Cotton futures slipped back on Friday, with contracts down 8 to 15 points at the close, as July was down 180 points this week. Crude oil prices were back up $1.14/barrel. The US dollar index was down $0.235 to $100.255.
CFTC data showed specs cutting another 5,182 contracts from their net short position as of May 6 to 21,049 contracts.
USDA’s Export Sales report showed current cotton commitments for export at 11.033 million running bales, which is a 5% drop from last year. That is also 108% of the USDA export forecast for the 2024/25 marketing year, matching the 108 average pace.
The Thursday online auction from The Seam showed sales of 797 ales at an average price of 55.13 cents/lb. The Cotlook A Index was down 5 points on Wednesday at 78.95. ICE cotton stocks were down 416 bales on May 8 on a mix of new certifications and decerts, with a certified stocks level of 16,721 bales. USDA’s Adjusted World Price (AWP) was back down 13 points on Thursday to 54.81 cents/lb.
