On the US crop scene, cotton conditions improved during the previous week, with good to excellent up five percentage points to 66 per cent. That compares with 53 per cent good-excellent a year ago. Cotton rated fair dropped four points to 29 per cent and poor to very poor dipped a point to five per cent.

Disappointing US weekly export sales, with old-crop upland sales slowing to the second lowest of the marketing year, helped to keep the market in a steep downtrend. US all-cotton export sales for shipment this season came in below expectations. The forecast is for exports to reach the second largest on record, up 58 per cent from last season.

Commitments stand at 103 per cent of the export forecast, compared with 101 per cent of final shipments at the corresponding point last season. Some of the 2016-17 commitments will be used to help meet domestic mill and export needs through about the first three months of the 2017-18 marketing year ahead of volume movement of the new crop.

The projected range for the 2017-18 marketing year farm price remained at 54 to 74 cents. The midpoint of 64 cents is down from the 2016-17 price estimate of 68.50 cents, which was reduced 50 points, but up from 61.20 cents in 2015-16.