NEW YORK: ICE cotton futures rose more than 1% on Tuesday boosted by gains in the grain markets and some adverse weather conditions in growing regions, as market participants looked ahead to a federal supply and demand report this week.
Cotton contracts for December rose 1.18 cent or 1.4%, at 86.44 cents per lb by 12:10 pm EDT (1610 GMT). It traded within a range of 85.18 and 86.65 cents a lb.
“We’re seeing a little bit of strength across the commodity sector; grains are trading a little bit higher so that’s adding a bit of support,” Bailey Thomen, cotton risk management associate at StoneX Group said, adding rollovers from the July to December contract were also helping.
Chicago corn and soybean futures rose 1% after a US government report pegged the condition of domestic crops below market expectations, sparking concerns over global supply, while wheat also firmed.
While 46% of the cotton crop was in good-to-excellent condition by the week ended June 6, compared with 43% this time last year, about 71% of the crop was planted versus the five-year average of 78%, the US Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) weekly crop progress report showed.
On the weather front, “it’s been a little bit dry in Georgia as well in the southeast, so they could probably use a bit more rain as we progress through the season here, but it has definitely improved over the last month,” Thomen said.
Investors now await the USDA’s monthly supply and demand report due on Thursday.
Total futures market volume fell by 19,544 to 18,549 lots. Data showed total open interest fell 2,171 to 229,470 contracts in the previous session.
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