Spot May eked up to new high close. Upper Coast and Coastal Bend got 1 to 2 inches of moisture. Some ginning continued in Kansas, Oklahoma and Arizona. Higher seed bookings reported in the Texas Plains. Yuma seedlings described as thriving. Water allocations still zero in the SJV.
Cotton futures traded cautiously Tuesday, staying mostly within previous-session ranges, and finished mixed on light volume.
Spot May closed up nine points to 91.65 cents, about the middle of its 124-point range from down 56 points at 91 cents to up 68 points at 92.24 cents. It finished on a new high close for the move.
July dropped 38 points to settle at 90.08 cents and December edged up 11 points to 79.89 cents.
Volume slowed to an electronically estimated 14,800 lots from a cleared 18,947 lots the previous session when spreads accounted for 7,192 lots or 38% and EFP for 99 lots.
Precipitation totaling 1 to 2 inches fell in the Upper Coast and Coastal Bend during the week ended Sunday, according to the weekly crop progress and condition report from USDAΆs Texas field office.
The remainder of the state got precipitation ranging from a trace up to an inch. Top soil moisture was short to very short in 94% and 93% of the northern and southern High Plains and 84% and 77%, respectively, in the Rolling Plains.
Other reports indicated some producers around Corpus Christi and were nearly finished planting grain crops and then planned to shift to cotton.
Gins in Kansas and Oklahoma continued to submit samples for grading to the classing office at Abilene, Tex., according to a weekly review by the cotton division of USDAΆs agricultural Marketing Service.
Seed dealers reported that increased bookings were an indication of expected cotton acreage increases in the West Texas Plains. Planted cotton acres on the High and Rolling Plains last year totaled a combined 4.83 million, 83% of the Texas upland acreage and 47% of the U.S. upland area, but abandonment — mainly to drought — totaled 46%.
In the Desert Southwest, planting began around Blythe, Calif., and around Parker, Ariz., along the Colorado River. Roughly 40% of the crop was planted around Yuma, Ariz. Seedlings were thriving. Some areas of Central Arizona received 1 to 2 inches of beneficial rain. Two gins continued operations there.
Beneficial rain of about a quarter of an inch to 1-1/4 inches fell early in the reporting week in the central and northern areas of the San Joaquin Valley. Several feet of fresh snow fell in elevations over 7,000 feet. No changes were made in water allocations, which remained at zero.
Futures open interest rose by 1,670 lots Monday to 174,973 lots, with MayΆs up 405 lots to 106,671, JulyΆs up 409 lots to 35,338 and DecemberΆs up 832 lots to 30,666. Certificated stocks grew 161 bales to 259,742.
World values as measured by the Cotlook A Index edged up five points Tuesday morning to 97.35 cents. The premium to MondayΆs May futures settlement narrowed 24 points to 5.79 cents.
