ICE cotton futures inched down on Tuesday after falling 1% in the previous session, as lack of demand for the natural fiber weighed on the market despite declining US crop ratings.
Cotton contracts for December settled down 0.1 cent, or 0.17%, at 59.14 cents per lb.
"There are some inquiries and limited demand from foreign sources ... But this demand is simply not enough to meet grower expectations," said Barry Bean, a cotton buyer based in Gideon, Missouri.
"Even if we get a penny or two high, not sure there is demand to absorb the supply."
Cotton has fallen more than 19% so far this year as a trade war has strained the business relationship between the United States and China, hurting demand for the natural fiber. China is the world's top consumer of cotton, while the United States is one of the biggest producers.
The USDA's weekly crop progress report on Monday rated 49% of US cotton as good-to-excellent condition, down 7 percentage points from a week ago. But that did little to influence prices.
The contract had touched a 3-1/2-year low on Aug. 5 due to fears of increasing trade tensions between the United States and China.
Total futures market volume rose by 3,508 to 18,238 lots. Data showed total open interest fell 515 to 214,313 contracts in the previous session.
Comments
Comments are closed.