BLBG:Cotton Futures Jump On ’Monster’ Export Sales From U.S.
Cotton futures rose to a two-week high as exports soared fivefold from the U.S., the world’s biggest shipper. Orange-juice prices fell to a three-week low.
Net sales of upland cotton jumped to 1.02 million running bales in the week ended June 7 from 199,233 a week earlier, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said in a report. A running bale weighs 500 pounds, or 227 kilograms.
“We’re up because of the absolutely monster sales that were reported,” Mike Stevens, an independent trader in Mandeville, Louisiana, said in a telephone interview. “This shows a tremendous amount of business.”
Cotton for December delivery rose 0.3 percent to settle at 70.6 cents a pound at 2:51 p.m. on ICE Futures U.S. in New York. Earlier, the price reached 73.08 cents, the highest for a most- active contract since May 30.
Orange-juice futures for July delivery fell 0.8 percent to $1.0975 a pound in New York. Earlier, the price touched $1.071, the lowest since May 24. The commodity has dropped tumbled 52 percent from a record $2.2695 on Jan. 23.
A “double whammy between weak demand and ample supplies” drove prices lower, Fain Shaffer, the president of Infinity Trading in Medford, Oregon, said in a telephone interview.
To contact the reporter on this story: Elizabeth Campbell in Chicago at ecampbell14@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Steve Stroth at sstroth@bloomberg.net
