NEW YORK: ICE cotton futures fell on Friday as concerns over damage to the natural fibre crop due to Hurricane Sally continued to diminish, but prices were on track to post their first weekly gain in three. Cotton contracts for December fell 0.44 cent, or 0.7%, to 65.41 cents per lb, by 1:05 p.m. EDT (1705 GMT). It traded within a range of 65.20 and 66.14 cents a lb.

For the week, prices were up by about 0.9% so far, on track to register their first weekly percentage gain this month. "It really looks like Hurricane Sally didn't do much damage as people had feared, and that had been driving prices lower much of the week, including today," said Jack Scoville, vice president at Chicago-based Price Futures Group.

The natural fiber had jumped to its highest level since late February on Tuesday on crop damage concerns due to the hurricane, but since then has moved away from the peak. Scoville added that robust sales of over 500,000 bales of cotton in Thursday's export sales data is limiting losses.

The US Department of Agriculture's (USDA) weekly export sales report showed net sales of 519,600 running bales (RB) for 2020/2021 were up noticeably with an increase reported for China at 440,100 RB in the week to Sept. 10. However, exports fell 19% from the previous week, the data showed.

"As long as China is there as a large buyer and we have scale down mill fixations ... it will be difficult for the market to move substantially lower," British merchant Plexus Cotton said in a note on Thursday. "While the market may hit some 'air pockets' and pull back a cent or two, it will likely stay range-bound in the mid-to-high 60s in the near future."