U.S. export commitments reached 58% of the USDA estimate. Cotton ginned to mid-January totaled 11.739 million RB, 94% of the crop estimate. Upland cotton under loan rose to 4.4 million RB.

U.S. cotton futures moved back and forth within a range established by early morning and finished Friday with the largest weekly gain in spot March in eight weeks.

• March closed up 36 points at 62.45 cents, even with the prior day’s high and just above the midpoint of its 70-point range from down four points at 62.05 to up 66 points at 62.75 cents. It gained 104 points or 1.7% for the week, largest since the week ended Nov. 27. March had lost ground five weeks in a row until it managed a single-tick gain last week.
• May settled up 37 points to 62.83 cents, while December gained 39 points to close at 62.75 cents. For the week, May gained 93 points and December 28 points.
• Volume slowed to an estimated 18,184 lots from 20,842 lots the previous session when spreads accounted for 9,924 lots or 48% and EFP 48 lots. Options volume totaled 7,645 calls and 2,464 puts.

Net U.S. all-cotton export sales for shipment this season of 194,600 running bales during the week ended Jan. 14, down from 205,100 RB the previous week, pushed 2015-16 commitments to 5.669 million RB.

The lag behind year-ago commitments widened 280,000 RB to 2.934 RB or to 34%. Commitments totaled 58% of the USDA export estimate, compared with 79% of final shipments at the corresponding point last season.

All-cotton shipments of 144,700 RB, up from 84,700 RB the week before, lifted the total for the season to 2.668 million RB, down 324,000 RB from year-ago exports.

Shipments were about 27% of the USDA estimate, compared with around the same percentage of final 2014-15 exports a year ago.

Weekly all-cotton shipments averaging roughly 251,100 RB are now required to reach the USDA forecast, while sales of approximately 144,000 RB a week would match the export projection.

Net upland sales for delivery next season of 10,300 RB, up from 7,800 the prior week, brought 2016-17 commitments to 759,400 RB. Cumulative new-crop sales were 193,600 RB ahead of forward bookings a year ago.

Meanwhile, U.S. all-cotton ginned to Jan. 15 totaled 11,738,550 RB, USDA reported, down 22% from 15,030,100 RB processed through the comparable period last season.

USDAΆs January estimate pegged the crop 21% below the 2014-15 output. About 94% of the estimated crop had been ginned by mid-January, compared with about 95% of the final production a year ago.

Separately, U.S. upland loans outstanding rose by 134,488 RB to 4.403 million RB during the week ended Monday, according to the latest USDA figures. Entries were 168,274 RB and repayments were made on 33,786 RB.

Upland cotton under loan included 325,391 RB of Form A issued to individual growers and 4,256,122 RB of Form G issued to marketing cooperatives or loan servicing agents.

Futures open interest expanded 1,617 lots Thursday to 190,474, with MarchΆs up 629 lots to 116,145 and MayΆs up 604 lots to 35,774. Cert stocks increased 70 bales to 61,303.