Cotton futures closed higher on Monday, with gains of 50 to 55 points across the front months. The March 26 contract settled at 64.91, up 50 points, while May 26 cotton reached 66.44, up 53 points. July 26 cotton finished at 67.86, up 55 points.
USDA data released Monday showed cotton harvested acres increased by 430,000 acres, but yield decreased by 73 pounds per acre to 856 pounds. This resulted in production falling by 0.35 million bales to 13.92 million bales. Ending stocks were reduced by 300,000 bales to 4.2 million bales.
NASS Cotton Ginnings data indicated 11.962 million running bales of cotton had been ginned as of January 1, a decrease of 1.023 million running bales from the previous year.
In other market activity, crude oil futures rose 72 cents per barrel to $59.84. The US dollar index declined $0.215 to $98.675.
The Friday online auction from The Seam recorded sales at 56.57 cents per pound for 4,773 bales. The Cotlook A Index dropped 35 points on January 9 to 74.45 cents. ICE certified cotton stocks remained steady on January 9 at 11,510 bales. The Adjusted World Price was updated to 50.97 cents per pound on Thursday afternoon, showing an increase of 21 points from the previous week.