NEW YORK: ICE cotton futures inched down in low-volume trade on Thursday due to pressures from the ongoing harvest, while robust sales data limited some losses.

Cotton contracts for December fell 0.12 cent, or 0.2%, to 65.67 cents per lb, at 12:48 p.m. EDT (1648 GMT).

The market is getting into harvest and facing a little pressure, while marking time to see how well the harvest progresses, said Keith Brown, principal at cotton brokers Keith Brown and Co in Georgia.

In its weekly export sales report, the US Department of Agriculture reported net sales of 233,800 running bales (RB) for 2020/21, up noticeably from the previous week. Of the total, 55,700 RB were for China.

The report also showed that exports of 218,200 RB were down 23% from the prior week, with 105,400 RB shipped to China.

Total futures market volume fell by 6,392 to 12,456 lots. Data showed total open interest gained 747 to 222,896 contracts in the previous session.