Fashion
ICE cotton steady on strong US weekly export sales report
ICE March 2026 cotton futures settled at 63.74 cents per pound, down just 0.04 cent. Other contracts, including December 2025 and the March, May and July 2026 positions, also recorded losses. The December 2025 contract closed at 61.68 cents, down 62 points, after touching an intraday low of 61.24 cents. Price movements in other contracts varied between 5 points higher and 13 points lower.
ICE cotton futures remained largely stable, supported by a strong US weekly export sales report released after a shutdown-related delay.
March 2026 futures closed slightly lower at 63.74 cents, while December 2025 guided the curve with reduced trading volumes.
Net sales of 207,200 bales confirmed healthy demand.
Analysts expect prices to hold and possibly move toward 67 cents.
Market activity slowed, with volume dropping to 35,679 contracts, the lowest in four weeks, compared with 49,131 contracts in the previous session. The market is also approaching the first notice period for December, and this contract continues to influence the overall forward curve, according to traders.
ICE reported that deliverable No. 2 certified stocks were unchanged at 20,344 bales as of November 19.
The US weekly export sales report for the week ending October 2 (released November 21) confirmed strong demand. Net sales totalled 207,200 bales, comprising 199,000 bales of Upland cotton and 8,200 bales of Pima cotton. Shipments were reported at 165,000 bales, including 157,700 bales of Upland and 7,300 bales of Pima. Season-to-date (2025–26) commitments reached 4,537,100 bales, with 1,257,900 bales shipped so far.
Market analysts noted that this was the first weekly export sales report released in several weeks and the figures confirmed healthy demand. They added that cotton futures are likely to hold steady at current levels and could move toward the 67-cent range if strong demand persists.
The USDA had suspended the report during the 43-day US government shutdown, adding to market uncertainty in recent weeks.
Earlier in November, the USDA raised its cotton export estimate by 200,000 bales, increasing the total to 12.2 million bales in its WASDE update.
Other commodity markets were mixed, with CBOT soybean futures closing lower amid concerns over global demand.
Overall, government cotton updates continue to provide clarity but have not yet reversed the broader downward trend. Traders noted that bulls will need a clear and sustained demand boost—policy-driven or market-led—to trigger a meaningful price rebound.
This morning (Indian Standard Time), ICE cotton for December 2025 was trading at 61.94 cents per pound (up 0.26 cent), cash cotton at 61.74 cents (down 0.04 cent), March 2026 at 63.68 cents (down 0.06 cent), May 2026 at 64.93 cents (down 0.07 cent), July 2026 at 66.05 cents (down 0.06 cent), and October 2026 at 67.15 cents (up 0.04 cent). Some contracts remained unchanged, with no trades recorded so far today.
Fibre2Fashion News Desk (KUL)