Drying pattern forecast for Texas High Plains. U.S. classing rose to 776,571 bales. Rio Grande Valley gins finished the season. Regrowth issues reported in the Upper Coast. Harvest-aids applied to some Plains cotton.
Cotton futures finished mixed Monday, with current-crop deliveries little changed to slightly higher and 2017-18 contracts down modestly.
Benchmark December eked up a single point to 70.08 cents, in the lower third of its 132-point range from up 93 points at 71 cents to down 39 points at 69.68 cents. It touched the high in overnight trading and the low in the afternoon.
Maturing October closed up eight points to 69.16 cents, March edged up 11 points to 70.54 cents and December 2017 slipped 31 points to 70.54 cents. Only nine lots remained open in October coming into the session.
Volume slowed to an estimated 16,509 lots from 23,438 lots the previous session when spreads accounted for 8,181 lots or 35%, and EFP 333 lots. Options volume totaled 1,411 calls and 1,181 puts.
Partly sunny skies returned Monday to the Texas High Plains and mostly sunny to sunny conditions are expected for the rest of the week in the Lubbock area. Locally heavy rainfall was termed possible later Monday in some areas of the Rolling Plains and Concho Valley, with isolated thunderstorms expected in Central Texas.
The drying, warming pattern for the High Plains follows a cool, damp weekend, with temperatures north of Lubbock falling into the low 40s. Rainfall was mostly light in the main cotton areas, though Tahoka in Lynn County to the south got 1.29 inches Sunday and nearby OΆDonnell registered 0.77 of an inch. Lamesa in Dawson County reported 0.34 inch.
Heavier rains fell in the Rolling Plains where 72-hour totals to near midnight Sunday ranged to 2.69 inches at Haskell in the southern district. Wall near San Angelo in the Concho Valley received 3.05 inches.
Meanwhile, U.S. upland cotton classing rose to 137,904 running bales during the week ended Thursday from 103,591 the previous week to boost the total for the season to 776,571, according to the latest USDA figures.
The cotton came from six states, including 118,882 RB from Texas and the remainder from mostly Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Louisiana and Mississippi. The facility at Corpus Christi accounted for all but a few bales of the Texas total.
U.S. classing a year ago amounted to 107,983 RB for the week and 406,401 RB for the season, with Texas contributing 390,336 RB of the early-season run.
Tenderable cotton slipped to 56.7% last week from 69.1% the previous week and to 76.7% from 81.2% for the season. A year ago, 64.3% for the week and 68.6% for the season met tenderable requirements.
Gins finished operations for the season in the Texas Rio Grande Valley, USDAΆs Agricultural Marketing Service reported in a weekly review.
Harvesting had been slowed from spotty rainfall in the Upper Coast. Regrowth and sprouting were an issue caused by excessive rains. In the northern Blackland Prairies, harvesting was 10% to 30% completed, depending upon location. Strong rain chances were in the nearby forecast.
Harvest-aids had been applied to some dryland cotton in the West Texas Plains. Locks were falling out of bolls owing to excessive temperatures during the growing season, industry reports indicated, and growers were eager to harvest that cotton to prevent further yield loss.
Higher rates of pre-harvest treatments, adding to late-season expenses, were required in some fields to ensure effectiveness against regrowth. Above-average production was expected from most irrigated fields.
Futures open interest expanded 1,962 lots Friday to 250,868, with DecemberΆs up 259 lots to 165,767 and MarchΆs 1,387 lots to 51,856. Cert stocks grew 180 bales to 31,344. Awaiting review were 540 bales at Dallas-Fort Worth.
