Cotton futures bounced from the session low set shortly after the opening overnight to finish ahead Monday in benchmark December.
December settled up 74 points to 65.05 cents, near the high of its inside-day, 106-point range from down 19 points at 64.12 cents to up 87 points at 65.18 cents. It traded out to a 50-point premium to March and settled at 32 points over, up 15 points.
Volume slowed to an estimated 19,300 lots from 23,138 lots the previous session when spreads accounted for 6,294 lots or 27%, EFP 125 lots and EFS 11 lots. Options volume totaled 2,673 calls and 7,630 puts.
U.S. upland growers had contracted about 8% of their expected acreage for harvest by Sept. 1, down from 16% a year ago, according to informal surveys by the cotton division of USDAΆs Agricultural Marketing Service.
This was the smallest percentage since 2009 when contracting totaled only 3%. The estimates donΆt include cotton consigned to marketing organizations but do include cotton contracted with them.
By regions, contracting included 21% in the Southeast, down from 34% a year ago; 9% in the Mid-South, down from 16%; 3% in the Southwest, against 4%; and less than 0.5% in the West, down from 3%.
Around 1 to 2 inches of intermittent, localized precipitation in portions of Alabama and South Georgia during the reporting week ended Sept. 4 came too late to benefit many dryland fields, the division said.
Drought stress negatively impacted yield potential in a lot of that acreage. Defoliation and harvesting was underway in some of those earliest planted fields. Producers reported irrigated fields maintained exceptional yield potential and defoliation could begin within two weeks.
Similar conditions prevailed in the Carolinas and Virginia where a quarter to half-an-inch of moisture fell by midweek. The crop was mostly fair to good but plants wilted where droughty conditions persisted.
About 2 to 3 inches of rain fell across the Delta. The moisture was mostly beneficial and helped to alleviate dry conditions. Producers in the North Delta continued to monitor fields for late-season insect pressure, which was mostly light and easily controlled.
The rain will help fields in Mississippi to finish without additional irrigation. Defoliation was underway on early-planted fields in Louisiana but wasnΆt expected to begin in Mississippi for at least another week.
Spotty showers slowed harvesting in the Texas Upper Coast. Several counties finished harvesting in the South Texas district. Limited harvesting began in Central Texas. Dryland yields were reported around 800 to 1,000 pounds per acre.
The Corpus Christi classing office graded 123,717 bales for the week to boost the total for the season to 405,011, up from 138,399 bales a year ago. Cotton tenderable on futures totaled 79% for the week and 78.6% for the season. A year ago, 48.7% classed for the season was tenderable.
Ginning began at midweek around Yuma, Ariz., as harvesting gained momentum. The crop made good progress in Central Arizona. Treatments were made for lygus and whitefly.
The San Joaquin Valley crop progressed to cutout. Producers treated fields for aphids and whitefly as more bolls opened. Some defoliation will begin this week in the most fully developed fields. This is a week to 10 days earlier than normal.
Futures open interest expanded 2,283 lots Friday to 23,138, with DecemberΆs up 497 lots to 111,276 and MarchΆs up 1,542 lots to 51,844. Cert stocks declined 117 bales to 63,238.
World prices as measured by the Cotlook A Index fell 125 points Monday morning to 73.20 cents, narrowing the premium to FridayΆs December futures settlement by 11 points to 8.89 cents.
