Modest improvement expected in weekly export sales. Groundwater levels increased an average of 0.37 of a foot in a 16-county Texas High Plains area. First-round China sales totaled 99% of offerings.
Cotton futures settled modestly lower Wednesday, remaining within the broad trading ranges of the previous dayΆs bearish outside-range reversal.
Most-active July closed down 28 points to 62.78 cents, around the middle of its 89-point range from down 76 points at 62.30 cents to up 13 points at 63.19 cents. December finished down 35 points to 62 cents, trading within an 80-point band from 61.56 to 62.36 cents.
Volume slowed to an electronically estimated 22,200 lots from 37,727 lots the previous session when spreads accounted for 9,925 lots or 26% and EFS 157 lots.
A modest improvement is generally expected in the U.S. weekly export sales report set for release at 7:30 a.m. CDT Thursday. But thatΆs not saying much, with upland export sales for shipment this season having fallen the previous week to a marketing year low of 48,700 running bales.
Net sales for the week ended April 28 still are expected to come in below the four-week upland average of 112,246 RB. Closing prices in July during the reporting week spanned a mere 46-point range from 63.69 to 64.15 cents. The intraday range was from 62.88 to 64.75 cents.
Upland shipments during the past four weeks have averaged 240,175 RB and were 244,300 RB the reporting week ended April 21.
Meanwhile, an average increase of 0.37 of a foot in groundwater levels of the Ogallala Aquifer is shown in measurements from 2015 to 2016 within the 16-county area served by the Lubbock-based High Plains Underwater Conservation District.
Above-average rainfall, which fell in a timely manner, helped increase groundwater levels, the district said in a report announcing the results. The average change in 2014-15 was a drop of 0.56 of a foot.
Measurements have shown declines of 9.29 feet for the 10-year 2006-16 district average and 5.94 feet for the five-year 2011-16 average.
Water level measurements were made from December to March in 1,400 privately owned water wells in the Ogallala and in a newly established 24 wells as part of a Dockum Aquifer network.
Irrigated acreage accounted for 42% of the area planted in cotton in the larger 34-county region making up the two High Plains crop reporting districts in 2014, the latest year for which complete data is available. This is the nationΆs largest cotton patch.
Ten years earlier, in 2004, irrigated acreage totaled 53% of the planted cotton area. Much of the irrigated area now depends upon supplemental rainfall for optimum yields.
On the international scene, final results are reported to have shown sales of 30,137 metric tons (138,416 480-pound bales) in the first round of auctions from ChinaΆs huge government-owned stockpile accounted for 99% of the initial offerings.
Futures open interest declined 1,003 lots Tuesday to 193,424, with MayΆs down five lots to 48 and JulyΆs down 1,708 lots to 112,862. Cert stocks were unchanged at 58,340 bales. Awaiting review were 1,691 bales.
