Cotton futures continue climb

Cotton futures reached another post-Civil War era high of $1.68 per pound during intraday trading on Tuesday.

Analysts said concerns about the impact of flooding in Australia and forecasts of a smaller crop in India pushed Intercontinental Exchange futures to a new high for the second consecutive day.

Reports from Australia said representatives of a growers group in that country was meeting with cotton merchants to discuss possible renegotiations of contracts if farmers do not harvest enough cotton to fulfill their contracts.

The Southern India Mills Association announced its members believe the 2011 Indian cotton crop will be 2 million bales lower than a recent estimate of 32.9 million bales by the Cotton Advisory Board of India.

The increase in ICE futures in New York is being driven by speculative interests with cotton merchants and mills reportedly waiting for that demand to cool so they can fix prices at lower levels.

(Source: http://deltafarmpress.com/cotton-futures-continue-climb)