Demand Issues Keep Driving Cotton’s Four Cent Trading Range
Cotton muddled through the week, spending most of its time near its heretofore support level at 71 cents. It appears that the market will try again to break that support and visit the very high 60s before making a run back to the 74-cent level. Thus, the narrow four cent trading range between 70.50 and 74.50 continues to be the most respected trading range.
Market Movement from 14th Oct 2024 to 19th Oct 2024.
• The NY future market traded in the range of 70-72 cents/lb. Export shipments remained low, and sluggish demand kept pressure on the market throughout the week. Future prices dropped close to 70 cents but managed to close the week at 70.99 cents/lb, reflecting a weekly loss of 122 points.
Cotton futures declined this week, trading at the lower end of the recent range due to weak demand and the pressures of a stronger U.S. dollar. U.S. export sales increased for the week, but shipments remained below average, continuing concerns about the current market environment. With the cotton harvest underway, what does the future hold for demand? Get QuickTake’s read on the week’s events in five minutes.
USDA’s October supply demand report was the one that analysts knew would solve the bullish/bearish price dilemma that has faced the market for the past five months. They all thought it would, including me. Collectively, we knew better.
Market Movement from 07th Oct 2024 to 12th Oct 2024.
• NY December, trading remained within a narrow range throughout the week. Low export sales indicated sluggish demand. In the October WASDE report, the USDA cut U.S. cotton production by 3,00,000 bales, but this was offset by lower exports and reduced mill use. Overall, the WASDE report was neutral, with only minor changes compared to the September report. As a result, December futures closed the week with a loss of 106 points.