U.S. export sales climbed to the largest since the week ended Feb. 27, with 85% going to China. Shipments fell to the slowest since Jan. 9 but remained above the weekly average needed to reach the estimate.
Cotton futures settled with moderate gains beyond maturing May in light trading Thursday, supported partly by old-crop weekly export sales and ongoing dry soils in the Texas High Plains.
Benchmark July gained 56 points to close at 93.20 cents, in the upper third of its 112-point range from down 24 points at 92.40 to up 88 points at 93.52 cents.
December posted a new high close for the move, gaining 41 points to settle at 82.77 cents, eight ticks off the high of its 82-point range from down 33 points at 82.03 to up 49 points at 82.85 cents.
Maturing May settled off 24 points to 92.66 cents, closing at a 54-point discount to July after finishing the prior day at a 26-point premium. Its final trading day is May 7.
Volume slowed to an estimated 14,800 lots from 32,777 lots the previous session when spreads totaled 4,693 lots or 14%, EFP 7,010 lots and EFS 2,921 lots. Options volume totaled 778 calls and 5,209 puts.
Net U.S. all-cotton export sales for shipment this season topped expectations at 132,300 running bales for the week ended April 17, up 39% from the previous week and the largest since Feb. 27. Upland net sales rose 46% on the week to 124,100 RB, with China booking 105,100 RB or 85%.
Commitments of upland and Pima combined climbed to 9.769 million RB, 94% of the USDA export forecast, compared with 97% of final shipments at the corresponding point last year. The margin behind year-ago bookings widened 113,000 RB to 2.483 million or to 20%.
All-cotton shipments of 237,500 RB, down 20% from the previous week and the slowest since Jan. 9, brought exports for the season to 7.736 million RB. Shipments were almost 75% of the estimate, against about 74% of final exports a year ago.
The gap behind exports a year ago also widened 113,000 RB to 1.572 million or to 17%. To achieve the USDA forecast, shipments need to average roughly 188,800 RB a week, while weekly sales of around 43,600 RB would match the export projection.
Net all-cotton sales for shipment next season fell to 19,700 RB, a 13-week low and down from 135,800 RB the week before. Commitments for 2014-15 edged up to 1.501 million RB, up 132,000 RB from forward bookings a year ago.
Some estimates have suggested that roughly two-thirds of the 2014-15 bookings will be supplied from existing stocks during the first 90 days of the new marketing year beginning Aug. 1 and prior to volume movement of the 2014 crop. Additional cotton would be needed for domestic mills.
Futures open interest fell 5,392 lots Wednesday to 169,443, with MayΆs down 5,091 lots to 752 (75,200 bales) heading into first notice day, JulyΆs down 284 lots to 107,587 and DecemberΆs down 72 lots to 55,015.
Certificated stocks grew 1,945 bales to 296,322. There were 2,637 newly certified bales, 692 bales decertified and 15,894 bales awaiting review for a possible total of 312,216 bales.
World values as measured by the Cotlook A Index dropped 30 points Thursday morning to 93.70 cents. The premium to WednesdayΆs July futures settlement widened 31 points to 1.06 cents.
The Forward A Index for 2014-15 eased off 10 points to 90.40 cents, narrowing the discount to the 2013-14 index by 20 points to 3.30 cents and widening the premium to WednesdayΆs December futures close by four points to 8.04 cents.
