Cotton futures extended their rally to a record as textile mills in China, which uses more than 40 percent of the world’s output, sought to secure scarce supplies.
The China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing, publisher of the official Purchasing Manager’s Index, said today that the textile market has “a shortage of raw material.” China’s 2011 cotton output will fall for a third straight year as mill use increases, the U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates. Prices have soared 79 percent in New York this year.
“The demand from China shows no signs of slowdown,” said Mike Stevens, an independent trader in Mandeville, Louisiana. “No price level surprises me anymore.”
Cotton for December delivery rose 1.26 cents, or 0.9 percent, to settle at $1.3552 a pound at 2:59 p.m. on ICE in New York. Earlier, cotton soared to $1.392, the highest level in 140 years of trading.
Prices are rallying on concern that a production deficit in China, the world’s biggest buyer, may be wider than estimated, forcing mills to import more from global stockpiles that already are forecast to drop to a 14-year low. Cotton futures in Zhengzhou, China, surged today to a record for a third day.
Rising Imports
China’s imports were forecast to rise to 13 million bales this year, from 10.9 million a year earlier, according to the USDA. A bale weighs 480 pounds, or 218 kilograms.
The U.S. is the world’s largest exporter. Outstanding-sales contracts of U.S. upland cotton to China were 2.46 million bales as of Oct. 21, about 26 times more than a year earlier, according to the USDA. The fiber is for delivery in the 12 months ending July 31, 2011.
Last week, a cold spell in China and hailstorms in Texas damaged crops. Before the bad weather, China’s harvest was expected to be 18.5 million bales less than domestic use this season, USDA data show.
An area of thunderstorms near the Indonesian island of Sumatra may develop into a tropical cyclone this weekend and damage cotton crops in India, the world’s second-biggest grower, according to weather forecaster MDA Information Systems Inc.
Boraas Waefveri AB, a Swedish textile maker, said it filed for bankruptcy because of the rising cost of cotton and a lack of sales contracts at the Krenholm Valduse division in Estonia that prevented the company from returning to profit.
The company, which made the filing at Gothenburg district court, is likely to be broken up under an administrator, who will probably be appointed this afternoon, Chairman Stig-Arne Blom said today.
