U.S. export commitments rose to nearly 92% of the USDA forecast and shipments to 64%. Exchange raised margin requirements.
Cotton futures settled in the green Thursday, regaining some of the ground lost in the sharp retreat the previous session.
Spot May closed up 90 points to 92.56 cents, in the lower half of its 231-point range from down six points at 91.60 to up 225 points at 93.91 cents. It opened overnight on the session low, hit the high by around 5:40 a.m. CDT and traded back and forth the remainder of the day.
July settled up 101 points to 92.37 cents, just below the midpoint of its 217-point range, and December edged up 15 points to 79.45 cents.
Constructive U.S. weekly export sales data may have offered support, though reports have indicated fresh business has dried up this week.
Volume slowed to an electronically estimated 17,100 lots from a final 56,095 lots the previous session when spreads totaled 21,252 lots or 38% and EFP 19 lots.
Net all-cotton export sales during the week ended March 20 for shipment this season rose to 79,000 running bales from 54,800 bales the previous week. Sales averaging only about 48,600 RB a week would be required just to match USDAΆs export forecast.
Export commitments — shipments plus outstanding sales — climbed to 9.504 million RB, nearly 92% of the USDA estimate. A year ago, commitments were about 91% of final shipments.
Commitments trailed year-ago bookings by 1.903 million RB or by about 17%. The USDA export estimate is almost 18% below last seasonΆs shipments. Though foreign import demand is forecast at a three-year low, the U.S. share of global trade is projected similar to last seasonΆs 28%.
All-cotton shipments slowed to 278,400 RB from 345,000 RB the previous week. Exports for the season reached 6.626 million RB, down 1.229 million RB or about 16% from a year ago.
Shipments were about 64% of the forecast for 2013-14, against about 62% of final shipments at the corresponding point last season. To achieve the estimate, shipments need to average roughly 208,500 RB a week.
Net all-cotton sales for shipment next season declined to 78,600 RB from the previous weekΆs 135,900 RB. Commitments for 2014-15 were 1.155 million RB, 64,000 RB behind forward bookings a year ago and nearly 11% of the USDA projection.
Meanwhile, the exchange announced increases in initial margin requirements, effective Thursday, of $1,750 per contract from $1,500 for hedgers and to $1,925 from $1,750 for speculators.
Futures open interest gained 852 lots Wednesday to 184,162, with MayΆs down 1,579 lots to 100,406, JulyΆs up 2,739 lots to 41,069 and DecemberΆs down 564 lots to 38,974. Certificated stocks declined 675 bales to 254,283.
World values as measured by the Cotlook A Index fell 250 points Thursday morning to 96.40 cents. The index premium to WednesdayΆs May futures settlement narrowed five points to 4.74 cents.
