Southeast harvest moved rapidly. Herbicide-resistant pigweed confirmed in Missouri. Extreme drought expanded in area of Mississippi. Classing receipts dropped at Lubbock and Lamesa. Heavy rain, hail fell near Safford, Ariz. Ginning continued in San Joaquin Valley.
Cotton futures bounced from an early morning dip to settle up a modest 21 to 46 points Monday, led by spot December, in the face of a soaring U.S. dollar index.
December closed up 46 points to 68.90 cents, near the high of its 104-point range from up 57 points at 69.01 cents to down 47 points at 67.97 cents. It touched the session high in the first 20 minutes of overnight dealings.
March settled up 28 points at 69.31 cents, trading within a 105-point range from 69.60 to 68.55 cents, while December 2017 gained 21 points to close at 69.08 cents.
Volume slowed to an estimated 38,319 lots from a huge 99,730 lots the previous session when spreads accounted for 57,393 lots or 58%, EFS 2,955 lots, block trades 1,482 lots and EFP 88 lots. Options volume totaled 799 calls and 842 puts. Exercised in conjunction with the expiration of December options Friday were 29,611 calls and 10,399 puts.
On the U.S. crop scene, harvesting advanced at a rapid pace as sunny to partly cloudy conditions prevailed across the entire Southeast during the week ended Thursday, USDAΆs Agricultural Marketing Service reported in a weekly cotton review.
Drought conditions in areas of Alabama and west Georgia negatively impacted yields in some fields. Yields of 300 to 650 pounds per acre were reported on dryland acreage and 1,200 to 1,500 pounds on irrigated acres.
In the Delta, harvesting was virtually complete in Arkansas and neared completion in Tennessee and Missouri. In Tennessee, growers reported yields of two to three bales per acre. Extension weed scientists in Missouri reported the stateΆs first confirmed case of multiple-herbicide-resistant pigweed and urged producers to scout fields and implement nonchemical control methods.
Localized rainfall measured a trace to one-quarter of an inch in North Louisiana and South Mississippi. Despite beneficial moisture, extreme drought expanded in east-central Mississippi.
Wet conditions slowed field activities in East Texas. Some acreage had yet to be defoliated. Ginning was active but gins were soon going to run out of cotton. Some Central Texas areas got 1 to 6 inches of rain, keeping gins operating one sift. About 20% of the cotton in Central Texas was harvested, industry sources said.
Rainfall of 3 to 6 inches in some areas delayed harvesting and slowed ginning in the West Texas Plains. Hail damaged a few fields. Some gins with backlogs maintained a two-shift operation and a couple dropped back to a one-shift schedule.
Daily sample receipts dropped at the Lubbock and Lamesa classing facilities. Industry sources estimated that 35% to 40% of the crop was harvested prior to the wet weather. Irrigated yields varied from 2-1/2 to four bales per acre, industry sources said. Producers were encouraged with yields and quality results, especially average staple.
Dust storms rolled through Phoenix, Ariz., early in the period. Thunderstorms brought heavy rainfall and hail near Safford. Damage to cotton was unknown but a significant acreage was ready for harvest. There were a couple of reports of round modules sitting in standing water.
Harvesting was completed in the San Joaquin Valley but ginning continued uninterrupted. Most of the valley was rated in extreme to exceptional drought.
Futures open interest fell 5,021 lots Friday to 99,704, with DecemberΆs down 17,866 lots to 43,077 and MarchΆs up 9,897 lots to 147,829. Cert stocks grew 528 bales to 47,296. There were 966 newly certified bales and 438 bales decertified.
