Demand for cotton is expected to trump supplies of the soft commodity, which pushed up cotton futures to record highs, Bloomberg reports.
For the week ended February 24, cotton sales in the U.S. skyrocketed 56 percent as compared to the week prior to total 403,341 bales, according to the U.S. Agriculture Department. Chinese production of the soft commodity slipped more than 6 percent last year, according to the National Statistics Bureau. China is the globe's biggest consumer of the soft commodity.
"It's a worldwide scramble," John Flanagan, president of Flanagan Trading in North Carolina, told the news service. "The last holdouts realized there was no way out other than just buying, trying to find cotton to keep their mills running."
Just prior to 11:15 a.m. on Friday, cotton futures were up 3.06 percent, a $.063 increase to $2.12 per pound.
"Export commitments out of the U.S. continue at record pace, and due to the razor-thin expected ending stocks, demand must be rationed as there is not enough cotton," according to a Thursday report from Rabobank International.
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