Traders awaited U.S. weekly export sales report. Support urged for increased funding for agricultural export promotion programs. Ginning to Sept. 15 rose 16.2% from a year ago.

Cotton futures settled marginally lower on thin volume Wednesday, with December finishing midrange after bouncing from a three-session low to a slight gain.

December eased 10 points to settle at 68.65 cents, trading within a 92-point range from down 57 points at 68.18 to up 35 points at 69.10 cents. March also closed off 10 ticks, settling at 67.79 cents, just below the midpoint of its 81-point range from 67.44 to 68.25 cents. Maturing October remained untraded for the third consecutive session.

Volume slowed to an estimated 12,816 lots from 14,095 lots the previous session when spreads accounted for 3,857 lots or 27%, EFP 116 lots and EFS 65 lots. Options volume declined to 5,364 lots (3,246 calls and 2,118 puts) from 7,906 lots (4,686 calls and 3,220 puts).

Traders awaited the U.S. weekly export sales report from USDA at 7:30 a.m. CDT on Thursday. Prices dipped 87 points for the reporting week ended last Thursday, basis December, and traded from 69.95 to 68.18 cents.

Net upland sales the previous week rebounded to a strong 219,900 running bales and shipments were 175,700 RB, up 28% and 8%, respectively, from the prior four-week averages. Upland sales for the four weeks preceding this Thursday’s report have averaged 158,000 RB and shipments have averaged 151,200 RB.

A coalition to promote U.S. agricultural exports, including the National Cotton Council, has urged support for legislation to increase funding for USDA’s Market Access Program and the Foreign Market Development (FMD) program.

Both programs provide a funding source for Cotton Council International’s U.S. cotton export promotion activities.

Legislation has been introduced in the Senate to boost annual funding for MAP to $400 million and FMD to $69 million, with the increases phased in over a five-year period. This is a companion bill to one introduced in the House earlier this year.

The Coalition to Promote U.S. Agricultural Exports sent a letter to House Agriculture Committee members earlier this month urging them to support increased funding for MAP and FMD in the next farm bill.

The letter says the programs are critical tools proven to have helped U.S. agriculture compete in the international marketplace and are more important today as competitors continue to grow their financial resources and gain market share.

Both MAP and FMD are cost-share programs. Producers and other participants contributed 70% of total program funds in 2016, the coalition says. Federal funds have been apportioned at annual levels of $200 million since 2006 for MAP and $34.5 million for FMD since 2002.

Meanwhile, U.S. 2017-crop cotton ginned as of Sept. 15 stood at 788,550 running bales, up 16.2% from 678,850 RB processed through the corresponding period last year, according to USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service. Comparable ginning totaled 203,200 RB in 2015 and 695,900 RB in 2014.

Futures open interest dropped 497 lots to 234,444 on Tuesday, with December’s up 362 lots to 133,440 and March’s down 794 lots to 70,631. Certificated stocks remained at 1,772 bales.