Cotton Finishes at Seven-Session High Close
Heavy rain interrupted valley harvest. Low abandonment reported in Texas Plains. Rain impact weighed in South Carolina. Most Delta cotton finished growth stage. Intense monsoon storm hit Phoenix. Insect damage prompted concern in the San Joaquin Valley.
Cotton futures finished at a seven-session high close in benchmark December Tuesday, helped partly by strong gains in U.S. stocks following a three-day weekend and a rally in global equities.
December settled up 66 points to 63.28 cents, its highest close since Aug. 27 after trading from unchanged at 62.62 cents to up 106 points at 63.68 cents. It posted the session low on the overnight opening. March finished up 54 points to 62.94 cents.
Volume rose to an estimated 17,500 lots from only 7,804 lots the previous session when spreads accounted for 2,608 lots or 33%. Options volume totaled 1,270 calls and 2,326 puts.
Heavy rain delayed field activities and interrupted harvesting in the Texas Rio Grande Valley during the week ended Thursday, according to a cotton review by USDAΆs Agricultural Marketing Service.
Harlingen received about an inch of rain and Brownsville got 5 to 6 inches on Aug. 31. About 75% of the valley crop had been harvested, industry estimates indicated.
Defoliants and boll openers were applied on mature fields in the Blackland Prairies. Harvesting had begun on early-planted acres. Some gins began operations. Cotton in some fields suffered from dryness.
Hot, dry conditions prevailed in the West Texas Plains. Irrigation continued in some counties but ended in others. Some dryland cotton was stressed for moisture. Boll shedding was reported. Rain would be helpful to retain fruit. Bolls had begun to pop open. Abandonment is low, industry reports indicated.
In the Southeast, remnants of Tropical Storm Erica brought variable rainfall ranging up to 2 inches or more throughout South Carolina. The rain relieved droughty conditions but also had the potential to negatively impact quality and yield in the earliest planted fields where bolls had begun to crack open.
Portions of central and eastern North Carolina and Virginia received around a quarter to an inch of rain, while parts of central and coastal Alabama, the Florida Panhandle and South Georgia got light to moderate amounts. Midweek showers brought around one-half to three-quarters of an inch of additional moisture to Southeast Georgia, interrupting fieldwork.
Most of the Delta crop has finished the growth stage. Producers completed final irrigations in the North Delta and crop protection measures had ended for the season in the South Delta. A few late-planted fields were treated for plant bugs in Arkansas and Missouri. Producers continued to battle target spots in some fields in Arkansas.
In the Desert Southwest, thunder and lightning accompanied an intense monsoon storm that hit central Phoenix on Aug. 31, bringing three-quarters of an inch to 1.25 inches of rain. Strong winds downed trees and some local flooding was reported. Harvesting continued around Yuma. Modules accumulated in fields and gin yards. No ginning was reported.
Some industry people were concerned about insect damage and its effect on yields in the San Joaquin Valley.
Futures open interest eased down 38 lots Friday to 179,014, with DecemberΆs down 417 lots to 123,855 and MarchΆs up 423 lots to 42,230. Cert stocks declined 1,056 bales to 61,348.
