Cotton Closes on Modest Gains After Morning Run

Support may have stemmed partly from heavy rains in the Delta, expected harvest delays expected in the Southeast and rains forecast for later this week in the Texas Plains.

Cotton futures settled on slight gains Tuesday after extending modest early upticks above highs of the previous two sessions on a morning run.

Spot December closed up 21 points to 62.34 cents, regaining around a third of MondayΆs loss. It finished in the lower quarter of its 100-point trading band from 62.18 to 63.18 cents. March settled up 23 points to 62.16 cents, trading from 61.94 to 62.95 cents.

Volume slipped to an estimated 19,300 lots from 22,631 lots the previous session when spreads accounted for 10,373 lots or 46% and EFP 305 lots. Options volume totaled 1,308 calls and 564 puts.

Support may have stemmed partly from heavy rains on open bolls in the Delta, harvest delays expected from rains in the Southeast and forecasts for rains later this week in the West Texas Plains.

Some growers where heavy rains fell last week in the High Plains planned to resume harvesting on Tuesday, while others were concerned they might get “bogged down” in wet soils and have to wait another day.

A 40% chance of showers and thunderstorms is in the forecast for the Lubbock area Thursday night and Friday, with a chance lingering into Saturday. Mostly sunny skies are expected to return Sunday.

On the plus side, fall and winter precipitation provide an important subsoil moisture base for the next spring-planted crops in the semi-arid High and Rolling Plains areas.

But quality issues generally are expected in cotton that has endured high winds and heavier rains this month, sources say. Growers also have reported some cotton has been loosened in the bur and is on the verge of stringing out.

With an estimated 35% to 40% of the cotton defoliated as of late last week, some growers expect that the first fall freeze would be near by the time they get caught up on cotton now ready for harvest. Some are considering whether to wait for a freeze to condition the rest for stripper harvesting rather than spend more money on harvest-aid chemicals.

Patchy frost was reported in some northern cotton areas — temperatures were as low as 33 degrees — early Monday, but the low at Lubbock was only 38 degrees.

Rainfall has totaled 3.71 inches at Lubbock this month, compared with the normal of 1.69 inches and 0.38 of an inch a year ago. A site near Wolfforth, just southwest of Lubbock, has registered 5.5 inches.

In a high-yield irrigated area northwest of Lubbock, Friona in Parmer County has recorded 6.82 inches and Dimmitt in Castro County has received 5.92 inches, according to readings on Texas TechΆs West Texas Mesonet.

Some industry estimates for the High Plains crop coming into the month had ranged above USDAΆs October forecast of 3.98 million bales, up just 30,000 bales from the September projection, following a favorable month for fiber maturation.

Futures open interest gained 537 lots Monday to 196,665, with DecemberΆs down 1,678 lots to 110,062 and MarchΆs up 1,208 lots to 63,932. Cert stocks grew 1,445 bales to 45,586. There were 1,530 newly certified bales and 85 decertified bales. Awaiting review were 3,075 bales.