– Reporting Period 24 January – 06 February 2024 –
Following a slight decline in cotton futures at the beginning of the reporting period, the rising trend of recent weeks continued. As a result, the ICE cotton No. 2 futures arrived at a level last seen in September 2023. However, this was not due to a surge in cotton demand. According to experts, this was rather driven by speculative trading. Even though demand was solid, it hardly differed from the previous weeks. The again strengthening U.S. dollar had more of a dampening effect in this context.
Indices at origin have followed the international price development to some extent, but this did not particularly promote spinning mills’ purchases. The companies have predominantly covered their need in the short-term.
The Red Sea crisis and its impact on the transport sector with traffic between Asia and Europe remained unchanged during the reporting period. Longer transportation routes and higher transport and insurance costs made trade more difficult.