ICE cotton futures rallied on Tuesday, erasing the prior session's steep losses on concerns that Tropical Storm Bill, which made landfall in Texas, the top cotton-growing US state, could damage the crop. "It's the adverse weather in Texas," said Keith Brown, principal at cotton brokers Keith Brown and Co in Moultrie, Georgia, noting that heavy rains could damage crops and harm the fiber's quality in the state's coastal regions.
"If a hurricane hits, it'll blow it up to Oklahoma." December cotton on ICE Futures US settled up by 1.34 cent, or 2.1 percent, to 64.97 cents per pound, marking cotton's largest single-session gain since April 23. It traded in a range of 63.16 and 65.16 cents a pound. Brown noted that buying on the tropical storm was likely a "knee-jerk" reaction from speculators, as the bulk of the state's cotton is grown in west Texas. Another trader noted that while significant crop impact was unlikely, the news could prevent some market participants from selling.
Tropical Storm Bill hit the Texas coast with heavy rains and strong winds. Flash flood warnings were in effect for Houston and central Texas, and the storm was expected to continue toward Austin and Dallas. December's premium to July cotton rose to 0.54 cent per lb, up from 0.42 cent in the prior session. Total futures market volume fell by 5,567 to 40,536 lots. Total open interest fell 2,899 to 172,457 contracts in the previous session, according to data.
Certificated cotton stocks deliverable as of June 15 totalled 172,591 480-lb bales, up from 168,566 in the previous session. The dollar index was up 0.21 percent. The Thomson Reuters CoreCommodity CRB Index, which tracks 19 commodities, added 0.53 percent. The Relative Strength Index in the most active contract rose to 50.7.
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