Intense cold raised hopes for insect overwintering kill in the South. Yields topped expectations in Kansas. Hottest summer ever recorded at Phoenix. Survey found snowpack at 20% of average in California.
Cotton futures closed with strong gains Monday, snapping a three-day losing streak that had reached a 10-session intraday low on Friday.
Spot March closed up 109 points to 83.68 cents, in the upper half of its 185-point range from up three points at 82.62 to up 188 points at 84.47 cents. Fresh business over the weekend and mill fixations below 83 cents may have contributed support.
The May contract gained 121 points to close at 83.95 cents, July rose 127 points to 83.74 cents and December gained 91 points to 78.36 cents.
Volume slipped to an estimated at 28,800 lots from 31,712 lots the previous session when spreads totaled 12,390 lots or 39% and EFP 543 lots. Options volume totaled 4,326 calls and 2,887 puts.
U.S. upland classing of 398,082 running bales during the week ended Jan. 9 — down a bit from the prior weekΆs 399,574 bales — boosted the total for the season to 11.191 million bales.
This is about 92% of USDAΆs January crop estimate. Cotton tenderable on futures contracts totaled 54.6% for the week and 62.3% for the season, compared with 55.8% and 62.6%, respectively, the previous week.
Classing of 16,326 running bales of Pima boosted the extra-long-staple total for the season to 414,408 bales and the all-cotton count to 11.723 million bales.
Wintry conditions featuring a mass of dense, frigid air interrupted ginning in some areas of the Southeast during the week and raised hopes in the Delta the intense cold would kill overwintering insects.
Ginning resumed late in week in the Southeast, according to a review by the cotton division of USDAΆs Agricultural Marketing Service.
In Texas, additional beneficial precipitation fell in South Texas and the Rio Grande Valley. In Kansas, cold, icy conditions delayed final harvesting most of the week. Harvesting was about 95% completed. Yields of 1,200 to 1,400 pounds were reported around Wellington, exceeding expectations. The Oklahoma harvest was essentially done.
Extremely cold weather delayed final harvesting in the Texas Rolling Plains, but the delay allowed gins to catch up with backlogs of modules on their yards. The Lubbock and Lamesa classing offices on the High Plains have gone to one-shift operations as receipts have declined.
Dry conditions persisted in the Desert Southwest. The hottest summer on record helped make 2013 the eighth-warmest year ever in Phoenix, according to the National Weather Service. Temperatures topped 100 degrees on 115 days and 110 degrees on 25 days.
Phoenix received 8.42 inches of rainfall for the year, bolstered by an unusual late-November storm of more than 2 inches in much of Maricopa County. Several gins continued to operate in central and western Arizona.
In CaliforniaΆs San Joaquin Valley, Bakersfield and Fresno recorded the driest season on record. Bakersfield got about 50% of normal rainfall and Fresno 27%. Water availability and the 2014 outlook remained a concern.
The California Department of Water Resources recorded the snowpackΆs statewide water content at 20% of average for this time of year in the first manual survey of the season on Jan. 3. This is 7% of the average April 1 measurement when the snowpack normally is at its peak.
Futures open interest grew 953 lots Friday to 175,623, with MarchΆs up 177 lots to 109,210 and MayΆs up 47 lots to 34,783. Cert stocks declined 255 bales to 42,947.
World values as measured by the Cotlook A Index eased five points Monday morning to 88.05 cents. The index premium to FridayΆs March futures settlement widened 17 points to 5.46 cents.
