U.S. export commitments totaled 53% of the USDA projection and the lead over year-ago bookings widened 58,000 running bales to 2.558 million RB. U.S. Far East premium narrowed.
Cotton futures rallied from a setback to the session low on lower U.S. weekly export sales to finish on a moderate gain Thursday.
Spot December closed up 50 points to 69.76 cents, in the upper quarter of its 122-point range from down 48 points at 68.78 cents to up 74 points at 70 cents. It was a six-session high settlement.
March gained 41 points to close at 70.28 cents, while December 2017 edged up 26 points to settle at 69.49 cents.
Rolling of positions from December by hedge and index funds will begin in earnest on Friday and continue for two weeks.
Volume slowed to an estimated 20,610 lots from 27,705 lots the prior session when spreads accounted for 12,150 lots or 44%, EFS 372 lots and EFP 28 lots. Options volume totaled 1,703 calls and 1,433 puts.
Net U.S. all-cotton export sales for shipment this season of 136,600 running bales during the week ended last Thursday, down from 345,300 the previous week, brought 2016-17 commitments to 6.222 million RB.
Despite the sales slowdown, commitments — outstanding sales of 4.15 million RB plus shipments — widened the lead over year-ago bookings by 58,000 RB to 2.558 million, maintaining the plus margin at about 70%.
Commitments were about 53% of the USDA export projection, compared with 41% of final shipments at the corresponding point last season.
All-cotton shipments of 135,800 RB, up slightly from 132,500 RB the previous week, boosted the seasonΆs total to 2.072 million, widening the lead over year-ago exports by 61,000 RB to 826,000 or to 66%.
Shipments amounted to 18% of the USDA forecast, compared with 14% of final 2015-16 exports a year ago.
To achieve the USDA forecast, shipments need to average roughly 233,400 RB a week, while weekly sales averaging approximately 132,300 RB would match the export projection.
No fresh sales for shipment next season were reported for the fourth consecutive week, leaving 2017-18 commitments at 428,000 RB and widening the lag behind forward bookings a year ago to 156,500 RB.
On the competitive-pricing scene, the average of the five lowest-quoted world growths for the Far East dropped 141 points to 76.68 cents for the week ended Thursday, according to USDA calculations, while the lowest-priced U.S. growth landed there fell 150 points to 78.55 cents.
The U.S. premium thus narrowed nine points to 1.87 cents. The adjusted world price, reflecting transportation and quality differentials, is figured at 59.25 cents for the program week ahead, resulting of course in no marketing loan gain.
The fine count adjustment for 2016-crop qualities better than 31-3-35 is 21 points, compared with this past weekΆs 14 points.
Futures open interest gained 239 lots Wednesday to 260,742, with DecemberΆs down 2,841 lots to 129,217 and MarchΆs up 2,683 lots to 82,252. Certified stocks declined 876 bales to 25,517.
