Cotton Futures Jump as Buyers Vie for Supplies
- ICE-monitored inventories remain very low amid shipping woes
- Buyers want fiber for nearby delivery more than later: Rose
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Cotton prices rose a fourth day on persistent signs of tight supplies amid the firm demand that has kept prices for the fiber up all year. Sugar and coffee fell.
March futures jumped 3% to $1.1209 a pound in New York, breaching its 50-day moving average, a bullish technical sign. The contract is also commanding a rare, record-large premium over May, which means “demand for cotton nearby is perceived to be greater than in the future,” said Louis Rose, director of research for Rose Commodity Group in Tennessee. In other words, buyers want cotton now, and there isn’t enough of it.