Cotton Finishes Below Last WeekΆs Low
Weekly classing rose to 805,581 bales. Over half the crop lost in some South Carolina fields. Areas of extreme drought had developed in Delta areas. An estimated 5% to 10% harvested in the Texas Plains. Storm damage reported in Far West.
Cotton futures traded in the red throughout the day and finished below last weekΆs low at a 10-session low finish Monday in spot December.
December settled off 63 points to 62.13 cents, trading within an 84-point range from down a point at 62.75 to down 85 points at 61.91 cents. It first touched the session low in the early minutes of overnight dealings and hit it again several times, never able to quite reach even.
Volume increased from a slow start to an estimated 22,600 lots, up from 16,952 lots the previous session when spreads accounted for 7,623 lots or 45%, EFP 167 lots and EFS 95 lots. Options volume totaled 4,038 puts and 1,441 puts.
On the crop scene, U.S. upland cotton classing quickened to 805,581 running bales during the week ended Thursday from 397,751 the previous week, according to the latest USDA weekly report.
This brought the seasonΆs total to 2,014,758 RB, 16.1% of the USDA upland crop estimate. A year ago, 2,806,464 RB had been classed, 17.8% of the final production.
Classing of 16,965 RB of Pima hiked the total for the season to 27,532 RB, compared with 35,606 RB of the extra-long staple cotton graded a year ago.
Tenderable cotton accounted for 57.5% for the week, up from 51.8% the week before, and 57.7% for the season, down from 74.5% a year ago.
Ideal weather allowed defoliation and harvesting to progress without interruption in Georgia and picking advanced rapidly in Alabama, according to a weekly cotton review by USDAΆs Agricultural Marketing Service.
In South Carolina, most of the floodwaters had receded and fields were drying out and firming, but many low-lying areas near rivers remained inaccessible. More than half the crop was lost in some fields. Harvest was slow to resume as producers assessed which fields were salvageable. Defoliation expanded in North Carolina and Virginia and harvesting was underway in the earliest cotton.
Areas of extreme drought had developed in the Delta where hot, dry conditions had prevailed for several weeks ahead of weekend rains that moved into the region from remnants of Hurricane Patricia. Rain had been needed to restore soil moisture. Harvesting had expanded rapidly in the North Delta. Field operations were winding down in some South Delta areas.
Producers in Louisiana and South Mississippi reported yields up to 1,400 pounds in some irrigated fields, but overall averages were down somewhat from last year. Dryland yields ranged up to 700 pounds.
Strong thunderstorms brought 2 to 6 inches of heavy rainfall to the West Texas Plains at midweek, stalling harvesting. Producers rushed harvesting ahead of the storms, which left some fields flooded and plants standing in water. Around 35% to 40% of the fields were defoliated. An estimated 5% to 10% had been harvested.
Cotton areas of Arizona received rain every day in the reporting period. Amounts varied from a quarter of an inch to an inch. Scattered thunderstorms produced strong winds and hail. Some producers reported acreage losses of 40% to hail around the Casa Grande area and points south. Strong winds damaged 17 cotton warehouses in Glendale, Ariz.
The San Joaquin Valley got around 1-1/4 inches of rain early in the period. Mudslides on Highway 58 and Interstate 5 temporarily delayed deliveries of Arizona cotton samples to the Visalia classing office. Wet fields delayed harvesting in Tulare County.
Futures open interest increased 326 lots Friday to 196,128, with DecemberΆs down 860 lots to 111,740 and MarchΆs up 476 lots to 62,724. Cert stocks grew 392 bales to 44,141. There were 860 newly certified bales and 468 decertified bales. Awaiting review were 1,942 bales.
