Front month cotton prices are 183 to 273 points lower at midday. Old crop losses are sharper. 

Cotton export bookings were down 15% week to week with data from USDA’s weekly Export Sales report. Vietnam and China were the top buyers of the 54,386 RBs sold with 48% and 27% of the total respectively. New crop sales were reported at 72,082 RBs, bringing the forward book to 1.807 million. 

Yesterday’s WASDE showed global new crop production increasing by 6.33m bales to 119.44. Half reflects the domestic increase, while the other half is mostly from Brazil and China. Australia, Pakistan, and India are also seen increasing output. Global cotton trade is estimated to pull back yr/yr to 45.51 million bales, as Chinese imports drop by 2m bales. 

The 5/11 Cotlook A index was down another 70 points to 92.90 cents/lb. The AWP for cotton is 71.39 cents/lb and will be updated after the close. 

Jul 21 Cotton  is at 85.67, down 256 points,

Dec 21 Cotton  is at 83.73, down 194 points,

Mar 22 Cotton  is at 83.45, down 180 points.