below MondayΆs low and around the lower quarter of its 201-point range from down 12 points at 88.87 to down 213 points at 86.86 cents.
July plunged 245 points to settle at 84.98 cents, just a couple of points off the low of its 220-point range from down 23 points at 87.20 to down 243 points at 85 cents.
Volume slowed to an estimated 23,300 lots from 63,177 lots the previous session when spreads totaled 23,034 lots or 36%, EFS 18,551 lots and EFP 38 lots. Options volume totaled 2,018 calls and 933 puts.
Scattered thunderstorms are expected to redevelop along a frontal boundary from eastern New Mexico into the Texas High Plains late this afternoon and move southeast across the Lubbock area into the Rolling Plains.
ThereΆs a slight risk for some storms to become severe with large hail and damaging winds, forecasters say. Rain chances for Lubbock and vicinity are 30%. The remainder of the week is expected to be dry.
Producers inspected crop damage Tuesday from hail and strong winds in the wake of the most beneficial rainfall of the year across the semi-arid region Monday night.
“WeΆre always thankful for rain but sure wish the hail hadnΆt come with it,” one producer commented, adding that he was unsure if some of his hail-damaged cotton would recover.
A 10-inch-tall field of irrigated cotton was stripped and expected to be a total loss. Some other damaged cotton is believed likely to recover if favorable weather prevails.
The rain was especially welcome in areas with small irrigation wells where supplemental rain is essential for optimum yields. Lack of subsoil moisture coming into the planting season means dryland cotton will be particularly dependent upon timely additional rain to make acceptable yields, growers say.
All but three of 36 cooperative National Weather Service sites from which reports were received got at least some overnight rain. Amounts varied widely within relatively small areas.
The 33 sites reported amounts ranging from 0.05 of an inch at Paducah in Cottle County east of the Caprock to 2.45 inches at Tahoka in Lynn County, which adjoins Lubbock County on the south. The average was about 0.75-inch. Separate West Texas Mesonet sites recorded up to nearly 4 inches.
LubbockΆs official 0.29-inch brought the total for the month to 1.12 inches, down from 1.6 inches last year and the normal of 1.84 inches. For the year, the total is 4.54 inches, compared with 5.25 inches a year ago and about 44% below the normal of 8.05 inches.
Futures open interest fell 2,431 lots Monday to 178,126, with JulyΆs down 7,457 lots to 21,663 and DecemberΆs up 4,273 lots to 142,354.
Certificated stocks grew 969 bales to 544,417. There were 1,059 newly certified bales, 90 bales decertified and 51,517 bales awaiting review.
World values as measured by the Cotlook A Index dropped 60 points Tuesday morning to 96.05 cents. The index premium to MondayΆs futures settlements widened 326 points to 8.62 cents to July and narrowed 13 points to 7.06 cents to December.
