NEW YORK: ICE cotton futures on Wednesday rose on solid demand for the natural fiber, stitching together a three-session winning run, although a stronger dollar trimmed gains.

Cotton contracts for December were up 0.33 cent, or 0.4%, to 90.20 cents per lb, by 11:32 a.m. EDT (1532 GMT), earlier touching near a one-week peak of 90.60 cents per lb.

“You’re seeing a little more demand coming in and we’ll see in our export sales for the new year, but we’ve got a lot of unanswered questions on exactly how big the crop is,” said Kansas-based commodity analyst Sid Love. * “It looks like a powerful uptrend to me. The old saying was ‘the trend is your friend,’ so you just go along with it.” * Chicago grains, which have been a major driver recently in either direction for cotton, provided mixed signals on Wednesday, and hence likely had a limited impact on prices. * The dollar firmed after a brief fall on Wednesday, increasing costs for buyers using other currencies and limiting gains in the natural fiber.

“The coronavirus might have won the battle in 2020/21, driving down global cotton production by 7%, but the industry is responding well and production is expected to rise by 3% in 2021/22 to reach 25 million tonnes,” the International Cotton Advisory Committee (ICAC) said on Tuesday. * The increase will be led by the US, India and Brazil, the ICAC said.

“Consumption posted a 12.4% increase to 25.5 million tonnes in 2020/21, with a similar performance expected in 2021/22. Concerns remain due to COVID-19’s stubbornness, with threats from factory closings and logistical problems looming in Bangladesh and Vietnam.”