ICE cotton futures hit their lowest level in more than a decade on Friday, as slowing business activities across the globe due to the coronavirus pandemic heightened fears of sluggish demand for the natural fiber.

Cotton contracts for May fell 1.26 cent, or 2.3%, to 53.67 cents per lb by 2:28 p.m. EDT (1828 GMT).

The contract has fallen 11.3% this week, registering its worst weekly fall since July 2011.

It traded within a range of 53.20 and 56.35 cents a lb.

“The market is not able to find any support right now… People are expecting to see export sales go down in the coming days as there is less demand due to global shutdown of industries," said Bailey Thomen, cotton risk management associate with INTL FCStone.

Total cotton futures market volume fell by 13,394 to 44,860 lots.

“Demand destruction is real… While there is also going to be some reduction in planted acreage, we don't see production dropping nearly as much as demand," British merchant Plexus Cotton said in a research note.

Certificated cotton stocks deliverable as of March 19 totaled 41,404 480-lb bales, down from 41,580 in the previous session.