Large unfixed on-call mill position offered support. Planting intentions estimates ahead of NCC survey results clustered mostly around 11 million acres. Analysts estimated carryout at 2.79 million bales.
Cotton futures settled at a 12-session high finish on heavy volume Friday, bolstered partly by large unpriced on-call sales and a tightening U.S. supply outlook.
Spot March closed up 116 points to 87.47 cents, its highest finish since Jan. 22, rallying from down 47 points at 85.84 cents — just above the prior-session low — to a 174-point gain to 88.05 cents.
May settled up 93 points to 87.85 cents, July rose 64 points to 87.11 cents and December gained 71 points to 77.94 cents. For the week, the market gained 164 points in March, 152 points in May, 117 points in July and 154 points in December.
Volume jumped to an estimated 52,700 lots from 24,256 lots the previous session when spreads accounted for 14,140 lots or 58% and EFP for 57 lots. Options volume totaled 8,545 calls and 4,289 puts.
Unfixed on-call positions in March fell 3,686 lots to 15,883 on the mill side and 892 lots to 4,370 on the producer side last week, according to the latest call data from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.
The net call difference dipped 2,794 lots to 11,513, which was 12.82% of MarchΆs declining open interest, against 13.34% a week earlier. The unfixed mill position outweighed that of producers by a ratio of 3.63:1, compared with 3.72:1 the prior week.
Mills added a total of 2,628 lots to their unfixed holdings in May and July, while producers shaved theirs 156 lots.
In the 2013-14 marketing year contracts of March through July combined, mills fixed prices on 1,058 lots and producers on 1,048 lots, trimming their unfixed positions to 55,604 and 7,988 lots, respectively.
This reflected a decline of just 10 lots in the net call difference to 47,616 lots or 4.762 million bales. The difference amounted to 29.69% of the March-July open interest, up from 27.79%, and the unpriced mill-producer ratio rose to 6.96:1 from 6.27:1.
On the competitiveness front, little change was seen during the week ended Thursday when the average of the five lowest-priced world growths quoted for the Far East edged up two ticks to 90.63 cents and the low U.S. quote landed there eased five ticks to 94.80 cents, according to USDA.
The U.S. premium thus narrowed seven points to 4.17 cents. The adjusted world price for the week ahead is 70.39 cents, USDA announced, against 70.37 cents this week.
Meanwhile, an early reading on U.S. planting intentions will be revealed Saturday when the National Cotton Council reports on its annual survey of growers. Results will be unveiled at the councilΆs annual meeting in Washington, D.C.
Trade estimates appear to have clustered mostly around 11 million acres, ranging from about 10.5 million to 11.5 million acres. All-cotton plantings last year were 10.41 million acres.
Separately, analysts surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires projected U.S. ending stocks at an average of 2.79 million bales this season, down from 3 million foreseen by USDA last month. The USDA will release updated supply-demand estimates at 11 a.m. CST on Monday.
Analysts estimated production at an average of 13.14 million bales, down from USDAΆs 13.19 million, though most were unchanged. Typically, USDA doesnΆt revise its January crop estimate until after the end-of-season ginning report in March.
The survey showed export estimates at an average of 10.68 million bales, up from USDAΆs 10.5 million.
Futures gained 1,851 lots Thursday to 175,932, with MarchΆs down 1,065 lots to 76,616 and MayΆs up 2,416 lots. The total is down 182,873 lots a week ago.
Certificated stocks continued to expand, rising 19,204 bales to 216,810. Awaiting review were 1,596 bales. Stocks a week ago were 158,211 bales.
World values as measured by the Cotlook A Index gained 75 points Friday morning to 93.05 cents. The premium to ThursdayΆs March futures settlement narrowed four points to 6.74 cents. For the week, the index edged up 30 points.
