Pricing information from USDA and the CFTC will be extremely limited because of the partial government shutdown. Loan operations have ceased.
Cotton futures traded within a tight span inside the previous-session range and settled modestly ahead in light dealings Wednesday.
Benchmark December settled up 27 points to 86.87 cents, around the middle of a mere 64-point range from 87.21 to 86.57 cents. It touched the high within the first 20 minutes of the overnight session and the low around 7:50 a.m. CDT.
March closed up 40 points to 86.79 cents, also near the middle of its 51-point range from 87 to 86.49 cents. Only one lot remained open coming into the session in October, where the last trading day is next Wednesday.
Volume slowed to an estimated 11,200 lots from 20,892 lots the previous session when spreads totaled 6,724 lots or 32%, EFP 70 lots and EFS 60 lots. Options volume totaled 654 calls and 3,692 puts.
Pricing information from USDA and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission will be extremely limited because of the partial government shutdown resulting from the stalemate in Washington over a spending bill.
The USDAΆs weekly U.S. export sales report, usually released by the Foreign Agricultural Service on Thursdays, wonΆt be available. Trade estimates appear to have ranged mostly around 75,000 running bales or less for the week ended Sept. 26, compared with all-cotton sales the previous week of 87,400 bales.
Weekly commitment-of-traders data and cotton on-call reports from the CFTC also will be subsequently unavailable. Compliance with all required filings to the commission remains in place. The vast majority of the agencyΆs operations have ceased.
The USDAΆs cotton classing operations, funded through user fees, are continuing, but the statistical data on quality and quantity wonΆt be available on the Agricultural Marketing ServiceΆs website. Also missing will be the daily spot market quotes.
Loan operations of USDAΆs Commodity Credit Corp. have ceased. While this may have little short-term impact, it could be disruptive over time, especially as the slow harvest pace begins to gain momentum.
A prolonged shutdown could stretch the credit limits of producers, merchants and marketing cooperatives and likely prompt increased near-term market supplies, traders say.
The USDAΆs widely watched monthly crop forecast and updated supply-demand estimates are scheduled for release a week from Friday along with ginning data through Sept. 30. The fate of these reports is uncertain.
The Farm Service Agency has closed, including county offices, except for emergency and natural disaster response, and most activities of the Natural Resources Conservation Service have ceased except for the protection of life and property.
Futures open interest grew 3,160 lots Tuesday to 203,616, with DecemberΆs up 1,302 lots to 129,367 and MarchΆs up 1,486 lots to 58,212. Open interest has jumped 21,163 lots from a week ago. This rapid increase is attributed mainly to a buildup of speculative longs.
Certificated stocks remained at 11,909 bales for the fourth consecutive day. Awaiting review were 4,840 bales.
World values as measured by the Cotlook A Index fell 65 points Wednesday morning to 92.40 cents. The premium to TuesdayΆs December futures settlement narrowed four points to 5.80 cents.
