Cotton futures were trading higher by midday on April 18, with contracts rising between 95 and 110 points after experiencing losses earlier in the day. The US dollar index fell by $0.270 to $97.775, while crude oil prices dropped $11.27 following news that Iran agreed to open the Strait of Hormuz.
Export data from the United States Department of Agriculture released Thursday showed export commitments for cotton at 10.409 million running bales, which is down one percent compared to last year and represents ninety-two percent of USDA’s target—behind the five-year average pace of one hundred percent. Exports so far total 6.71 million running bales, or sixty percent of USDA’s number, also trailing the typical pace as reported by recent data.
The Seam platform recorded sales of four thousand fourteen bales on April 15 at an average price of seventy-four point ninety-four cents per pound. The Cotlook A Index increased by one hundred points on Thursday to eighty-six point sixty cents per pound. Certified cotton stocks listed by ICE remained steady as of April 16 at one hundred sixty-two thousand three hundred sixty-seven bales, while the Adjusted World Price climbed another two hundred eighty-seven points Thursday to reach sixty-one point sixty-one cents per pound.
May twenty-six cotton closed at seventy-six point seventy-three cents, up one hundred three points; July twenty-six closed at seventy-nine point twenty-three cents, up one hundred ten points; and December twenty-six closed at seventy-nine point ninety-five cents, up ninety-six points.
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