New York cotton rises to three-week high-Texglobe

New York cotton rises to three-week high

Updated: 2010-6-11 Source: Texglobe-信息中心

NEW YORK (June 11 2010): US cotton futures rose to a three-week high on Thursday, gaining 1.5 percent, on a bullish supply/demand report and data showing strong Chinese demand. July cotton contracts on ICE Futures settled up 1.19 cent, or 1.5 percent, at 82.51 cents per lb. July volume was heavy at 25,583 lots. The July contract hit an intraday high at 83.99 cents a lb, a level last seen May 19.

December cotton finished at 79.07 cents a lb, up 1.44 cent. Volume reached 25,973 lots. A closely watched monthly supply/demand report released on Thursday by the US Agriculture Department showed that cotton stocks are expected to fall for both the United States and world projections.

Sharon Johnson, cotton expert at Georgia-based First Capitol Group, said that the USDA numbers were market friendly because of the modest fall in ending stocks. Johnson also cited additional upside follow-through buying in the July contract with additional short-covering.

News that China's exports jumped 50 percent in May also lifted agricultural commodities as a whole. Also, weather problems in China's cotton growing region were driving prices for that supply higher and having a spillover effect on US fiber prices, brokers said.

Daily volume traded in ICE cotton grew to 40,406 lots on Wednesday from 34,795 lots in the prior session. Open interest in the ICE cotton market was at 174,998 on Wednesday, compared with 176,221 lots, the exchange said.