Technical Analysis #C-COTTON : 2016-07-08

 | Jul 08, 2016 10:07AM ET

Cotton stocks expected to decline
Global cotton production and stock estimates were revised downward for the end of 2016-17 by the International Cotton Advisory Committee. Production is still expected to rise year on year as global average yield is projected to improve but global cotton stocks are estimated to fall decline as cotton use exceeds production. Will cotton continue rising?
Cotton prices had been rising in recent weeks as production forecasts for India, world’s top cotton producer, were lowered due to drought because of late monsoon. The International Cotton Advisory Committee recently increased its forecast of global cotton prices in 2016-17 by 2 cents to 72 cents a pound because of lower global production. The ICAC revised downward its forecast for global cotton stocks by the end of 2016-17 by 200,000 tonnes to 20.4m tonnes as production estimate was lowered by 280,000 tonnes to 23.0m tonnes. Production is still expected to rise year on year as global average yield is projected to rise by 5%. However global cotton stocks are estimated to fall 5% year on year as cotton use exceeds production by 930,000 tonnes. US cotton production is expected to rise 14% year on year to 3.2m tones as US Department of Agriculture raised cotton sowings area, and India’s output is expected to rise 8% to 6.3m tonnes as monsoon weather improved. Pakistan cotton production is expected to not fall despite a drop in sowings area but Chinese output is forecast to fall 10% due to a drop in planted area.