ICE cotton rose on Thursday, hitting a five-week high after data showed another strong week of export sales and on stronger crude oil markets. The most active March cotton contract on ICE Futures US gained 0.56 cent, or 0.9 percent, to settle at 61.79 cents a lb after rising to 61.92 cents, its highest since December 31. It was the fibre's seventh rise in the last nine sessions, after hitting a near 5-1/2 year low of 57.05 cents a lb on January 23.
US Department of Agriculture (USDA) data released Thursday morning showed that cotton shipments reached 281,700 bales during the week ended January 29, a marketing-year high. Net sales of upland cotton reached 422,800 bales, off the prior week's marketing-year high but still above the prior 4-week average. This brought total sales commitments to 9.4 million bales, all but assuring the USDA would have to raise its forecast for US exports from 10 million bales for the 2014/15 marketing year, which ends July 31, traders said. The forecast will be included in its monthly supply-demand report to be released next Tuesday.
"We have continued strong demand for US cotton," said Sharon Johnson, introducing broker with Wedbush Securities in Atlanta, noting that the United States has sold nearly 2 million bales in the past four weeks, as persistently low prices boosted interest in cotton despite the strong dollar. The fibre's gains were limited immediately following the release of the Thursday report, as the sales and export figures were largely within market expectations, but rising crude oil prices helped propel the March cotton contract to a new five-week high, Johnson said. "The macro is still exerting, but if you didn't have these strong underlying micro factors, we wouldn't be at this level," Johnson said. US crude jumped 4.2 percent.