During the week it rained in all cotton growing areas of our country. Depending on the specific region sometimes it was just a light rain and in other cases storms. Provided the weather improves in the following days with cold winds and sunshine the damage on cotton will be limited. The weather forecast estimates cloudy days with light scattered rains and sunshine till Monday. Afterwards weather conditions are improving.
Of course harvesting has paused in most areas and it is expected that early next week growers will resume. Thessaly and Levadia area have harvested about 10% while the rest cotton areas are in the very first steps of picking. Of course the production so far color wise stands at high end hvi 31 and following the rains we expect to range on the hvi 31/41. In terms of quantity we maintain our estimate of about 270k tons of lint.
Regarding business the first rainfalls as well as the intense competition on the seed cotton front which is pushing up the prices paid to the growers, have slowed down offers. Sales so far are estimated at 70-75k tons so ginners prefer first to start executing their contracts and then consider selling more. Demand is still alive, especially for prompt shipments and the Egyptian market appeared to be more ready to follow our levels.
Recent sales were concluded at 80-82 c/lb CIF Egypt, while domestically Mesologgi coop sold at 76,60 c/lb FOT HVI 31/32. This fix price when booked was equivalent to 800 on Dec 17. To summarize we expect Greek basis to stay firm for as long as competitive growths for nearby shipments are limited and well supported.
Kind regards, Yiannis Papadogiannis