Crop concerns offered support. U.S. 2016-17 export commitments lead year-ago sales by 68% and shipments by 54%. U.S. premium widened a bit.
Cotton futures settled slightly higher on thin volume Thursday, bouncing off the session low touched following USDAΆs weekly export sales-shipments report.
Benchmark December settled up 19 points to 67.72 cents, in the upper quarter of its 113-point range from down 71 points at 66.82 to up 42 points at 67.95 cents. This was its third straight daily gain for a total of 103 points.
October finished up 30 points to 68.38 cents, March rose 17 points to 67.91 cents and December 2017 added 33 points to 68.32 cents.
Concerns about the cumulative effects of rain on open bolls in parts of the Southeast and a recent onset of below-normal heat units slowing crop maturity on the Texas High Plains offered support.
Uncertainty about the effects on ChinaΆs cotton crop — the worldΆs second largest — of Typhoon Meranti also may have been supportive.
Volume slowed to an estimated 11,509 lots from 17,124 lots the previous session when spreads accounted for 6,591 lots or 38%, EFP 205 lots and EFS 51 lots. Options volume totaled 1,842 calls and 833 puts.
Net U.S. all-cotton export sales of 148,200 running bales during the week ended Sept. 8, down from 364,600 RB the previous week, brought 2016-17 commitments to 4.991 million RB.
Though sales fell more than expected, commitments still slightly widened the lead over year-ago bookings by 48,000 RB to 2.013 million or 68%. Commitments reached 45% of USDAΆs export forecast, compared with 34% of final 2015-16 shipments at the corresponding point last season.
All-cotton shipments of 131,500 RB, down from 230,800 the previous week, raised the total for the season to 1.097 million RB, 54% ahead of year-ago exports of 710,000 RB. Exports totaled almost 10% of the estimate, compared with 8% of 2015-16 exports a year ago.
To achieve the USDA projection, shipments need to average roughly 214,000 RB a week, while weekly sales averaging around 131,300 RB would match the export forecast.
Net sales for shipment next season of 26,200 RB, up from 18,900 RB the week before, boosted 2017-18 commitments to 414,700 RB, up from 205,000 RB in forward bookings a year ago.
On the competitive-pricing front, the average of the five lowest-quoted world growths for the Far East fell 72 points to 75.22 cents during the week ended Thursday, according to USDA calculations, while the lowest-priced U.S. cotton landed there dropped 60 points to 77.15 cents.
The U.S. premium thus widened 12 points to 1.93 cents. The adjusted world price, reflecting transportation and quality differentials, declined to 57.79 cents, leaving the marketing loan gain for the program week ahead at zero. The fine count adjustment is 0.35 of a cent for 2016-crop qualities better than 31-3-35.
Futures open interest gained 906 lots Wednesday to 231,339, with DecemberΆs up 233 lots to 152,932 and MarchΆs down 493 lots to 48,880. Certificated stocks grew 360 bales to 34,318.
