Planting intentions data and supply-demand estimates loom. Classing of upland slowed to 167,526 RB. Mills priced 3,167 March on-call lots.
Cotton futures finished mixed on whopping volume Friday, with spot March closing at another new low for the move and completing a bearish weekly reversal.
- March closed down 26 points to 59.97 cents, a tick above the Oct. 2 finish and near the low of the day’s 76-point range from up 36 points to 60.59 to down 40 points at 59.83. It topped highs of the previous three weeks on Wednesday and finished Friday below lows of the prior 17 weeks.
- May settled down 10 points to 60.60 cents, July eked up three points to 61.30 cents and December edged up 12 points to 61.38 cents. For the week, March shed 116 points, May lost 100 points, July fell 63 points and December eased a single point.
- Volume jumped to an estimated 66,117 lots from 59,137 lots the previous session when spreads accounted for 28,416 lots or 48%, EFS 1,009 lots, EFP 181 lots and block trades 500 lots. Options volume rose to 9,134 calls and 6,509 puts.
Traders looked ahead to the National Cotton CouncilΆs planting intentions report at the annual industrywide meeting this weekend in Dallas and to USDAΆs updated supply-demand estimates on Tuesday.
Various surveys have pointed to increased acreage this year from the lowest area planted in cotton last year since 1983. Questions have arisen, however, about whether earlier intentions could be altered by USDA this week not designating cottonseed as an “other oilseed,” which would have made it eligible for ARC and PLC programs.
U.S. 2015-16 supply-demand estimates generally arenΆt expected to show much change, while a cut in world production and lower global ending stocks are expected.
Classing of upland cotton slowed to 167,526 running bales during the week ended Thursday from 22,237 RB the previous week, boosting the seasonΆs total to 11.862 million RB.
The USDA now has classed 98% of the January estimate of upland production, 55.5% of which was tenderable, compared with 68.4% of 15.031 million RB classed a year ago.
Classing of a combined 91,593 RB at the Lubbock and Lamesa offices on the Texas High Plains accounted for 55% of the weekΆs total. Lubbock classed 46,957 RB to boost its total for the season to 2.518 million and Lamesa graded 44,636 RB to hike its total to 1.555 million.
Pima classing declined to 801 RB from 9,109, nudging the extra-long staple total for the season to 414,896 RB, down from 538,011 a year ago.
Meanwhile, mills priced 3,167 lots and producers 159 lots in on-call dealings in March last week, reducing their unfixed positions to 11,931 lots and 6,212 lots, respectively, according to the latest data reported by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.
The net call difference declined 3,008 lots to 5,719 lots, which was 5.23% of MarchΆs declining open interest, down from 7.53% a week earlier. The unfixed position of mills outweighed that of producers by a ratio of 1.92:1, down from 2.37:1.
Unfixed mill on-call positions dropped 286 lots to 15,461 in May and rose by 434 lots to 14,878 in July, while producer unpriced holdings dipped 31 lots to 810 and increased 114 lots to 1,535, respectively.
Futures open interest declined 347 lots Thursday to 199,654, with MarchΆs down 1,920 lots to 97,438 and MayΆs up 545 lots to 53,504. Certificated stocks increased 704 bales to 26,916.
