Front-month cotton futures in New York fell the daily limit in the final moments of trade on Monday, hitting a two-week low of 84.16 cents a lb as traders raced to exit positions ahead of an expected large delivery against the July contract. The front-month July contract fell 4 cents a lb ahead of the notice period for cash delivery against the contract, which begins on Tuesday.
The big drop came after the settlement window. The July contract closed down 0.64 cent, or 0.7 percent, at 87.52 cents a lb as trading volumes picked up. The most-active December cotton contract on ICE Futures US closed up 0.6 cent, or 0.8 percent, at 77.68 cents a lb after rallying to a one-week high of 77.90 cents a lb. The exodus from the July contract pressured the front-month's premium above the third-month December, which represents the 2014/15 cotton crop, to 9.84 cents a lb. That was down sharply from last week's peak of 13.96 cents a lb, the highest such premium since 2011, according to data compiled by Reuters.
Nearby prices have been trading at a premium for months as traders worried about tight nearby supplies in the United States, the world's top exporter, and expected a sharp rise in output in the 2014/15 season that begins on August 1. "Folks ran out of time. They waited to the bitter end to close their positions and it proved to be more bitter than they thought," said Sharon Johnson, a cotton specialist with KCG Futures in Atlanta. Traders were bracing for a potentially large delivery against the July contract, which expires on July 9 and enters its delivery period on Tuesday.
On Friday, the most recent ICE data showed exchange inventories climbed to 436,979 bales, the highest level in 11 months. The 2013 July delivery, in which Switzerland's Glencore Xstrata Plc scooped up more than half of US exchange stocks, was the largest July delivery in at least five years.
Supplies were expected to tighten in the United States after the 2013/14 crop was smaller than expected, leaving buyers concerned as they awaited this year's main harvest. US output is expected to increase sharply next season. The US Agriculture Department's(USDA) plantings report due on June 30 will offer the government's updated outlook on how many acres of fibre US farmers have sown this year.
