Cotton gains 1pc as US-China trade optimism lifts demand

ICE cotton futures rose 1% on Monday to a seven-month high, propelled by hopes of a breakthrough in the US-China trade dispute.

The front-month March contract rose 0.71 cent, or 1.03%, to 69.91 cents per lb by 12:30 p.m. EST (1730 GMT).

They rose to 70.10 cents earlier in the session, a level last seen on May 10.

"All indications are that China plans to proceed this time with the deal. That is good news for soybean and cotton, and both have been responding accordingly," said Jack Scoville, vice president at Chicago-based Price Futures Group.

On Sunday, the South China Morning Post reported that a Chinese trade delegation might be visiting Washington on Jan. 13.

Last week, US President Donald Trump tweeted that Beijing and Washington would be signing Phase 1 of a trade deal with China on Jan. 15.

The tit-for-tat trade dispute, which began in mid-2018, has led to reduced demand for the fiber from its biggest consumer, China, hurting prices.

"On the production side, Cotton Grower magazine's annual survey of US producer's planting intentions suggests that US growers currently plan to commit nearly 12.1 million acres to cotton production in 2020, which would be off around 12% against 2019," wrote Louis Rose, director of research and analytics at Tennessee-based Rose Commodity Group in a note.

Total futures market volume fell by 8,077 to 23,363 lots. Data showed total open interest gained 3,016 to 229,873 contracts in the previous session.

Certificated cotton stocks deliverable as of Jan. 3 totalled 9,038 480-lb bales, unchanged from 9,038 in the previous session.