A healthy US export sales report saved the lead December cotton contract from finishing in the red yesterday, while the more deferred contracts ended with slight losses.

For the week ending 18/8, new US export sales of 276k net bales were reported as sold with China buying 64k bales and Pakistan coming in for 54k bales.

Prior to the release of the export sales report, ICE cotton futures were trading 50-70 USC points lower in sympathy with Chinese futures, as ChinaΆs ZCE cotton exchange was down 3% in heavy volume trading.

For the week now, the lead ICE December contract has gained a grand total of one USC point– the market has been on the slow train to nowhere this week.

West Texas cotton country continues to see scattered showers, with localized totals yesterday from 10-20mm, and additional rain is in the forecast through the weekend before the weather looks to clear up.