U.S. upland classing slowed to 279,051 bales. Few Georgia gins continued 24-hour operations. Higher December futures required to stir contract interest in Delta. Producers booked seed in the Texas Plains. Growers in Arizona interested in Pima. Water rally held in California.
Cotton futures surged to the highest price since Aug. 20 and settled with triple-digit current-crop gains Tuesday, extending a string of higher closes to six in a row.
Spot March settled up 133 points to 88.13 cents, trading within a 208-point range from down 45 points at 86.35 cents to up 163 points at 88.43 cents. It finished above highs of the previous 21 weeks.
Talk continued to circulate about another big U.S. weekly export sales report on Friday amid ongoing concerns about tight domestic supplies.
The May contract gained 135 points to 88.40 cents, July added 155 points to 87.91 cents and December edged up four points to 79.92 cents.
Volume based largely on electronic figures climbed to an estimated 32,500 lots from a cleared 26,775 lots the previous session.
On the crop scene, U.S. upland cotton classing slowed to 279,051 running bales during the week ended Jan. 16 from 398,082 bales the previous week. This brought the total for the season to 11.470 million running bales, about 94% of the latest crop estimate and down 26% from 15.399 million bales classed a year ago.
Cotton tenderable on futures contracts dipped to 50.6% for the week and 62% for the season, against 54.6% and 62.3%, respectively, the week before. A year ago, 58.5% graded for the season was tenderable.
Classing of 15,120 bales of Pima raised the extra-long staple count for the season to 294,171 bales and the all-cotton total to 12.017 million running bales, down from 16.017 million a year ago.
A few gins in Georgia continued 24-hour operations as they processed backlogs of modules, but most in Alabama, Georgia and Florida planned to go on gin days within the next two weeks, according to a weekly review by the cotton division of USDAΆs Agricultural Marketing Service. Ginning was rapidly winding down in the Carolinas.
A typical winter weather pattern prevailed in the Delta. Industry people predicted an increase in Delta cotton acreage as a result of lower grain prices but said higher December futures would be required to stimulate interest in forward contracting.
Ginning continued in Kansas and Oklahoma, while tillage and seedbed preparation advanced in South Texas, East Texas and the Rio Grande Valley.
Producers booked planting seed in the West Texas Plains. Some plan to increase their cotton acreage. The classing offices at Abilene, Lamesa and Lubbock graded a combined 132,996 bales for the week, against 164,354 the prior week.
Temperatures remained above normal and conditions dry in the Desert Southwest. Ginning continued in Central Arizona. Producers there have shown interest in growing Pima cotton in 2014. The last time Pima cotton was planted in that area was about 10 years ago.
Dry conditions persisted in CaliforniaΆs San Joaquin Valley. A water rally in Sacramento urged the governor to declare a drought emergency for the state. Snow was desperately needed in the Sierra Nevada Mountain range to alleviate drought conditions. Ginning continued.
Futures open interest expanded 1,688 lots Friday to 182,891, with MarchΆs down 182 lots to 108,920 and MayΆs up 1,192 lots to 37,335. The total was up from 175,623 lots a week earlier.
Certificated stocks grew 1,739 bales from the Friday report to 52,718. There were 2,378 newly certified bales, 639 bales decertified and 528 bales awaiting review.
The Cotlook A Index of world values was unchanged Tuesday morning at 93.05 cents. The premium to FridayΆs March futures settlement narrowed 16 points to 6.25 cents.
