– Reporting Period 06 – 19 November 2024 –
ICE Cotton No. 2 futures entered the current reporting period with a tailwind, but they ran out of steam fast. After an initial jump, the futures lost several hundred points in the last two weeks, albeit with a weakening curve towards the end. Theoretically, low prices should recover through increased buying behavior. However, this has so far failed to materialize. There has only been weak demand for primarily short-term deliveries. The strengthening US dollar may not be entirely innocent in this respect, as cotton price reductions were offset by higher foreign exchange costs.
In addition, the United States are no longer the largest export nation on the cotton market and have lost ground especially to Brazilian cotton. This was also recently reflected in the demand figures.
In Europe, the situation has not changed much since the last report. Little demand was primarily covered by short-term orders as before. Cotton was mainly sold from nearby sources such as Spain, Greece or Central Asian producers.