Soft futures decline; Cotton tumbles to 10-month low
Investing.com
Published Oct 24, 2013 07:59AM ET
On the ICE Futures U.S. Exchange, cotton futures for December delivery traded at USD0.7901 a pound, down 2.1%. Cotton prices fell to a session low of USD0.7877 a pound earlier, the weakest level since January 22.
The December contract settled 2.13% lower on Wednesday to end at USD0.8069 a pound.
Agricultural meteorologists said that drier and colder weather expected across the U.S. Midwest in the next few days will allow a resumption of active harvesting of the 2013 U.S. cotton crop.
According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, approximately 21% of the U.S. cotton harvest was completed as of last week. The five-year average for this time of year is 34%.
Meanwhile, sugar futures for March delivery traded at USD0.1895 a pound, down 1.6%. Prices of the sweetener hit a daily low of USD0.1892 a pound earlier, the weakest level since October 17.
The March contract ended 0.87% lower at USD0.1928 a pound on Wednesday.
Prices of the sweetener rallied to a 12-month high of USD0.2016 a pound on October 18, after Copersucar, Brazil’s largest sugar trader, said that a fire damaged six of its warehouses at a key port in Santos, destroying nearly 180,000 tons of raw sugar.
However, prices have since erased nearly all of the gains made in wake of the fire as shiploaders escaped damage, easing concerns over a disruption to supplies from Brazil, the world’s largest producer and exporter of the sweetener.
Elsewhere, Arabica coffee for December delivery traded at USD1.1058 a pound, down 0.05%. Arabica prices fell to USD1.1040 a pound earlier in the day, the weakest level since March 2009.
The December contract settled down 1.25% at USD1.1055 a pound on Wednesday.
Coffee prices have been under heavy selling pressure in recent weeks as market players continued to focus on massive global supplies.
Wall Street investment bank Goldman Sachs lowered its price forecast for Arabica coffee by almost 8% last week, citing favorable weather and ample global supplies.
Arabica prices will average USD1.2000 a pound in three, six and 12 months, down from a previous forecast of USD1.3000 a pound.
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Written By: Investing.com
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