NYBOT cotton futures finished mixed Tuesday in thin dealings featuring small speculators as most players tweaked their positions ahead of the release of a key government report Thursday, dealers said.
Key December cotton eased 0.04 cent to end at 45.71 cents a lb, pinned in a 60-point band from 45.40 to 46 cents. March was unchanged at 46.87 cents. Distant months ranged from 0.35 cent firmer to 0.15 cent easier.
"Its consolidation ahead of the report," said Frank Weathersby of Affinity Trading in Fort Walton Beach, Florida.
He added that with a 60 point range in the key December cotton contract, "we not got much interest" in the market.
The US Department of Agriculture will release its monthly production report at 8:30 am EDT (1230 GMT) on Thursday, which will provide a detailed outlook on the world and US supply/demand outlook for the cotton market in the 2004/05 marketing year (August/July).
A survey by Reuters showed most analysts believe the US crop will reach an average of 18.878 million (480-lb) bales, which would be the largest US cotton crop since 1994 when farmers harvested 19.662 million bales.
Analysts said the market was also monitoring the movement of tropical storm Charley and storm Bonnie since both may pose a threat to the southern US coast, which contains large areas of cotton farms.
"Depending on the track of those storms, the rain they bring in may affect the quality of US cotton in some areas of the south-east," one said.
Brokers Flanagan Trading Corp said the rains could provide beneficial moisture to the major cotton-growing region of the state of Georgia.
Flanagan pegged support in the December contract at 45.48 and 44.20 cents, with resistance at 46 and 46.65 cents.
Floor dealers said estimated final volume amounted to a measly 3,000 contracts, from Mondays tally of 5,086 lots. Open interest rose 566 lots to 78,223 lots as of August 9.