Cotton futures posted marginal 22 to 45 point gains on Friday, with some help from the outside markets. July was down 26 points this week, with December closing 37 points lower. Crude oil was up $5.27/barrel on Friday, following Israel strikes on Iran overnight. The US dollar index was back up $0.234 to $98.135.
The Friday afternoon Commitment of Traders report showed managed money increasing their net short in cotton futures and options trading by 6,254 contracts as of Tuesday. they took that net position to -52,859 contracts by June 10.
Weekly Export Sales data from USDA shows commitments at 11.586 million RB, which is 8.2% above the USDA export projection that was raised on Thursday. Normally, exporters would have sales 14% above USDA’s estimate. Actual shipments are at 9.55 million RB which is 89.2% of the USDA number and ahead of the 83% average shipping pace.
The Cotlook A Index was unchanged on 6/12 at 78.05. ICE cotton stocks steady on June 12 via new certifications, with a certified stocks level of 62,212 bales. USDA’s Adjusted World Price (AWP) was back up 26 points on Thursday afternoon at 54.02 cents/lb.
