NEW YORK: ICE cotton futures eased on Thursday to snap a four-session long streak of gains, weighed down by an uptick in the dollar.
Cotton contracts for December fell 0.48 cent, or 0.5%, at 94.02 cents per lb, at 11:55 a.m. EDT (1555 GMT). The contract shed as much as 1.2% to 93.38 cents per lb.
The dollar is hurting prices but volumes are relatively low, said Keith Brown, principal at cotton brokers Keith Brown and Co in Georgia and “with harvest over the hill, we could be getting fatigued up here. So, corrections are likely.” * “The latest crop condition numbers nearly rival the modern-day record of 75% crop in good-to-excellent condition posted in 1987, and if we can gather the crop, we are looking at a good harvest,” contingent on supportive weather, Brown added.
The dollar bounced off one-week lows, potentially limiting demand for the natural fiber by making it more expensive for buyers holding other currencies.
The US Department of Agriculture’s weekly export sales report showed net sales of 245,100 running bales (RB) for the 2021/2022 marketing year, primarily to El Salvador (67,100 RB), Turkey (61,100 RB), Pakistan (35,000 RB), Honduras (26,500 RB), and Vietnam (14,900 RB).
China was nowhere to be seen on sales, so we are starting to witness a transportation dynamic, where some people are opting to have apparel made as close as possible, in places like El Salvador and Guatemala, with a crisis in shipping and high freight rates, Brown added. * Total futures market volume fell by 8,280 to 9,462 lots. Data showed total open interest gained 398 to 269,844 contracts in the previous session.
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