Cotton futures had a weak close on Monday and continued to retreat on Tuesday.  The market settled 67 to 119 points lower with thin October and actively traded December the weakest performers. The US dollar index was weaker, with futures down 581 points, but crude oil was also down and the stock market was pulling in hot money with gains in all of the major indices. 

The 2024 US cotton crop continues to run slightly ahead of average maturity, with 74% of the acres setting bolls and 13% of the crop with bolls open. Both were 1% point above the average pace for this week. The Brugler500 index of crop conditions was up 5 points this week to 319 with a 3% point shift out of very poor.  That 319 index compares to 280 last year at this time and 283 in 2022. 

USDA’s Crop Production report showed 11.17 million planted cotton acres, a 500,000 acre drop, with harvested at 8.63 million, down 1.04 million acres from the previous NASS estimate. Expected national average yield was down just slightly from the July report at 840 lbs/ac, as production was cut by 1.89 million bales to 15.11 million. 

ICE cotton stocks were down 2,565 bales via decertification on August 9, leaving 15,796 bales of cert stocks. The Cotlook A Index was up 100 points on August 12 to 79.70 cents/lb. The USDA Average World Price (AWP) is 55.24 cents/lb and is good through this Thursday.

Dec 24 Cotton  closed at 67.99, down 108 points,

Mar 25 Cotton  closed at 69.57, down 93 points,

May 25 Cotton  closed at 70.91, down 81 points