US cotton sales are seen staying steady in a government report as the 2003/04 marketing year (August/July) draws to a close, brokers said Wednesday.
They said US upland cotton sales should range from 225,000 to 275,000 running bales (RBs, 500-lbs each), against sales in last weeks report of 300,600 RBs. The US Department of Agriculture's weekly export sales report will be released shortly.
Brokers said that cotton shipments should reach from 200,000 to 250,000 RBs, versus 243,800 RBs last week.
Analysts said total US cotton exports should fall slightly short of the USDA projection that it would reach a record 13.8 million (480-lb) bales in 2003/04. That would be equivalent to about 13.3 million RBs.
According to USDA data, total US cotton sales as of July 29 have reached 13.154 million RBs. Of that total, some 4.7 million RBs were bought by China.