Yesterday, the ICE cotton December contract settled at 70.66 cents per pound (0.453 kg), down 0.87 cents. This contract has dropped by 0.33 cents over the week, registering a total loss of 261 points over the past three weeks.

On October 25, the trading volume reached 37,949 contracts, while the previous day's volume was 36,294 contracts. ICE’s No. 2 cotton futures deliverable inventory was unchanged at 174 bales as of October 24.

The USDA reported that 44 per cent of US cotton had been harvested as of October 20, up from 34 per cent the previous week, with the harvest expected to surpass 50 per cent in the next report.

Weekly cotton export sales amounted to 98,400 bales, an increase of 70 per cent from the previous week and 16 per cent above the average of the prior four weeks.

Declines in the grain markets also exerted downward pressure on cotton. Soybean futures at Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) dropped due to favourable weather in South America and ample supplies, while corn futures fell amid profit-taking and high stock levels despite strong export sales.

On Friday, the ICE December 2024 cotton contract closed at 70.66 cents per pound, down 0.87 cents. Cash cotton settled at 66.16 cents, down 0.37 cents. The March 2025 contract closed at 72.85 cents per pound (down 0.77 cents), the May 2025 contract at 74.39 cents (down 0.64 cents), the July 2025 contract at 75.46 cents (down 0.52 cents), and the October 2025 contract at 73.99 cents (down 0.36 cents).

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (KUL)