U.S. upland classing reached 15.629 million RB, up 16% from a year ago, with 71.8% tenderable. Winter weather affected cotton operations from the Texas Plains to the Carolinas. Ginning continued in the West.

Cotton futures settled on slight gains Monday, with spot March completing an inside day following its bearish technical reversals on daily and weekly charts the prior session.

March inched up 13 points to settle at 78.14 cents, in the lower quarter of its 86-point range from up 78 points at 78.79 to down eight points at 77.93 cents. It remained largely within the trading range established by early morning.

May edged up 22 points to close at 78.47 cents, trading within an 89-point range between 78.12 and 79.01 cents, and July gained 17 points to settle at 78.85 cents. The other contracts finished up 20 to 42 points, with December up 28 points to 74.64 cents.

Volume slowed to an electronically estimated 31,400 lots from 40,062 lots the previous session when spreads accounted for 17,768 lots or 44% and EFP 268 lots.

U.S. upland classing edged up to 686,847 running bales during the week ended Thursday from 647,179 RB the previous week to bring the season’s total to 15.629 million RB, according to the latest weekly figures reported by USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service.

This is up about 16% from the 13.494 million RB graded through the corresponding period last season and is roughly 78% of the December upland crop estimate. A year ago, about 84% of the final crop had been classed.

Tenderable cotton dipped to 55.7% for the week and 71.8% for the season, compared with 67.1% and 71.2%, respectively, a year ago. The prior week’s classing run showed 57.1% for the week 72.6% for the year.

Classing of 428,312 RB of the Texas upland crop, up from 365,644 RB the week before, made up 62% of the U.S. total and raised the state count to 6.646 million RB, up about 13% from 5.859 million RB graded a year ago. Tenderable Texas cotton was 42.2% for the week and 57.3% for the season.

Winter weather during the last two weeks, though no significant precipitation fell, hindered ginning on the Texas Plains and slowed classing operations at the Lubbock facility, AMS reported in a cotton review.

Around 70% to 80% of the Kansas crop was off the stalk. Harvesting in Oklahoma was about 80% completed in some areas and finished in others. Ginning was expected to continue well into March or April.

Winter Storm Grayson brought snow and ice to the Southeast where the Florida Panhandle recorded the first measurable snowfall in 28 years. Much of the eastern Carolinas got 1 to 5 inches of snow, with heavier accumulations in Virginia. Clear, sunny weather prevailed late in the week, but icy conditions remained under cold temperatures.

The Florence classing office was closed late week and sample deliveries to the Macon facility were delayed in some affected areas. Ginning continued as conditions allowed. Other outside activities and fieldwork were at a standstill.

Ginning was winding down in much of the Delta. The Dumas classing office had a single shift operating as needed and the Memphis facility also was down to a single shift. A few larger gins were still operating in Mississippi.

Gins continued to process backlogs of modules in the Desert Southwest and saw and roller gins continued operations in the San Joaquin Valley. The season’s first snow survey of the California Department of Water Resources estimated the northern Sierra Nevada snowpack held 2.6 inches of snow water equivalent statewide, 24% of the Jan. 3 average.

Futures open interest grew 893 lots to 286,319 on Friday, with March’s down 714 lots to 172,818 and May’s up 1,046 lots to 55,146. Certified stocks remained at 47,665 bales.