Indiana Grain Company, LLC

Posted: 03/19/10

By: tomgrisafi

We at Indiana Grain have kept a close eye on cotton.

Cotton rose to the highest price in almost two weeks after a report showed a surge in U.S. exports, signaling a possible return of global demand.

Exports doubled from the previous week to 263,200 running bales in the week through March 11, 43 percent higher than the average of the previous four weeks, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The government last week predicted a 3.3 percent drop in export sales for the year through July. A running bale weighs 500 pounds, or 227 kilograms.

The market got “a little push to the upside” by the export-sales report, said Mike Stevens, an independent cotton analyst and trader in Mandeville, Louisiana. “I don’t know anybody who was looking for numbers that good.”

Cotton futures for May delivery rose 1.04 cents, or 1.3 percent, to 82.21 cents a pound on ICE Futures U.S. in New York after touching 82.48, the highest price for a most-active contract since March 5.

Cotton has climbed 97 percent in the past 12 months as adverse weather reduced crop yields in the U.S. and global demand revived. The U.S. is the world’s biggest exporter of the fiber.

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