U.S. outstanding loans rose by 245,996 bales in the week ended Nov. 19. Ginning as of mid-November fell 38.8% from the corresponding period last season. ChinaΆs October imports dropped 41.8% from a year ago.
Cotton futures fell to a new calendar year low close in most-active March and snapped a four-day losing streak in maturing December Friday.
March shed 112 points to settle at 77.23 cents, in the lower third of its 179-point range from up nine points at 78.44 to down 170 points at 76.65 cents.
December gained 42 points to close at 75.21 cents, near the high of its 159-point range from 75.38 to 73.79 cents. It rallied after sliding to a new intraday low for the move and finished with the only gain.
For the week, March lost 97 points to extend its string of weekly losses to five in a row and December dropped 191 points.
Some traders were mildly surprised at the size of the December delivery notices — 833 lots or 83,300 bales — considering the widened carry in the December-March spread heading into first notice day.
Volume quickened to an estimated 23,100 lots from 16,320 lots the previous session when spreads totaled 6,418 lots or 39%, EFP 639 lots and EFS 88 lots. Options volume totaled 3,278 calls and 2,732 puts.
U.S. all-cotton outstanding loans increased 245,996 bales during the week ended Nov. 19, USDA reported. Entries were 346,757 bales and repayments totaled 100,761 bales.
Loans outstanding on 541,573 bales included 44,378 bales of Form A issued to individual growers and 497,195 bales of Form G issued to loan servicing agents or marketing cooperatives.
Separately, U.S. all-cotton ginned from the 2013 crop as of mid-November totaled 5,747,850 running bales, USDA reported, down 38.8% from 9,393,850 bales through the corresponding period last season.
Ginning was down 37.6% from 9,214,050 bales processed two years ago and 45.6% from 10,575,800 bales in 2010. Gins in Texas had processed 1,783,650 bales, down from 2,962,850 bales in 2012, 2,519,400 in 2011 and 3,720,250 in 2010.
On the international scene, China is reported to have imported 141,185 metric tons or 648,500 bales of 480 pounds in October, down 41.8% from a year earlier. Imports from the United States fell 65.3% to 21,443 tons or 98,500 bales. Australia was the largest supplier at 82,424 tons or 378,600 bales, down 26.2%.
Through Nov. 14, China had booked 1.489 million statistical bales of U.S. cotton for shipment this season, according to USDA data converted from running bales. This was the largest amount bought by any country and accounted for 24% of U.S. export sales to all destinations.
The next largest buyers were Turkey with 1.295 million bales or 21% and Mexico with 939,000 bales or 15%.
Futures open interest declined 2,150 lots Thursday to 154,203, with DecemberΆs down 2,039 lots to 2,805 and MarchΆs down 464 lots to 111,850.
Certificated stocks dropped 12,308 bales to 213,061, the first decline since Nov. 8 when stocks were 172,734 bales. There were 5,001 newly certified bales, 17,309 bales decertified and 31,563 bales awaiting review.
World values as measured by the Cotlook A Index gained 25 points Friday morning to 84.75 cents. The premium to ThursdayΆs March futures settlement widened four points to 6.40 cents. For the week, the index gained 85 points.