U.S. all-cotton classing reached 16.538 million running bales, slightly above the USDA crop estimate. Upland classing slowed to 77,504 RB last week, all from the Southwest.
Cotton futures settled sharply lower in nearby contracts Tuesday, giving back most of the previous sessionΆs gain in benchmark May.
May settled down 108 points to 78.03 cents, in the lower quarter of its 169-point range from up 25 points to 79.36 cents to down 144 points at 77.67 cents. It dipped below MondayΆs low and closed just above it.
Maturing March, where the last trading day is Thursday, settled down 111 points to 77.28 cents. July shed 98 points to finish at 78.99 cents and December slipped 16 points to close at 75.28 cents.
U.S. dollar index futures traded above the prior-session high around the time cotton closed, U.S. stock indexes ticked on modest losses and commodities were broadly lower. May corn closed down 0.6%, May soybeans 1.2%, May Chicago wheat 0.4% and May Kansas City wheat 0.3%.
Cotton volume was estimated at 31,804 lots, down from 30,117 lots the previous session when spreads accounted for 10,599 lots or 35%, EFS 800 lots and EFP 109 lots. Options volume dipped to 5,403 lots — 3,446 calls and 1,957 puts — from 5,525 lots.
U.S. upland classing of 2016-crop cotton slowed to 77,504 running bales last week, raising the total for the season to 16.008 million RB, according to the latest USDA weekly figures.
The weekly total included 27,342 RB at the two Texas High Plains offices — 2,661 at Lamesa and 24,681 at Lubbock — and 50,162 RB at Abilene, Texas, from West Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas.
Upland classing in Texas climbed to a crop total of 7.856 million RB, including a combined 5.514 million RB at Lubbock and Lamesa.
U.S. classing of 5,759 RB of Pima brought the extra-long staple total to 530,327 RB for the season and the all-cotton count to 16.538 million RB, slightly above the USDA estimate.
By regions, upland classing totaled a rounded 3.644 million RB in the Southeast, 3.266 million RB in the Delta, 8.461 million RB in the Southwest and 637,000 RB in the Far West. The figures were ahead of the crop estimate in the Southwest and varied by smaller margins on either side elsewhere.
Intermittent windy conditions depleted topsoil moisture in the southern High Plains, USDAΆs Agricultural Marketing Service reported in a weekly cotton review.
Field activity focused mostly on erosion control. A prolonged harvest prevented cover crops from being planted in some areas and there are more open fields than normal. Elsewhere, cotton planting continued under warm conditions in the Rio Grande Valley.
Ginning finished for the season in Kansas and was estimated 80% completed in Oklahoma. ItΆs expected to continue through March in Oklahoma. Broad reports across the state indicated a number of new producers plan to plant cotton for the first time.
Trading of Commodity Credit Corp. loan equities was active in the Southwest and North Delta.
Futures open interest expanded 5,245 lots Monday to 274,991, with MarchΆs down six lots to 29, MayΆs up 1,998 lots to 163,399, JulyΆs up 827 lots to 51,924 and DecemberΆs up 2,249 lots to 52,191. Cert stocks were unchanged at 325,421 bales. Awaiting review were 176 bales at Greenville.
