Cotton jumps late to finish solidly ahead.
Cold blast remains headed for Texas Plains. U.S. 2015-16 export commitments lagged 2.352 million running bales or 32% behind year-ago bookings. Ginning totaled 78% of the estimated U.S. crop by Dec. 15.
U.S. cotton futures surged late in the shortened trading session to triple-digit gains and finished solidly in the green ahead of a long holiday weekend Thursday.
March finished up 89 points to 63.66 cents, in the upper quarter of its 121-point range from down four points at 62.73 to up 117 points at 63.94 cents. It posted a fractional three-point loss for the week.
May closed up 79 points to 64.35 cents, while December 2016 gained 72 points to settle at 64.85 cents.
Electronically estimated volume declined to 9,799 lots from a cleared 14,002 lots the previous session when spreads accounted for 2,932 lots or 21%, EFP 162 lots and EFS 90 lots.
A cold front remains on track to blast through the West Texas Plains on Saturday, bringing heavy snowfall that is expected to continue through Sunday before diminishing through the day Monday. Periods of blizzard conditions are forecast.
Roads are expected to become treacherous and possibly impassable, disrupting the transportation of cotton modules to gin yards. Growers on the High Plains, where an estimated 90% to 95% of the crop was off the stalk near the end of last week, have rushed to get as much additional cotton harvested as possible ahead of the winter storm.
Meanwhile, net U.S. all-cotton export sales for shipment this season of 130,000 running bales during the week ended Dec. 17, up from 108,600 RB the previous week, brought 2015-16 commitments to 5.059 million RB.
The gap behind year-ago commitments widened some 187,000 RB to 2.352 million, behind by about 32%. Commitments amounted to 52% of the USDA export forecast, compared with 68% of final 2014-15 shipments at the corresponding point last season.
All-cotton shipments of 137,500 RB, up from 106,900 RB the previous week, hiked the total for the season to 2.1 million RB, some 45,000 RB behind year-ago exports. Shipments totaled 22% of the USDA projection, compared with 20% of final 2014-15 shipments a year ago.
To achieve the USDA forecast, shipments need to average roughly 237,500 RB a week, while weekly sales averaging around 145,000 RB would match the export projection.
Net upland sales for shipment next season of 36,900 RB, up from 12,100 RB the week before, raised 2016-17 commitments to 732,200 RB. This was 182,400 RB ahead of forward bookings a year ago.
On the crop scene, U.S. all-cotton ginning had reached 9.832 million RB as of Dec. 15, down 22% from 12.601 million RB ginned a year ago. Gins through the corresponding periods of 2013 and 2012 had processed 10.159 million RB and 13.194 million RB, respectively.
About 78% of the estimated 2015 crop had been ginned by mid-December, compared with about 80% of the final 2014 output a year ago.
Futures open interest fell 2,806 lots to 181,626 on Wednesday, apparently on continued fund long liquidation, with MarchΆs down 3,326 lots to 123,534 and MayΆs up 322 lots to 30,454. Cert stocks were unchanged at 64,723 bales.
